Nose in a Book

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

I just finished this book.  The book jacket is a little unusual so I’m going to quote it here for all of you that haven’t read it:

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is very difficult to describe.  Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book.  We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno.  (Though this isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.)  And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world.  We hope you never have to encounter such a fence.

While I do think this is a good book, I don’t think it as significant as whoever wrote that summary does.  Anyway, the book is about a nine-year old boy, Bruno, who is extremely naive (if he had been younger, the whole story would have been a lot more believable).  Bruno’s father is a commandant in Nazi Germany and is sent with him family to run Auschwitz.  Bruno goes exploring along the fence that surrounds the camp and meets a little boy on the other side of the fence.

As I mentioned before, Bruno should have been younger – the story would have worked better.  Although the evidence is right in front of his face, he never really figures out what is really going on.  I think most nine-year-olds would have picked up on the clues and put it all together.

The other thing that bothered me (and this is a tiny nit-picky detail but it really bugged me) is that Bruno called Hitler, “the Fury” and Auschwitz “Out-With”.  I understand the symbolism, it’s not all that subtle, but the book was written in English, but they would have been speaking German and as far as I know (which isn’t very far at all…) these words do not sound the same in German.  Anyone who speaks more German than me care to correct me?  (Sprechen Sie Deutsch?)

Overall, if was a good read, easy to get through and has a definite message.  It told a true story about WWII without being overly depressing, mostly because Bruno was so naive – in fact that was the most depressing thing about the book.  But just a warning – and I saw this coming from a mile away – the ending is horrifying, but it’s also kind of fitting.  Make sense?  I would give this one a 7/10.

This book was originally intended for adults but was marketed in the US for young adults.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief takes place during WWII and one of the most interesting things about it, is that it is told from the point of view of death.  I know that makes it sound like kind of a morbid story, but it’s really not.  Death is not the stereotypical grim reaper type character.  In fact, death isn’t really even a character in the story.  The story is really about a young girl named Liesel, who due to circumstances caused by the war is going to be left with a foster family in a town near Munich.  Her father has been imprisoned for his communist sympathies, her brother has died from an illness and her mother can no longer care for her.  It is as her brother is being buried that Liesel becomes the book thief, grabbing a book she spots at the graveyard.  It is this act that causes Death to take an interest in Liesel.

As Liesel goes to live with the couple that have agreed to take her in Death continues to keep an eye on her.  She quickly adjusts to her new life and develops strong relationships with her new family and some of the people who live on her street.  Liesel continues to steal books with the help of her foster father, she begins to learn to read.  She uses her stolen books for other purposes as well, including comforting neighbours during an air raid.

This story contains all the regular types of occurrences you expect to find in a WWII story – loved ones dying and disappearing , Jews being persecuted and forced into hiding, and fear and hardship, but they take such a unique twist that the story isn’t boring or predictable.  I especially love the use of colour in the narrative.  Zusak uses colour as a noun rather than an adjective and colour is a very important part of this novel.  One of the reasons I’ve chosen this as on of my favourites is that the story is touching and real, but never overly depressing.  It’s an easy read with lovable characters and an uplifting message.

I have read another book by Zusak (I am the Messanger) but it wasn’t nearly as good as The Book Thief so I won’t recommend it.