Book Review: The Boy in the Sriped Pyjamas

Book: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Finished: February 2011
Pages: 224
Challenges:
** A-Z ** What's in a Name** To-Be Read**

From Amazon:
"This work was set in Berlin, 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But, Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than what meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences."

From Me:

Fable:

[fey-buhl]

-Noun
short tale used to teach a moral


Mr. Boyne states on his title page that this small book, is a fable. It is a work of fiction, set during a very real historical time--known as the Holocaust. I am a firm believer that we must not forget that tragic episode of time, and after reading this book I can safely say that John Boyne believes the same.

It is a must read, but that being said, it is not for younger readers. Not because it is graphic, but because if they have no knowledge of Hitler, and Nazism, and the Death Camps, they simply will not understand what is going on, nor will they get the full impact of the ending. The author is clever in using metaphors throughout--The Fury (an important man who came to dinner) and Out-With (for the place they moved to, far away from Berlin, Auschwitz), being two of the most common.

The prose is sparse and effective. Some reviewers had complaints pertaining to the plausibility of certain aspects of the book--to this I say, it is a fable and small liberties were taken to drive home the point--to preserve the voice of a 9 year old boy, and to portray innocence and naivete. Once again, all needed for the ultimate ending.

Here is just one, of many passages I marked. It is beautifully written. It is haunting.

"Very slowly he turned his head back to look at Shmuel, who wasn't crying any more, merely staring at the floor looking as if he was trying to convince his soul not to live inside his tiny body any more, but to slip away and sail to the door and raise up into the sky, gliding through the clouds until it was very far away."
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