Characters
a Setting
a Problem
Conflict
But there's one more item I'd like to add to the list: What's at stake.
But there was a problem with the book's character-driven-ness (if I may thus describe it). Make that two problems:
1. It didn't matter what happened at the end
2. I didn't care anyway
Because there wasn't anything the characters wanted. The only stakes in the story are: who lives, who dies. Those stakes matter when the characters are fighting for their lives every inch of the way, but when death is sudden and indiscriminate, the characters don't have much time to care about it either way, and neither does the reader.
Liesel, the main character, wants books--enough to steal them, apparently. But stealing the books is easy, and it doesn't affect the plot significantly. Actually, there isn't much of a plot to affect.
I'm not dissing character-driven books. Most of Charles Dickens's novels are character-driven, but you still care very much about what happens to the characters. Here's why: stakes.
By stakes I mean:
What the characters want
What it's going to take to get what they want
What happens if they don't get it
The last one especially is what makes the story matter to your readers. Thinking back over The Book Thief, I can think of only one example of a good stake: Will the Nazis find the Jewish man the family is hiding in their basement? This scenario generated enough suspense to keep me hooked for part of the story, but not the whole thing.
(I did read the entire book, but it was because I liked the writing style and because Death was a great character.)
For a long book (like The Book Thief) you need more than one stake, and towards the end of the story you need to raise the stakes--those things that matter to your characters now need to matter even more.
Quick example: at the end of Star Wars: A New Hope Luke Skywalker not only has to destroy the Death Star; if he fails, the Empire will blow up the rebel base and wipe out the last vestige of the Rebellion. Stakes raised.
(And yes, I use Star Wars in a lot of examples. Hey, there's a reason why it's a classic.)
Stakes are what makes stories feel like they matter. You're not just sitting around waiting to see if Liesel will survive World War II. There's a definite goal, and your readers are hoping your character will reach it, not sitting there thinking, "Who cares if Liesel dies? This book is really long anyway, and I'm ready for it to end."
Well, those weren't my exact thoughts, but they're pretty close.
So what kind of stakes do you put in a story, and how do you get readers to care about them? I'll have to save that for another post.