Friendship in a broken world
Author : John Boyne
Title : The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Published : 03/12/2014
Pages : 256
Genre : Young Adult / Historic Fiction
Publisher : Random House Children's
Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas.
Once again I have returned to the Holocaust, this time however with one of the few books aimed at a younger audience. Going into this book I had already watched the film so the story was one that I already knew. I remember how it moved me to watch this tale of two boys and how the friendship would come to an end. I hopped it would not lose all it's impact when it came to reading the book.
While it is never specifically given when you start reading this book you can give an educated guess as to who Bruno's father is and where they have been sent. Bruno is naive in the sense of what is taking place in his country and also to what it is his father actually does. Then he meets Shmuel a boy who lives on the other side of the fence, It is though there friendship that the story of these two boys unfolds. The way these two interact with each of is both familiar and odd all at the same time. This is in part due to the fence that keeps them at arm's length, But also the unspoken potion of privilege Bruno is in. He fails to see the difference between the two boys and also the events taking place around him. You also get to see this with his interactions with the waiter who works in his house, Who isn't really a waiter.
In the reading of this book, you have to appreciate that it's aimed at a younger audience. There are certain facts about the lives of these two boys that are never given the time to breathe and flow. This, in my opinion, is not such a bad thing as I'm not sure as to what age you can introduce these things to kids. It does, however, give a heartfelt look at how hate is not something we are born with but something taught to us by the adults in our lives. These two boys don't see why the can't hang out and play with each other like anyone else there age. It also feels like it sits to the side of the facts that took place at the time, in real life these two boys would never have come into contact with each other. It does, however, make the ending no less heartbreaking. Without giving it away, it's one of those endings that you can see coming a mile away but you still feel it when it comes.
I think for me there are other books out there that cover the topic better but they are aimed at a more adult audience. While reading this book, however, I was still taken on an emotional journey, you are drawn into the friendship of these two boys. Yes, it feels simplistic but sometimes that's not such a bad thing. And the final line of the book still packs a very big punch and make you question the state of the world we live in today.
Once again I have returned to the Holocaust, this time however with one of the few books aimed at a younger audience. Going into this book I had already watched the film so the story was one that I already knew. I remember how it moved me to watch this tale of two boys and how the friendship would come to an end. I hopped it would not lose all it's impact when it came to reading the book.
While it is never specifically given when you start reading this book you can give an educated guess as to who Bruno's father is and where they have been sent. Bruno is naive in the sense of what is taking place in his country and also to what it is his father actually does. Then he meets Shmuel a boy who lives on the other side of the fence, It is though there friendship that the story of these two boys unfolds. The way these two interact with each of is both familiar and odd all at the same time. This is in part due to the fence that keeps them at arm's length, But also the unspoken potion of privilege Bruno is in. He fails to see the difference between the two boys and also the events taking place around him. You also get to see this with his interactions with the waiter who works in his house, Who isn't really a waiter.
In the reading of this book, you have to appreciate that it's aimed at a younger audience. There are certain facts about the lives of these two boys that are never given the time to breathe and flow. This, in my opinion, is not such a bad thing as I'm not sure as to what age you can introduce these things to kids. It does, however, give a heartfelt look at how hate is not something we are born with but something taught to us by the adults in our lives. These two boys don't see why the can't hang out and play with each other like anyone else there age. It also feels like it sits to the side of the facts that took place at the time, in real life these two boys would never have come into contact with each other. It does, however, make the ending no less heartbreaking. Without giving it away, it's one of those endings that you can see coming a mile away but you still feel it when it comes.
I think for me there are other books out there that cover the topic better but they are aimed at a more adult audience. While reading this book, however, I was still taken on an emotional journey, you are drawn into the friendship of these two boys. Yes, it feels simplistic but sometimes that's not such a bad thing. And the final line of the book still packs a very big punch and make you question the state of the world we live in today.
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