The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne Published by Ember
Genres: Children's Books, Historical
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Read in: Aug 25 to Sep 14
Source: Personal Collection
Add to: Goodreads
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 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. - via GoodReads
Where do you even start to write a review for a book like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne? It’s not something you want to call fantastic because the subject matter is so serious. Really what Boyne has done is brilliant. He’s taken the scariest part of WWII, Auschwitz, and scaled it down to something a child can come to terms with. He does this and is still able to do it without all of the horrifying details that go along with it.
Bruno and his family move to the middle of nowhere when his father accepts authority over Auschwitz. Bruno struggles to adapt but makes the best of it and makes friends with a child from the “farms”.
Reading this book written for a child as an adult was difficult but not int he way that you’d think. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas showed that during some of the most brutal years in recent history innocent still existed. Seeing that innocence juxtaposed with such depravity was hard to grasp. I hope to read more of Boyne’s work in the future.
Felicia the Geeky Blogger
I tried to read this but it really was a bit to sad for me. Great review!
Stephanie
It is sad. It was a really sad period in our history. 🙁
Carmel @ Rabid Reads
I wouldn’t have expected a children’s book to tackle such a dark topic, but from your review I gather that John Boyne has a real knack for doing so. I think the extreme contrast between innocence and brutality might be a little too much for me though. I’m more of a HEA kind of girl.
Stephanie
He did an excellent job. I think it would be a good tool to introduce that part of history to a child. It is a hard contrast. I found it worth the read but I’d definitely avoid it if you prefer to have a HEA.
kimbacaffeinate
This would totally make me cry, and yes even in the darkest times there are moments of light.
Stephanie
It was a bit much really. It made you think about everything that happened then. It sent me into a deep thought process of “How did it get that far? Why did it take so long before anything was done?” Because really? I just can’t imagine it. 🙁