2. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - 50 Books in a Year

After I finished The Kite Runner, I thought it would be good to read something a bit lighter, funnier and more uplifting. Then Aidan thrust his copy of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas into my hands. I knew it was something to do with the Holocaust, having gleaned that much from the trailer for the film, but thought, it being a children's book (aimed at Year 7ish), it couldn't be that harrowing to read.

Given To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favourite books, I should have known better. It's the same concept: a child telling a story through their own eyes, with the reader understanding more than the child themself does. It makes it all the more chilling to read of a concentration camp in the childish language of a 9-year-old, just as Scout's innocent narrative of racism in the deep South renders it more disturbing to her audience.

Aidan would say it is a spoiler to mention the Holocaust as he thinks the book is at its most powerful when the reader has no concept of its subject matter and thus gradually understands as Bruno, the narrator, tells his story. I agree with him, but it's hard to write a book review without revealing anything about the book.

Having spent several years of my life studying the Second World War from various angles, I suspected I might find this book somewhat clichéd. But the perspective is different; Bruno is the son of a Nazi officer who has found favour with 'the Fury' and runs the concentration camp at 'Outwith'. He befriends a Jewish boy who lives on the other side of the barbed wire fence which is all that separates his hellish life from Bruno's cosseted one.

The characters in this book are well developed and Bruno's thoughts, as a 9-year-old boy, will resonate with any other boy of a similar age. I felt there was a discussion to be had about just how far the author pushed Bruno's naivety - at times he seemed to be doggedly determined in his failure to understand the events unfolding around him - but most books request you to suspend disbelief in one way at some point anyway, and as long as it is in one way only, as it is here, I will happily acquiesce.

The only weak point for me was the ending. I'm very particular about endings, and this one didn't quite satisfy, but it was also suitably harrowing; a plus point in my book, as I hate sugar-coated finales.

I have not yet seen the film, but want to do so. I'm curious to see how they could interpret a book whose principal purpose is to convey its tale via a specific means of narration rather than plot. I've heard good things though, so will reserve judgement.

Next up is book 3: Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin.