The Book Thief Chapter 64 Summary

The Promise Keeper's Wife

• First, we get a preview: in six hours Hans will be gone. He's telling Liesel that he wowed a crowd with his accordion playing.
• Other than the sip of champagne this summer, Hans has had any drinks in a decade.
• Their wives protest, but Alex and Hans go to the bar.
• Before Hans gets drunk he plays "'Gloomy Sunday' – the anthem of suicide from Hungary" (64.4).
• The crowd wowed. Liesel imagines the scene.
• Coming home drunk, Hans accidentally tries to get into Frau Holtzapfel's house instead of his own.
• She curses him.
• When Papa comes in and stands in Liesel's doorway, she asks, "Is that you?"
• He says that it's him, knowing she's thinking of Max.
• It almost nine, the next day.
• Rosa has Liesel fill up a bucket of water.
• Liesel sees what she's up to and protests.
• But Rosa is in charge.
• Rosa and Liesel go down to the basement where Hans is sleeping among the drop cloths. He didn't feel he was worthy of sleeping on Max's mattress.
• Rosa throws the water on him, and he wakes up.
• She threatens to do it again if he falls back asleep.
• Rosa goes back upstairs, and Liesel starts getting up the water.
• Hans asks if she thinks Max is still living.
• She says she hopes he is.
• He tells her about his night in the bar and about going to Frau Holtzapfel's house afterwards.
• Two hours before Hans's departure, Liesel begs him not to go.
• He tells her she needs to take care of Rosa while he's gone.
• Rudy's dad will leave in four days, and he comes to tell Hans good-bye.
• At the train station, Liesel begs him to stay, again.
• He tells her to take his accordion back home, and tells her to "keep reading in the shelter" (64.69).
• Rosa and Liesel are the last people in the train station after Hans leaves.
• Afterwards, Rosa can't yell at anybody, and Liesel isn't even inspired to steal.
• After about two weeks of this, Rudy comes to Liesel's and makes her come out with him.
• They walk around Molching. Rudy says he wants to go and kill Hitler!
• Liesel is so down, she turns to go back home. Rudy follows her.
• She remembers a chapter from A Song in the Dark.
• The girl in the book's heart is tired.
• Liesel feels too young to have such a tired heart.
• After about an hour, she starts to perk up; she and Rudy reminisce and tease each other.
• Rudy looks at the suits in the window of his father's shop, but Liesel gets him to keep moving.
• When they get back, both of their moms are waiting, looking mad.
• Liesel tells Rudy's mother that Rudy was off killing Hitler.
• When Liesel is sleeping, a noise wakes her.
• When she goes to investigate, she finds Rosa sitting on the bed, with Hans's accordion around her neck.
• Liesel wishes she would play it, but she doesn't.
• She goes back to bed, the image of Rosa and the accordion in her brain.
• When her customary nightmare wakes her again, she finds Rosa still sitting on the bed with the accordion.
• Now she's snoring.
• This time, the picture stays with her, and she has a really hard time getting to sleep.