Book Thief and First Person Omniscient POV

I just finished reading The Book Thief and found the narrative voice very compelling. I wasn't familiar with first person omniscient until I started reading this book and had to look up different points of view online to learn more about it.

Apparently the Lovely Bones is also written in first person omniscient POV and is narrated by a dead person. I have yet to read that one, but it's now on my long list of books to read.

First person omniscient can only be done if you use a narrator who is a dead person or a god or some sort of angel or demon or a person with supernatural powers who can read minds.

I think this type of narration worked well for this book, which deals with serious and difficult subjects like death and abandonment and prejudice. It gives the reader some distance from the pain and anguish and allows more opportunities for foreshadowing.

I also love Markus Zusak's figurative use of language, how he gives inanimate objects human characteristics: Things breathe, eyes staggered, words climbed on him, voices kneaded methodically at the door. Not for light reading, but a great read for depth and understanding of the light and dark sides of human nature. Leaves you wondering and makes you think.