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goel_1996's review against another edition
3.0
Rating 3.5
Bruno is a son of a German official. Because of his dad's work, his family had to leave Berlin and move to a concentration camp. The decision baffles him, but Fury has big plans for his dad.
It's tough for the 9-year-old to adjust to his new life. There are no friends, and he misses everything about Berlin.
Eventually, he befriends a kid from the other side of the fence named Shmuelin.
Both of them meet daily and discuss their reflections of the world.
Bruno tries his best to counter the absurd things said by Shmuelin. He has an innocent yet rational take towards all the wrongdoings around him.
However, with time Bruno learns about the grim reality.
Bruno is a son of a German official. Because of his dad's work, his family had to leave Berlin and move to a concentration camp. The decision baffles him, but Fury has big plans for his dad.
It's tough for the 9-year-old to adjust to his new life. There are no friends, and he misses everything about Berlin.
Eventually, he befriends a kid from the other side of the fence named Shmuelin.
Both of them meet daily and discuss their reflections of the world.
Bruno tries his best to counter the absurd things said by Shmuelin. He has an innocent yet rational take towards all the wrongdoings around him.
However, with time Bruno learns about the grim reality.
kalschaef's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
salgalruns's review against another edition
3.0
Still pretty amazed that John Boyne was able to write a young adult story with such wonder about the Holocaust, I will never know. I found myself easily wrapped up in Bruno's life, and sighing with his innocence at the world around him.
Now, on the down side, if you read this as a true reflection of history, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, read it more as a novel with elements of the Holocaust, and you're more apt to enjoy it. There are key points that drove me nuts, such as Bruno's terminology of "Out With" and "The Fury" (even though he was corrected multiple times yet never quite got it). BUT...if you suspend disbelief as many do when reading a novel, and look at him as insanely innocent and highly protected, you can sort of look past it. Okay, not completely, but for some reason I like the kid.
The author nailed it with the fact that children are so easily molded in their beliefs. I work with students daily, 9 year olds and 12 year olds... While elements of his sister rang true to those older sisters who are almost teenagers, he comes across as the clueless one. I agree with some of the other reviewers that it is strange that he doesn't understand much of what's going on around him AT ALL. Yes, you'd think he'd get it after his dad is so high up in the regime, or that soldiers are visiting, or that Hitler himself is having dinner with them, but nope. Not a clue.
Definitely an interesting read for discussion with kids. I'd be curious to see what middle schoolers thought of this book in it's relation to other books regarding the same time period.
Now, on the down side, if you read this as a true reflection of history, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, read it more as a novel with elements of the Holocaust, and you're more apt to enjoy it. There are key points that drove me nuts, such as Bruno's terminology of "Out With" and "The Fury" (even though he was corrected multiple times yet never quite got it). BUT...if you suspend disbelief as many do when reading a novel, and look at him as insanely innocent and highly protected, you can sort of look past it. Okay, not completely, but for some reason I like the kid.
The author nailed it with the fact that children are so easily molded in their beliefs. I work with students daily, 9 year olds and 12 year olds... While elements of his sister rang true to those older sisters who are almost teenagers, he comes across as the clueless one. I agree with some of the other reviewers that it is strange that he doesn't understand much of what's going on around him AT ALL. Yes, you'd think he'd get it after his dad is so high up in the regime, or that soldiers are visiting, or that Hitler himself is having dinner with them, but nope. Not a clue.
Definitely an interesting read for discussion with kids. I'd be curious to see what middle schoolers thought of this book in it's relation to other books regarding the same time period.
stephaniesteen73's review against another edition
5.0
Heartbreaking and powerful. This will stay with me for a while.
outoftheblue14's review against another edition
5.0
One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school he was surprised to find Maria, the family maid - who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet - standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates, even the things he'd hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody's business.
I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by Irish author John Boyne in one long afternoon, as the first book in my WWII reading challenge. A children's book with very adult themes, this "fable" was translated into 34 languages and has recently been made into a film.
The narration follows Bruno, a nine-year-old German boy, as he comes home from school one day and finds that all his belongings are being packed. In fact, his family (Mother, Father, Bruno, and his older sister Gretel) are moving away from Berlin to a distant place called Out-With, because Bruno's father has been given a new, important job there.
Of course, Bruno is not happy with the change. In the new house there are no friends to play with, nor segret rooms to explore. But what is most astounding is the people he can see from the windows: men and children, all wearing some strange striped pyjamas.
I won't go into more detailed a description of the plot here, because I don't want to spoil people more than they already are. When I approached the book, I knew it was going to be about the Shoah (I won't call it Holocaust because the word is very unappropriate): apart from the number of reviews I had already read, the cover gives it away, in my opinion. It might be that I know more about the Shoah than ordinary people (in high school I took part in a special project about it, which culminated in a visit to the concentration camp in Auschwitz), but this means that I could picture the setting very well.
Reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a very strange experience. I've read many books about the same topic in the past, but I don't think I've ever come across anything similar before. I think it's very well written and engaging, and I'd definitely recommend it. It's a bittersweet, heart-wrenching story because the reader knows more than Bruno, and can understand the situation while he cannot. In addition, the ending is like a punch in the gut. As much as I was expecting something like that to happen, it was very powerful.
However, it's hard to suspend disbelief on some points. I find it difficult to believe than a German nine-year-old boy couldn't (wouldn't?) grasp Auschwitz's or the Fuhrer's name properly; and it's also hard to believe that Bruno and Shmuel's friendship could go on unnoticed for so any months. Moreover, Bruno has always led a very sheltered life; but I can't understand why Shmuel, too, won't explain to his friend how things really are in the concentration camp.
All in all, a beautiful book. But definitely hard to digest.
I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by Irish author John Boyne in one long afternoon, as the first book in my WWII reading challenge. A children's book with very adult themes, this "fable" was translated into 34 languages and has recently been made into a film.
The narration follows Bruno, a nine-year-old German boy, as he comes home from school one day and finds that all his belongings are being packed. In fact, his family (Mother, Father, Bruno, and his older sister Gretel) are moving away from Berlin to a distant place called Out-With, because Bruno's father has been given a new, important job there.
Of course, Bruno is not happy with the change. In the new house there are no friends to play with, nor segret rooms to explore. But what is most astounding is the people he can see from the windows: men and children, all wearing some strange striped pyjamas.
I won't go into more detailed a description of the plot here, because I don't want to spoil people more than they already are. When I approached the book, I knew it was going to be about the Shoah (I won't call it Holocaust because the word is very unappropriate): apart from the number of reviews I had already read, the cover gives it away, in my opinion. It might be that I know more about the Shoah than ordinary people (in high school I took part in a special project about it, which culminated in a visit to the concentration camp in Auschwitz), but this means that I could picture the setting very well.
Reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was a very strange experience. I've read many books about the same topic in the past, but I don't think I've ever come across anything similar before. I think it's very well written and engaging, and I'd definitely recommend it. It's a bittersweet, heart-wrenching story because the reader knows more than Bruno, and can understand the situation while he cannot. In addition, the ending is like a punch in the gut. As much as I was expecting something like that to happen, it was very powerful.
However, it's hard to suspend disbelief on some points. I find it difficult to believe than a German nine-year-old boy couldn't (wouldn't?) grasp Auschwitz's or the Fuhrer's name properly; and it's also hard to believe that Bruno and Shmuel's friendship could go on unnoticed for so any months. Moreover, Bruno has always led a very sheltered life; but I can't understand why Shmuel, too, won't explain to his friend how things really are in the concentration camp.
All in all, a beautiful book. But definitely hard to digest.
princess2806's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
alison_27's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
mullinscl9657's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book was from a child’s point of view. It is also from the view point of a child of a Natzi officer. I had already read the second book of the series so this book did not captivate me as much as it would have if I read it first .
mayestmonnomdecode's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Sehr gut geschriebene Geschichte, Ende wenig detailliert. Denoch 5 Sterne.
kae10_a's review against another edition
dark
informative
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: War and Torture