THE BOY IN THE STRIPPED PYJAMAS: JOHN BOYNE

If I would give stars to this story it'll get a 5/5.

I have read Khaled Hosseini's' books and it was painful and then I read Anne Frank, and then I read this one, so, yeah I'm broken and have a little faith in humanity. I know it was decades ago but the Afghanistan situation is not over yet. So, read ahead to know more about this story, based on the Holocaust of WWII.

Little about the author:

This book is beautifully written by John Boyne. John Boyne is a well known Irish writer. The author is famous for his beautiful write-ups and the feeling his books gives us. I loved the way he has written it, it feels like you are really reading into a little boys mind. The little things that kids ask because they can’t conclude what it actually means or represents. 

About the story: 

It starts in Berlin with a boy named Bruno. He wants to become an explorer and that's why he keeps exploring in his surrounding. Bruno has big plans for his exploration life, he had already found his three best friends for life. He was happily living with his father, mother and the hapless case his sister along with some house help. But then his father gets promoted to become a Commandant and they were supposed to move to a new place.

They shift to their new home and Bruno assumes it is called Out-With he couldn't say it properly but he was sure that it is Out-with and he is saying it right. Nobody liked the place, because it had a cold feeling which did not feel like home. He could watch people on the other side of the fence and he thought why he couldn't go and play with the boys he spotted.

The generic doubts of a child in an unfiltered manner are well written and I could feel that throughout the fable. There were some words that he didn't know the meaning of and it was written there too. Let me elaborate what Out-with is, its Auschwitz where a large concentration camp was set by the Nazis. Auschwitz was in Poland when Germany attacked Poland during second world war and set-up their one of the largest concentration camps there where thousands were killed and the data was destroyed. It's a depressing place to be and the father kept his kids at such a place.

After reading this book and understanding for a couple of days, (I think I understand, lol) I cannot imagine a man keeping his own children at some place where he is giving orders to kill thousands every day. Bruno could watch all the people from his window and decided to go for a walk and he stumbled upon a figure which became his birthday sharing partner and his only friend. When the story ended I wasn't crying like a baby but I was broken, it tore my heart apart. Generally, I cry and it's over by a month or so but this was hurting on a different level. The end was wrapped up so smoothly all the questions answered. And there was a reflection period for everything.

I felt that the Commandant and the mother were not completely happy about the situation they were put in, that’s why they kept their children away from the hateful temperament everyone was supposed to have. But at the later stage, we can see that Gretel was studying maps with all the pins which means that they wanted to seed the Nazi motto but at the right time. Bruno couldn't understand why Commandant said that those were not people. Mother was trying to hide something that pained her a lot but she couldn't say anything to Commandant and kept taking her medicinal drinks.

The book:

The one I have is a vintage classic, and it has all the small questions answered at the end of the story along with the interview of the writer himself. For some stories its important to know what exactly would have happened to the particular character. There is a complete article dedicated to individual characters. On top of everything else the fable as the title says is beautifully and satisfactorily closed. There is no room to worry or to crave for the unanswered questions. I honestly like it better, where I get a proper closure.