Essay Sample: "The Book Thief" Book vs. Film

The Book Thief is a 2005 novel by Markus Zusak that was later turned into a film by Michael Petroni. The book revolves around Liesel as she grows in a foster home, her love for books, and her behavior of stealing books. The movie premiered in 2013, but just like most film productions, failed to capture the entire storyline as covered in the book. There are numerous differences between the book version and the movie version. This essay identified the differences between Markus Zusak's novel, and Michael Petroni's film, the main differences being character development, added and missing scenes in the movie, and different descriptions of events.

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In the book, the author focuses on character development, which is different in the movie. In the book, the author describes Max's present and past in depth. We learn about his dream of boxing Hitler, the exercises he engages in at Hubermann's basement, and how he creates two books for Liesel when he discovers her love for written work (Zusak). These stories are essential in developing Max's character and presenting his personality. In the movie, these scenes are unavailable, and instead of the written books, Max gives Liesel a blank journal. As such, the film presents Max as a physically weak, one-dimensional, flat character. In the book version, Hans gets forced to the war due to an act of humanity and good-heartedness where he gives a starving Jew a piece of bread. He offered the Jew the piece of bread even though he had little to eat. In the movie, he is forced to go to the war because of proclaiming that a Jewish man was good. The film thus fails to capture Han's real character by omitting this part.

The next difference is in the omission and addition of scenes in the film. In the book, Liesel and Ilsa rarely communicate in the mayor's library while in the movie they are always talking (Zusak). This scene is an addition since the conversations they hold are unaccounted for in the book. Also, in the book Hans is smoking in many scenes, while in the film he never smokes. Another omission is that in the book, the relationship between Liesel and Rudy is clear, while it is not clear in the movie.

The final difference is in the description of events in the book and the movie. In the book, the characters are primarily described as poor while the movie contains scenes where they appear healthy and normal. The act of stealing books is described differently in the book and the film. In the movie, Liesel steals books frequently, while in the book, she steals fewer books. Also, in the movie, she takes some books with titles that are different from those stolen in the book.

This paper describes the variations between the book and movie version of The Book Thief. The remarkable differences include character development, addition, and omission of scenes, and description of events. The film was slightly different from the film as both focused on separate aspects of the storyline. This analysis shows that most movie productions do not capture the story as it appears in the book, and how this makes it difficult for the viewer to visualize the characters and plot of the book.

Work cited

Zusak, Markus. The book thief. Picador Australia, 2007.