Ten Questions for Markus Zusak: An Interview with the Printz Award Winning Author

"It's just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery . . . . "

As soon as I finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, I knew two things:

1) I had a new addition to my list of favorite books.
2) I wanted to re-read the book from cover to cover right then and there.

It takes a mighty fine book to make my list of favorites. The last time I added a book to it was over two years ago.

Needless to say, when I was given the opportunity to interview Markus Zusak, I jumped at the chance. Here now is the interview in full, which was made possible by Flamingnet and Random House. Thank you to everyone involved.

What inspired The Book Thief?

It was a lot like finding a tap that's never been switched on before and turning it on... When I was growing up, my mum and dad told me stories about growing up in Nazi Germany - about a teenage boy who gave a starving Jewish man a piece of bread, of fiery skies and of people who didn't want to fly the Nazi flag. That world came rushing out of the tap. It was all at my feet, but then I had to organize it and turn it all into an imaginative piece of work. Fragments needed to be joined and I searched for the originality that would create not only a story but a style that was compelling for me to write.

What did you plan first: Liesel's story or Death's role as narrator? Do you think that Death is more or less a reliable narrator?

Liesel's story was always first. I used Death on the first draft, then switched to first, then third person. Liesel was the constant. Trusting myself with Death as narrator was more of a struggle. Only when I realised that he should be afraid of humans and haunted by all that we do to each other did I know that I had the right voice for the story.

As far as Death being a reliable narrator, I never doubted that he was telling the truth. I think he was always earnest, about himself and about the story he was telling to see if humans are worth their existence.