The Boy In Striped Pyjamas

Written by John Boyne and now made into a motion picture, The Boy In Striped Pyjamas is a beautiful story of innocence and play in a world of ignorance and violence. 

Young Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution or the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the terrible and appalling cruelties that are being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable and luxurious life in Berlin to a house in a desolate country area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. That is until he meets Shmuel, a boy of his age who lives a strange life on the other side of a long wire fence and who, like everyone on that side of the fence, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas. 

If you were to look for this book in any Borders, Dymocks, or Angus and Robertson, you would find it with the childrens’ books. I strongly disagree with this classification. As far as the actual writing is concerned, it is an incredibly easy read, deliberately written for a younger audience, but as far as the subject matter and setting is concerned, it should really only be read by young adults of age thirteen and up. I mean, it’s set amidst the terrors of the Holocaust, a very dark and sinister setting for a “childrens’” book. 

Aside from that little flaw, which really isn’t the author’s fault, just the ignorance of the human race at the moment, The Boy In Striped Pyjamas is a beautiful story that is instantly engaging and very easy to read. The language is frank and very simple, but still powerful enough to emblazon the mind with images and scenes that stay with you after you’ve finished the book. 

It is written in third person, the view of a beholder, which is a very effective because it directly relates to the reader (it being that they are the observer) and, I feel, proves to be more successful in stimulating the imagination. 

With a very poignant message set against a shocking and sinister background, The Boy In Striped Pyjamas is a deeply moving story, one that can easily be read in a day or two and stays with you for a long while afterwards. It’s definitely a classic that should be in any library.