Reviews

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

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katee_'s review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

readingwithsab's review against another edition

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2.0

i am very cautious rating this book so lowly as it’s about the holocaust, but based on other reviews i’ve read, in addition to my own opinions, i feel that this book deserves two stars because it was ultimately “okay” — there are so many plot holes that submerging into the plot was difficult, the pacing was very off and the ending felt very rushed.

can’t say that i would recommend others to read the book, and there are many others (in this genre) which are better

matheamae's review against another edition

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4.0

A fascinating perspective to read, to see the horrible events of WW11 through the eyes of a child- so naive

marzell's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

dyno8426's review against another edition

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4.0

John Boyne has written this Holocaust story as a fable. So, this heart-breaking and upsetting tale takes a moralistic form and is replete with motifs that reflect upon human nature, extending from the atrocities of Nazi Germany and even beyond it.

First of all, there is the motif of Bruno himself who has child-like innocence and has that essential empathy which symbolises the missing link between the tortured and the torturer. The book is written with the naivety and immature pensiveness of a 9-year old child. That clearly is intended upon looking at the situations of Jews from the German perspective stripped off all the prejudices of differences between uniforms and striped attire. The wonder and curiosity that every child uses as his/her goggles to view his/her own world starkly differs Bruno from even his slightly older sister who seems to have been affected by that maturity and ownership of self-founded, self-righteous opinion which paints everything in supremacy and inferiority. Bruno questions everything starting from a blank slate and empathises with those who are supposed to be his enemy - trying to see beyond the fence dividing the two parties and balancing their differences with their similarities.

And then there is the motif of the Fence. It is the first thing that Bruno observes in his changed surroundings. He knows that somebody else has created the fence and somebody else has decided to decide who wears the stripes in this case. He dares to explore and see beyond it when he meets his friend Shmuel. In Shmuel, he sees his own reflection of childhood worries and lost memories of the world that both of them are trying to preserve to prevent it from crumbling, while being in totally different sides of fate. Fence becomes that literal barrier which prevents one's thoughts from crossing across established systems of conformance. It does not matter if one side or both are trying hard to maintain this fence. It is challenging the status quo of answers that don't make sense in the face of critical questions. The Fence then becomes a fragile construct resting on irrational beliefs of few, that can be broken through and allow people to come together.

Finally, there is the motif of Striped Pyjamas which represents the loss of individuality that is the cause and consequence of this historical tragedy. Losing one's identity is immediately followed by a loss of purpose and when push comes to shove, it is easy to get absorbed in the collective fate called history. People become numbers and statistics and either one latches on to irrational hope or completely abandons it. As a mirroring effect, the same uniform of Nazi Germany soldiers subsumed their individuality to think and act in the collective patriotism and righteousness to continue unquestionably on the path of ethnic and cultural cleansing. It was only when someone like Bruno crossed that Fence, one feels how easy it is so get lost among so many who are being herded in confusion and powerlessness and one's identity does not matter anymore in the face of survival instinct.

This book is often criticised for the preference of fiction over facts that it gives in terms of Bruno's excessive childishness in the face of something as serious as Holocaust and regarding the impossibility of such a thing happening. I do not agree with it and without any disrespect and offence to the authenticity of preserving facts and memoirs from concentration camps like Auschwitz, I believe author's aim is to see how fundamentally self-constructed are the divides in history that build up tragedies to the scale of Nazi Germany and even continue in some form, somewhere else after it. The fundamentally uncorrupted and eventually victimised human nature is borne not just by the sufferers but also by the ones who lose their morality for "something greater". The fable-like lightness in telling such an unbearable darkness is an uncomfortable experience but a necessary one to be confronted by all those young adults whose personalities get shaped by the questions they ask and the answers they get. Even the author ends with an ironical note to be reflected upon:

"Of course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age."