Style

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief: Style 1 key example

Part 5: The Losers
Explanation and Analysis:

The Book Thief has an experimental style that challenges the bounds of historical fiction. Readers will immediately notice that Zusak uses formatting—especially bold font and centered text—to set certain ideas apart from the rest of the text. The boldfaced, centered text nearly always appears under a heading in all caps that is further set off by dots on either side. For example, in Part 5: The Losers, Zusak uses this formatting to introduce "the new Arthur Berg":

*** THE NEW ARTHUR BERG ***
He had windy hair and cloudy eyes,
and he was the kind of delinquent
who had no other reason to
steal except that he enjoyed it.
His name was Viktor Chemmel.