Really beautifully written and sprawling tale that's I think fundamentally about small people doing small acts of humanity in a society that has become monstrous. The Book Thief doesn't gloss over the atrocities that some of the characters support - either actively or passively - yet it somehow makes me feel for them regardless. It helps, I expect, that the family at the centre of the piece, consisting of a young girl and her foster parents, are truly good people and are often punished for it by their community. One feels less guilt in identification then. But the reliance on the written word as a way of navigating and surviving trauma is a recognisable one, and one can't blame the little book thief for thieving. It probably saved her sanity, which I suppose might be the primary function of books after all.