Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bruno isn't sure exactly what his father's job is, only that he's "a man to watch," and that his new promotion has forced the family to move to a horrible place called "Out-with" where there's no one to play with and a fence runs along the property as far as the eye can see. He's been told to stay away from the fence and the strange people on the other side but one day while exploring Bruno finds a young boy sitting just on the other side of the fence. Though their circumstances differ greatly and they can never actually play together, the two boys strike up a strong friendship with unforeseen consequences.
I absolutely loved The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The Holocaust is a very difficult topic to deal with but I thought Boyne did a fantastic job, despite a slightly awkward beginning.
I found the eight-year-old narrator completely believable. Though he's sheltered by his parents and naive about what is actually going on, he does seem to realize that there's something strange about his new home and all of the people on the opposite side of the fence. He even picks up on the barely restrained rage of one of his father's lieutenants. As well, his difficulty in pronouncing some of the words was realistic and I loved that he referred to Hitler as the Fury, giving a little humour to such a large villain.
This book was originally written for children and so glosses over, rather than highlights, some of the atrocities that would have been occurring at the time. But even without the gruesome descriptions, Bruno's growing confusion over the treatment of his family's waiter, his separation from his grandparents and the circumstances of Shmuel's life, so very different than his own, emphasizes the injustice of the Holocaust and provides the book with some truly emotional scenes.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is both a heartwarming and heartbreaking book, and I highly recommend it. It's one I expect to reread in the future.
