The Book Thief

I've just this morning finished this book - as the author says in the interview above, a 500 page novel set in Nazi Germany narrated by Death - who would read it?
I'm not sure how I came to chose it during one of my 3 for 2 visits to Waterstones, but I'm glad I did. I suppose it's in the tradition of the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as far as the context goes. It's equally absorbing; just longer.
The very ordinary language of the commentary portrays the grim reaper as a rather frail, human figure and may challenge some of your preconceptions about that other inevitability of life beside taxes. The challenge to find beauty in the horror of WWII seems to connect with the recent Lectionary texts about Job and his struggle with unmerited suffering.
A compelling read, if only for the point of view of the ordinary German family, reluctant to toe the party line.