Word Ferret – Fiction and Literary Commentary

Sysnopsis: Young Bruno has been forced to move from his comfortable in Berlin with his family to a bleak old house in the countryside of “Out With”, where his father has become the Commandant. He spends his days bored, watching the hundreds of people on the other side of the fence from his bedroom window. They all share one charatceristic, they all wear striped pajamas. As Bruno becomes more bored and lonely, with only his “hopeless case” older sister for company, he decides to go exploring. He wanders to the fence where he meets Shmuel, a boy his age also dressed in striped pajamas like all the others. The two from a friendship and talk together from separate sides of the fence, neither of them completely aware of the horrors that surround them.

General Comments:  This book was beautifully written from Bruno’s point of view. The innocent way that he sees the world makes the narrative all the more tense as we, the readers, understand what’s really going on at “Out With” (which is really Auschwitz) and story of Bruno and Shmuel’s friendship unfolds, you know that it can only end tragically. I’ve thought aobu this book a lot and highly recommend it. Although the subject matter is hard to take, you can help but feel a glimmer of hope that comes from the story of the boy’s friendship.

About the author: Irish Born, John Boyne wrote the 1st draft of the book in only 2 and half days.

If you wish to have a read, you can pick up the book at Amazon by following this link: The Boy in The Striped Pajamas