The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

By John Boyne

Synopsis:

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.

My thoughts:

I find the award-winning novel “The Boy In The Striped Pajamas” by John Boyne to be brilliant. The way the author finds a way to get deep inside of you as if you were in it is absolutely brilliant. Personally this book took a toll on me and really did hit me down deep, showing how much a broad topic such as jews in WWII can have a massive impact on an individual when made into a story like this. It provides an accurate historical compound to it to leave the reader a strong message from the novel. What’s interesting about this novel is the point of view. Normally a book like this would be written in first person to focus around one individual but the author wrote it in omniscient and manages to make the reader feel as connected with the main character as if it was first person which I found to be different from other books I’ve read of similar topics. Another thing the author did which was unique was his emphasis on details throughout the book and phrases he would often repeats such as when he talks about Bruno sliding down the banister on the stairs, or when he’s talking about Maria going through his closet and “the things he’d hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody else's business”. Simple tools like attention to detail is what makes the reader draw into the book and not be able to put it down. Overall I would give it a 9.5/10 and definitely recommend it to read.

reviewed by J.S., Grade 10 Scona student