The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - by John Boyne

~ by Abrah

• 7 Stars
• Ages 10+
• Pages: 218

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is one of those books you can never quite summarize. Of course there is a German boy, and a Jewish boy, and they are divided by a fence, both of them in a place they would rather never be again, but somehow that just isn't what the story is really about. The Holocaust is something everyone knows about, but we are all still horrified by it, and trying to make sense of it. Countless authors have tried to tackle it, but John Boyne's take on it is something most good writers would just love to steal. One of the greatest horrors of history told through the eyes of a naïve nine year old. 
The story begins with Bruno discovering the first tragedy of his life. His father's job, which is very important, causes Bruno and his entire family to move to a place far away from everything they know and love. For a while Bruno is miserable, but he finally decides to explore the farm with all the people in striped pajamas that he saw from his bedroom window. There he came upon a fence, and behind that fence was the dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy, a boy in striped pajams, whose name was Shmuel. A Jew. And so began one of the most compelling, forbidden, and endearing friendships in history. It was a friendship across a fence, and fences like these exist all over the world, Boyne tells us. 

"Fences like these exist all over the world."
- John Boyne

John Boyne is one of my new favourite authors! I mean, how much more brilliant can it get than to tell about an evil time through such and innocent little boy. He has a way of saying profound things in a simple way, and simple things in a profound way. Yet, his style flows so flawlessly, and is easy to follow! I think part of the time I kept reading because his writing form captured me! He inspires me! 

I cannot continue without a brief mention of a brief part of the story that is not at all a brief subject. Forgiveness. Shmuel's forgiveness. Bruno did something that hurt Shmuel more than I think the author told us, and more than Shmuel ever let on.
Yet, after Bruno asked forgiveness Shmuel forgave him, and their friendship went on like nothing ever happen. That seems strange to us, doesn't it? But isn't that how it should be? Later, it seems that though Bruno carried the pain of what he had done for a while, Shmuel had forgotten that it had ever happened. Thinking about that I thought up a new theory for how to forgive and forget. How about forgive and forget... forget even before the person who wronged you forgets!
I can't finish this review without stating that I was seriously disappointed with the end of the story. I'll try not to give away too much, because the end is - 

Bruno and Shmuel

for me - central to the rest of the novel. Reading the book as a person who had seen the movie before reading the book, I was sorely disappointed. I felt like the author decide to submit his book to the editor, and then twenty minutes before doing so he realized he forgot to write the ending, and just scribbled down something to finish up Bruno's story. So I would recommend reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and then watching the movie to elaborated on what happened to Bruno and Shmuel. Otherwise The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a book (and movie; I like the movie better) well worth your time! 

***

Negative Elements: (none being best, 5 worst)
Violence - none
Profanity - 0.5

• It is clear that a character calls a Jew a derogatory name, but, Bruno doesn't understand the term so we never actually read it. We just know something inappropriate is said, but not exactly what that is.

Romance or Sexuality - 1

• Though rather vague references it appears that Bruno's mother and Lieutenant Kolter have a long and,  very "friendly" relationship, far too friendly for two unmarried people. The fact that the Lieutenant is only a teen, and Bruno's mother likely well into her thirties, only makes their "friendship" more uncomfortable. I fail to see why the author thought such content necessary.

Closing Comments: I beg you to read the book first, this is one of the first books where I really saw how much the story was ruined by seeing the movie first. But once you have read the book, I beg you to watch the movie! Also, whenever there is a book that has a movie, I can't resist adding pictures from the movie. So here is your first sample of such work. I hope you will all enjoy my very first post!! :)