Book Review: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
9:02 PM
“What exactly was the difference? he wondered to himself. And who
decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore the
uniforms?”
― John
Boyne
Author: John Boyne
First Published: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 224
Goodreads summary:
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 to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people 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 from his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.
Review:
I’ve heard
about this novel before reading it, as many of you probably did as well. I only just now
decided to pick it up to read for my English Literature class. Many friends of
mine preferred the movie to the book, but I hadn’t seen the movie
before reading the book to compare the two beforehand. I decided to read the novel and watch the movie afterwards.
This novel
was heartbreaking to say the least. My knowledge of World War II consists
mainly out of basic information. (I’ll be studying this subject more in depth
next semester) Reading this novel from the point of view of a child made it
that more special in my opinion. The unknowingness of Bruno made the message of
this novel even stronger. The horrors that groups of people had to endure
during World War II were inhumane, as many of you undoubtedly know. You’ll definitely get to read more about that
within this novel.
There were
some issues I had with this book though. Mainly the fact that these two
children were able to meet each other all the time was quite unrealistic. Bruno
and his sister seemed way too naïve at times, even for kids. I have to say that
that I enjoyed watching the movie more that reading the book as well. In my
opinion, it delivers the message in a clearer way.
Even though
the plot had some issues in my opinion (hence the decrease of a star), it does
convey the message which is why many people read this book in the first place.
I’d recommend
this book to everyone.
Rating: ★★★★☆
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