Book review : The boy in striped pyjamas By John Boyne

The boy in the stripped pyjamas by John Boyne is one of the most beautiful books I got to read this year. Before reading this I had no clue of it's existence.

The book is written in first person and the story revolves around a "young man", as he likes to be addressed, 9-year old Bruno. Bruno's father is in government service and a sudden movement requires the entire family to leave their house in Berlin and shift elsewhere.

With no friends around Bruno feels sad and lonely but being an explorer at heart, sets out to explore new terrains. He becomes friends with a boy, who coincidentally shares the same date of birth and year as Bruno.

Bruno is happy with the new found friend and a new routine of exploration and finally settled in the new life.

The story continues with Bruno and his friend and how people around them affect them.

This was the first book suggested to me by one of the members of a new book club that I joined and I just picked it up with no perceptions attached. I did ask anyone if they has read this book but when I posted the first picture, there were many who said they liked it when they read it.

This book takes you by surprise.

The author has written it from the point of view of a 9-year-old, the way he sees the world. Infact the author -John Boyne has gone into great details of elaborating and mentioning each thing from a 9-year olds perspective. Even the chapter titles makes one believe as a 9-year-old has has written them.

The narrative is simple and it makes one fall in love with Bruno. The author has brilliantly used a child's imagination in depicting his whereabouts, people's demeanor and their character.

Before starting this book though, I did read a few reviews, which said, 'it is sad' and hence all throughout, my imagination was set on, Bruno getting hurt. Maybe because I am a woman or the brilliance in the author's words, I so wanted to protect Bruno all along.

And here is the truth - The boy in striped pyjamas is based on the Holocaust.

Yes, that in itself sounds deadly and scary. But what took my heart was the narration. the author engrosses you from starting to the end into the life of Bruno. Infact for people who love books which set you free to imagine while laying the plot, this is a treasure. I loved it, I could almost see Bruno walking around with his tiny feet and little shoes getting dirty in mud by all the walking and the 'young man' sitting and cleaning his shoes at the end of the day.

I'll give full credit to the author for being simple yet informative to set the perfect stage for imagination. The way he plays with words and leaves certain things unsaid, unspoken yet known is ....love. A book written on a serious topic depicting it's effect on kids. It does make one think what all we do, have a great impact on children around and we all need to be cautious about it.

I'll rate is a 5 on 5.