The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (Book Review)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

by John Boyne

215 pages

David Fickling Books, 2006

historical/post modern

Read in 1 day

Another Review

My Rating: ★★★★

Amazon.com | BN.com

"One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the family's 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 else's business."

Review: Meet Bruno, a 9 year old boy who is precious, to say the least. He is opinionated, nosey, but most importantly, he is smarter than he seems. We see the world around him through his eyes and if you didn't read the synopsis of this book or take the time to learn anything about it you'd wonder, for a moment, where this story was headed exactly. I'll even admit that I believed the name of the house this German family moved to was actually called "Out-With" as Bruno constantly called it and heard others around him calling it. I forgot we were seeing as well as hearing and experiencing his surroundings through his eyes. Even when it becomes obvious to the reader that this is a time when Nazism is on the rise and his father is clearly a highly ranked official since the "Fury" as Bruno calls him actually visits their home! That is something I would imagine Adolf Hitler did not do very often during that time period?

In any event, Bruno's world comes crashing down around him and his older sister, when they are told they'll be moving to "Out-With." The place is much smaller than the house he's lived in all his life and both children instantly take a disliking to it. They leave their close friends behind and are then homeschooled. Upon looking out his window Bruno discovers a fence that stretches as far as his eyes can see. And on the other side of that fence he sees a lot of men as well as boys his age all wearing what he describes as "striped pajamas." Of course his curiosity takes over and his constant need to explore. 

The story is all about Bruno's understanding of who exactly his father is, learning to respect him, as well as understanding who those people on the other side of the fence in the striped pajamas are and why they are being treated the way they are. At first he envies those people because he sees all those male children and longs to go have fun with them on the other side of the fence. Even when his older (and supposedly wiser, but just as immature) sister tries to explain to him that Jews are an inferior race and they, Germans, are the superior race, therefore they need to be kept separated for the sake of their superiority, he does not understand. In a way, his child-like view on a simple matter of questioning why their should be this separation, could easily be applied to the days of segregation here in the US or any other oppressed minority at any given time. It made me wonder just how the children understood what was going on around them. Because, for some headstrong children like Bruno, no matter how hard and how often you might tell them one thing, they will believe what they want and think outside the box. While all this questioning goes on inside Bruno's head he makes an unlikely friend who resides on the other side of the fence. They quickly become best friends for the better part of a year even though their friendship, at the age of 9, revolves around nothing but conversation! Is it plausible to think these two boys can talk and talk and talk without feeling the need to play? You decide.

This is a book for young people and I suppose it can be taken in two ways: One, that questioning and curiosity isn't always a bad thing. And two, that questioning coupled with curiosity CAN lead to a bad thing. A lesson all children will learn in time.

I won't divulge any spoilers here because this is a book that can be read in a couple hours in one day and should be read by people of all ages. You might learn something about yourself.

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 from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see 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 to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

To learn more about John Boyne, visit his site here.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Book Review)

To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee

299 pages
J. B. Lippincott & Co. / July 1960

fiction

Read in 7 days

Another Review...

My Rating: ★★★★

Amazon.com | BN.com 

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow."

Review: Let me start by saying I've never read this book. I was never assigned it in school and it just never struck me as a book I wanted to read. After having absorbed it so thoroughly now, I can't imagine why. I saw the movie almost two decades ago so the actors were not in my mind as I read this book. I can tell you I will make it a point to see the movie now.

Starting this book I went into it wanting to know the reason for the title. Why the title over so many others? It's so obvious yet so complex in so many levels I can easily see why this book can be discussed from an elementary school level up and through college. I guess that's what makes a classic a classic? When a novel can stand the test of time and still be relevant material today. While our court system has much improved since the time of this book, it still serves as a stark reminder of where we were as a society and how far we've come. I'm sure many would use this book to argue we have not come as far as we'd like to think.

In short, this book starts and ends in the same place, being narrated by Scout, remembering a moment in her family's life that would forever change all parties involved. It was the 1930's and her father, Atticus Finch, a lawyer, was put on a case to defend a Negro accused of raping a young woman whose family, although white, happen to be one of the lower classes. The Ewell's are, for lack of better words, uneducated white trash. But that doesn't stop the town from believing her story, no matter how hard Atticus tries and succeeds in proving his case that the Negro, Tom Robinson, is innocent. It makes no difference to the minds of those white men in the jury box (women were not permitted to serve as jurors back then). There was no way they would side with a Negro over a white man or woman. Even if the evidence showed that girls father, a known drunk to the entire town, was the one who beat her to near death. But I'm telling too much of the story. The trial doesn't even really make an appearance until the last third of the book because it leads to what causes Jem to suffer a broken elbow. 

The book starts with Scout telling the story of how Jem, her older brother, got his injury. But it also includes the story of a man whom she & her brother have never seen but have heard stories about. That man is Boo Radley. Arthur if we're to be formal about it. 

There are many heroes in this book that I can count on multiple hands. But in order for them to be considered heroes there must be an almost equal amount of evil they fend off as well. I suppose many would say there was only one real evil in this book, old man Ewell. But look closer, if you've read it or plan to someday, and you'll find more. There are different degrees of doing good and doing bad. Atticus is a single parent trying to teach his children best he can, just how to see those differences in everyone.

Great book. I'd read it again. I'd recommend it as well.

Summary: Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic, Puliter Prize-winning novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930's.

Winner of the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Fiction.

If you want to learn more about Harper Lee please visit this site.