The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

     Where to begin...well, let me begin by saying I did not cry while reading this book. I did not even tear up. I did, however, end with a feeling of numbness. Let me try to put that feeling into words...

     I find the whole concept and plot of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne intriguing. It isn't often you get to read a book from a nine year olds point of view set during the Holocaust, whose father is a Nazi. I do like what john Boyne had to say about writing about the Holocaust:

"The issue of writing about the Holocaust is, of course, a contentious matter, and any novelist who explores it had better be sure about his or her intentions before setting out. It's presumptuous to assume that from today's perspective one can truly understand the horrors of the concentration camps, although it's the responsibility of the writer to uncover as much emotional truth within that desperate landscape as he possibly can.

Throughout the writing and rewriting of the novel, I believed that the only respectful way for me to deal with this subject was through the eyes of a child, and particularly through the eyes of a rather naïve child who couldn't possible understand the terrible things that were taking place around him. After all, only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live on the other side of the fence, staring through from our own comfortable place, trying in our own clumsy ways to make sense of it all."

      Again, I find the whole plot concept of the book very intriguing. However, I think John Boyne failed in some regards to properly tell the story. Bruno, the German nine-year old whose point of view we read from, pronounced German words wrong. Auschwitz was pronounced 'Out-With' by Bruno all throughout the book, and even when other characters in the book pronounced it correctly, it was written as 'Out-With'. Führer was pronounced 'Fury' the entire time, despite correction from multiple people. I don't know if John was trying to convey the naivety of Bruno by writing the words as Bruno pronounced them, or John just didn't know how to spell them and didn't want to take the time to learn. German was the spoken language, translated into English for the readers sake, but John's failure in using correct German spelling for Auschwitz and Führer made it seem like Bruno was a native English speaker trying to pronounce German words, instead of a German pronouncing German Words. It might seem a petty and insignificant thing, but even small things like this can really effect a persons take of the book.

     And the naïve Bruno seems to be taken to the insane level. Surely even a nine year old would have enough sense to know that the things on the other side of the fence aren't as fun as he pictures. He watched for a year and a half as his friend grew thinner and thinner and starved. He watched as a soldier beat a Jew mercilessly. And yet he is still envious of all the people on the other side of the fence, all the Jewish boys have hundreds of friends to play with. He never really did listen to what Schmuel told him about life on the other side of the fence. I found Bruno a selfish brat, honestly. Seems cold hearted, but for a boy portrayed as smart and yet extremely naïve...it just wasn't believable. And surely after over a year of sneaking out of the house everyday at the same time, someone, even one of the servants would have grown suspicious? And at the end of the book, surely everyone at the house would have been busy packing, and he wouldn't have had the opportunity to sneak out?

     The more I think on it, the more I find I not so much dislike the story or plot, but I dislike how John wrote Bruno. Not to mention little to none character development. And the ending...I knew something bad was going to happen, although I didn't expect that. It was twisted, and I'm ranting to much on this. I've probably spoiled a bunch. I know John was trying to make a point that those who did not experience the horrors of the Holocaust can never really comprehend it, but surely we aren't as naïve and stupid about it as Bruno was! He didn't know what Jews were, he didn't know about the war going on, or what concentration camps were doing, and his tutor was drilling them on geography and historical events!

     And thus concludes my rant on The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Brilliant idea, poorly executed in my opinion. But not a wasted read. Maybe someone with a less hardened heart than I would find it more moving then I did?




      One of the goals for this blog is to provide information for parents and readers alike to find 'clean' reads suitable for their children or themselves. In all my reviews I will mention general themes from the book, language, sexual/romantic interaction, and violence.

     Themes:
 The Holocaust, Jewish concentration camps, Nazis, WWII

       Language:
None explicitly written, but multiple times a 'bad word' was said but omitted in the text because naïve Bruno wasn't entirely sure what it meant, he just knew it was bad.

       Sexual/Romantic Interaction
Bruno's sister flirts with a Nazi soldier multiple times.

       Violence
It's the Holocaust, although it isn't extremely descriptive be warned of the ending two chapters

      I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a rating of heavy PG


      On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = horrible, 2 = OK, 3 = I liked it, 4 = I really liked it, 5 = I loved it), I would give The Boy in the Striped Pajamas a 2