“Then came Hitler. ”

“In all honesty (and I know I’m complaining excessively now), I was still getting over Stalin, in Russia. The so-called second revolution—the murder of his own people. Then came Hitler. They say that war is death’s best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing, incessantly: “Get it done, get it done.” So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more.”

“I wanted nothing for free.Nothing came for free at our place anyway.”

“My voice is like a rumour. I'm not sure if it came out or not, or if it is true.”

“Summer came. For the books thief, everything was going nicely. For me, the sky was the color of Jews. ”

“Papa was an accordion. But his bellows were all empty. Nothing went in and nothing came out.”

“He switched off the light, came back and sat in the chair. In the darkness, Liesel kept her eyes open. She was watching the words.”