Customer Reviews

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first started reading, I didn't find the simplistic writing style appealing and thought I would be glad to finish the book so I could move on to another more challenging. It wasn't long before I became engrossed in viewing the situation through the eyes and voice of the 9 yr old boy, Bruno. I did not critique what I was reading from the perspective of what a 'real' 9 yr old living in that era should or should not have known about Nazi Germany.

I decided to write this because I was disappointed by the comments of a couple of the other reviewers who were upset that the book did not include historical accuracy. I never thought I was purchasing a history book, and therefore did not expect to receive a history lesson. To me the message of the story is broader than the era it is set in. This is the tale of an unlikely friendship between two 9 yr old boys. That friendship is allowed to grow because of their innocence, and because they do not judge one another by their stations in life. It's a very powerful, moving fable. I loved it for exactly what it is.

As a twelve year old I found this book to be amazing , very breathtaking , and is a must read for all children interested in these terrible time . I found my self stuck to this book and could not put it down , I will with out a doubt recommend this for anybody who is thinking about reading this book !! I LOVE IT !!!!

By now you probably know the premise of this book: set in WWII Germany, a nine year old boy whose father is a commandant in the Nazi party moves with his family to Auschwitz, where his father has been put in charge of the infamous concentration camp.

There aren't too many new ways to tell this story, but author John Boyne found a unique perspective here. Everything about this story is from the viewpoint of Bruno, the nine year old German boy. While it is fairly easy for you, the reader, to put together the puzzle pieces, we have the advantage of knowing history and knowing what atrocities occured at Auschwitz. Bruno, of course, does not fully understand and this is his story.

This novel is simply stunning in it's simplicity and power. I never saw the ending coming and it just blew me away. After I turned the last page, I set the book down in my lap and just sat there amazed for a good fifteen minutes. Two weeks later, I'm still thinking about this book. I can't get over how powerful it is and I'm recommending it to everyone I know.

It's not necessarily a child's book, despite the youthful narrator. I'd say it might qualify as a young adult's book since they are certainly old enough to understand the powerful ending.

Certainly, all adults should read this one. Then it's up to you to decide what age is appropriate for your children to read it.

Do NOT miss this book!

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" is presented as a fable by the author, and if taken at face value, then it works. It tells the story of Bruno, the son of a high-ranking SS officer who is promoted to be the Camp Commandant of Out-with [Auschwitz] and moves his entire family, consisting of his wife, his 12-year-old daughter Gretel and 9-year-old son, Bruno from Berlin to the Polish camp. Once there, young Bruno finds his living conditions 'intolerable' compared to the luxurious life they led back in Berlin and misses his three best friends. Bruno yearns to return to the comfort and familiarity of Berlin, but then an afternoon exploration makes him feel better. He meets the boy on the other side of the fence, Schmuel, who is the same age as Bruno, who has the luxury of wearing striped 'pajamas' all day long, and who has many 'companions' to play with. Bruno appears to be very naive and does not seem to realise that his friend is actually a prisoner in a death camp, one who is constantly hungry and starving, and who is engulfed in despair. The boys form a friendship that develops into a deep bond and ends in one of the most heart-rending climaxes I've read in a book.

Taken as a fable, the book is an excellent launching pad for discussions about the Holocaust, particularly as seen through the eyes of children. Though the protagonist in this book is nine years old, I would not recommend it for young readers due to the very sensitive nature of the topic. Instead, I think it is apt for older readers [perhaps ages 12 and up] who already have some understanding of what the Holocaust is about.

That being said, the book is not without its problems. Having been a former History teacher with a keen interest in the Holocaust, I found quite a few historical inaccuracies that was jarring to read. Another reviewer has also elaborated on this.

Firstly, young Bruno, being almost nine years old, and the son of a high-ranking Nazi, would in all probability have been a member of the Hitler Youth, and thus quite familiar with the anti-Jewish propaganda drummed into young members of the Reich. His naivete when it comes to the Jews [portrayed in the book as being unfamiliar with the race] is hard to believe. Secondly, children, especially those around Schmuel's age, would most certainly have been earmarked for extinction [gas chambers] as soon as they arrived. Schmuel's existence in the camp [for over a year in the book] seems miraculous [and perhaps not imposssible] but once again, quite implausible. Also, Schmuel and Bruno seem to meet almost every afternoon for a period as long as a year. Avoiding detection all that time seems to be another implausible plot point. There are some other parts that I found to be quite innacurate in terms of actual historical portrayal, but the ones I listed are my main grouses.

Conclusion - this is a book that I'd recommend reading, if only because it does have a unique approach to the Holocaust [through the eyes of a young Aryan child] and the simple writing style will engage young readers [ages 12 and up]. Getting young readers interested in the topic and launching discussions on the Holocaust makes this a worthwhile read, but at the same time, caution needs to be exercised, as the book does give an almost simplistic [and at some points, inaccurate] views of the Holocaust.

Note: this edition comes with an author interview and reading guide.

Pablo Picasso defined art as the lie that makes the truth evident. There is little historical substance or even plausibility to this story. Nevertheless, the truth within this book is powerfully self-evident. Racism and genocide are a primary component of twentieth century history, from the Turkish massacre of the Armenians, to the Nazi Holocaust to the Serbian death squads. What makes this book so powerful is the over-simplistic language and the somewhat dull-witted complacency of a young boy little interested in history or public affairs or people in general.

The fact that this story takes place at Auschwitz is not so important, except that Auschwitz is so engrained into the public consciousness as a symbol of genocide. There is a great deal of irony here, some of which require suspended belief, such as the identical birth dates of the two boys in question. But it completes a picture, that they were born on the same day and died on the same day, hand in hand. The fence is a symbol of what divides the human race against itself, and the crossing of that fence signifies the desire to overcome that division, the desire to love one another in an unjust and cruel world hell-bent on furthering the division through the hate of people like the lieutenant, the passive unquestioning obedience of social climbing pawns like the kommandant, and the castration of human achievement in the reduction of a fine medical doctor to a hapless potato peeler and waiter.

Love is bursting at the seams throughout all the protagonists in this book, from Schmuel and Bruno, Greta and the grandmother, but is repressed by the evils of an unjust world.

The book is a lie that makes the truth self evident. Picasso would have been proud.

Well this is book for Young Adults and therefore I must admit that the style was a little bit problematic for me. I guess because I'm only an "adult". It's very simple, very on the level of the main character but after a while I get used to it and I might say that this naiveness was even charming. Big part of the book is like as if we are waiting something (big) to happens, the main thing but I wouldn't say the book is boring; again it was charming.
I usually find myself very irritated with the child character who is completely (and impossibly) ignorant about the things around them since it's usually not convincing at all. But I think he is one nice exception. Bruno is lovely constructed character and his views are very convincing. Occasional sparks from the world of adults are giving reader nice background picture and contrast with readers understandings and Bruno's ignorance (or misunderstandings) are really lovely. So, indeed Bruno is very likable "young man".

I will not tell anything about plot but instead will type what it says on the back cover,probably the best book blurb I saw:

"The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the bookon the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to cross such a fence."

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (Pyjamas) will hook you in the first few pages. Bruno, and 9-year-old German boy moves from his luxurious home in Berlin, away from his three friends, to a house next to what he calls "Out-With" (Auschwitz). Unhappy at first, Bruno eventually a new friend, Shmuel, who lives in Auschwitz. Although everything about Bruno's life swirls around Nazis and hating Jews, Bruno becomes friends with Shmuel. This book and its' movie will show you how friendships have no boundaries, and prejudices, hatred, and cruelty are something that young kids don't understand - the best kind of 'not understanding.'

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is an allegory or a fable told in strong yet austere and achingly simple prose through the eyes of a naïve nine year old boy who wants nothing more than to find a friend to talk to.

When Adolf Hitler promotes Bruno's father, a senior Wehrmacht officer, to the position of commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Bruno and his entire family find themselves moved from their pleasant, gentrified life and social circle of friends in Berlin to a lonely and isolated home in Poland just outside the barbed wire of the camp itself. Bruno, despite any real knowledge of what his father does for a living has unquestioning faith in his father's good intentions and respect for the authority of his orders. So, for some time, Bruno quietly goes about his business and undertakes his schooling with his sister from a private tutor. But a nine year old boy needs friends and company and, in lonely frustration, Bruno finally decides to explore the countryside outside of the fence surrounding the camp.

When Bruno meets Shmuel, a young boy wearing blue and white striped pajamas and cap sitting cross-legged on the other side of the fence, they introduce themselves with the hesitant but completely charming simplicity that is the hallmark of young boys at this age. Knowing that this exploration is against his father's explicit orders, Bruno decides to tell nobody, not even his twelve year old sister, about his new friend. But each day that he can, he returns to the same spot outside the fence so that he and Shmuel can trade stories and confidences and talk as all young boys have done throughout time.

Despite Bruno's painfully slow, hesitant and quite immature growth into awareness of the starvation, beatings and privations that the thousands of people on the other side of the camp are enduring, he still expresses the outlandishly ironic sentiment that he is jealous of Shmuel being inside the camp. Obviously Shmuel has hundreds of boys that he might befriend whereas Bruno, on the outside, is all by himself.

The heart-breaking ending of the story, while it suffers from easy predictability, is no less powerful in its impact and the delivery of its ultimate message - that prejudice is never inherent in the young; that hatred, bigotry and cruelty must be taught and learned; that all mankind's races are, after all, the same and that any perceived differences are as cosmetic, as insubstantial and, ultimately, as meaningless, as being dressed in a pair of striped pajamas and a cap or being marked with a tattoo.

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, never explicit or graphic in its depiction of the violent brutalities of the Holocaust, is a powerful book with an important message suitable for young readers. Although Hitler's Final Solution was not the context in which this phrase was coined, "Lest we forget" somehow seems appropriate. If I had young children, I would want them to learn this lesson from such an extraordinary source.

Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

The ending is what makes this book unforgettable. Some have billed this as a children's/YA book, I think that this book is anything but. Told through the eyes of 9 year old Bruno the son of a Nazi Commandant, we see his burgeoning friendship with another child a Polish Jew. The only thing that separates them is a fence.

Bruno's naivety is quite startling when you, the adult reader, can see what is around the corner. Bruno is just a kid, thinking kid thought, living in a kids world that has always kept him sheltered. But one day, reality will hit and with it a lesson is learned - an no one will ever be the same.

I highly recommend this book to any adult and even to a middle schooler who is studying the Holocaust. This book gives quite a startling look at this time in history from a child's perspective. Though criticized for factual inaccuracies, that is not the point the book is trying to make. Whether it was Auschwitz or Bergen Belsen, it really doesn't matter. This is a story told though the eyes of little boys living in a grown up world.

Much is missing in this story told from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy whose father is the Kommandant of Auschwitz. I was not even sure if my high or middle school students would recognize what it was about. They do recognize the setting and they do find the cheery voice of the child wending his way through unmistakably dark times a compelling read. The missing specifics make this story read like a folk tale, without time and place, with an edge of unreality, and with completely familiar human truths.

A boy's world consists of his imagination, his friendships, his ongoing struggle to make sense of the adult world that swirls around him. This boy, Bruno, appears at first glance to be unduly naive. But he is not naive; the belief that comfort can exist alongside absolute cruelty is naive. That perspective is like a knife cutting through the twisted intentions of the severely misguided adults, laying bare the only truth: no safe haven exists unless it exists for all.

Even with its lack of factual detail, this book is clearly about a terrible time in history, the Holocaust. While strong readers as young as eight could read this book, parents may want to decide when their child is ready for this information and might want to read it together. Middle and high school kids should be fine with it. In fact, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is one of those books that can be read and appreciated by all ages of readers.