We are but mere mortals, enticed by the siren songs of flipping pages and the aroma of ink. Whether it be in hardcover or paperback, fantasy or sci-fi, comic book or non-fiction, we scour the fringes of literature new and old, mainstream and obscure, classic or contrived. Cereal boxes and warning labels arranged and rearranged to form epics. Lexicons of words contained in every layer of our lips. It's very simple. There are those who follow...and those who read.
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The Boy In The Stripes Pajamas is a horror novel. The thing is, it's not your typical throat-slash-box-cutter-serial killer horror. It's a type of horror that only has a few proponents left, a dying breed, if you will. It's the kind of horror that, instead of relying on quick shocks of panic, leaves an ever-growing mass of worry in the pit of your stomach. It's the kind of horror that isn't horrible in a physical fashion, but one that festers on the brain like a faint memory. This sense of quiet dread is what propels The Boy in The Striped Pajamas from good to great.
It's this unique perspective, of a naive six year old in what possibly is the most scary environment Earth has ever had, that sets The Boy in the Striped Pajamas apart from other stories covering the same topic. There's no anvil-level preachiness, because he's so blissfully unaware of what's happening to him. That, I believe, is where John Boyne shines in the novel. He never breaks from the perspective he's chosen solely to toss a laser-guided moral at us, the way other writers, myself included, often do. He merely expects us to realize the absurd sadness of the situation, and he knows never to tell directly.
Engaging, frightening, and tragicly heartwarming, John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas gets four and a half pages out of five. I'll see you in two weeks as we dig into a soulful and sincere story of Vietnam, Frances O'Roark Dowell's Shooting The Moon.
Feel free to leave feedback and vote on my punishment in the comments.
Tomato
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I say you should be punished, but that's probably because I'm kind of sadistic.
ReplyDeleteCan't say I've read this one, but it may have something to do with my dislike of historical fiction. If I can get off of my current fix of science-fantasy books, I may dive into this.
"We are but mere mortals..."
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know that this beautiful literary quote is hanging on the wall of quotes in all of my classrooms, Tomato. :)
Mrs. M.