The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas - Book Review

This review contains spoilers for The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

Look, this was a sad book. But in the words of some random critic (who was actually talking about the movie): it "hijacked the Holocaust for a tragedy about a Nazi family".

This book was good and very sad, it's true. But I think the problem with The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas is that all of its reflection around the horrors of the Holocaust was only implied. I must admit that I originally did appreciate the subtlety of it all but then I realised that maybe it wasn't such a good thing. 

After discussing the story with my friend, I realised that this book was not as amazing as some people make it out to be. I have so much to say about this book that I don't think I will have the patience to write it all down in this review. But I'll try.

Ok I'm gonna start with the end. Bruno was gassed in Auschwitz. It was certainly a shock. It leaves the readers feeling terrible for Bruno and his family. Oh no. Poor Nazis (/s). Seriously. How about the LITERAL CONCERNTRATION CAMP PRISONERS? Nobody who was in that gas chamber should have been there.

The most shocking and memorable scene of the book should be one that reflects how much Jews and others suffered during WWII. Instead, the moment that is left on readers' minds is one that evokes sympathy for an affluent Nazi boy and his family. The ending of the book completely disregards the suffering of those in Auschwitz. And what makes it worse is the fact that the Holocaust actually happened in real life. I would imagine that the ending would be an insult to Holocaust survivors, who have already been through an infinite amount of suffering. A group that was already a minority got pushed into the background again. 

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas presents the wrong people as the victims of the Holocaust. In fact, it completely overlooks the unimaginable amount of pain that was experienced by Jewish people. It is important to hear both sides of the story, but nothing can excuse what Nazis did.

The book was also historically/factually inaccurate but I'm not gonna rant about that. Its entire plot relies on historical inaccuracies. It's almost as if John Boyne didn't do any research and managed to write a bestselling book out of what he learnt about WWII in school.

I think that TBITSP got a lot of recognition that it didn't deserve. It is a problematic and inaccurate novel that tries to cute-ify the Holocaust. I think that books that were written by Jewish authors, or at least authors who actually did their research, deserve the same amount of exposure as TBITSP received.
I'm very disappointed. :(

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, 13+* ★★

*This age recommendation is only my opinion. Some younger people might feel comfortable reading this book, and some older people might not. That's fine, either way. Warning for low level violence,  death of family and potentially upsetting themes.