I didn't like the narration by Death. I found his manner too matter of fact and I didn't like getting told what was going to happen up front. For me that aspect of the narration ruined the book.

I liked the fact it was narrated by death & also that we saw the war through the eyes of ordinary German people who weren't supporters of Hitler. This was certainly a different perspective from other WW2 novels.

It was a great book and I loved the way the tale unfolded. But I think I suffered by expecting too much and have put 3 stars (the lowest it's had from anyone, eek!) mainly because I sometimes felt death as the narrator became irrelevant, it was just the story being told and then suddenly the narrative would change to I as if to remind you it was death talking. Also, it didn't move me in the same way as other similar books. But having said that, I did enjoy it and did dither over giving it 4 stars, but I'm generally a fan of straight stories, the death narrator thing didn't do it for me!

I thought Death was a good narrator and some of his comments were quite profound. It doesn't matter how many books I read about the holocaust - the devastation that was carried out during the second world war still horrifies me and even though this story is essentially about a child's experiences, and told in a way that seems sometimes to be aimed at younger readers,the horror of it all was still coming through. A few people I know have said that it deals with the holocaust in a very sensitive and subtle way but I disagree. I think its all laid bare for you to see, there's no sugar coating to lessen the impact, which is as it should be.

Rudy's death - although I am not sure that foreshadowing is the correct term, as it is not just hinted at, but explicitly stated?

e.g. when Max is among one of the parades of Jews thru Molching was just too far-fetched for me.  I also disliked the section where Rudy gives a teddy bear to the dying crashed pilot- what did this add to the book ?