Life On The Other Side (Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne)

Member Name: Puggers

Product:	Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
Date:	06/04/09 (450 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A clever concept, well-told, absorbing characterisation.

Disadvantages: Somewhat contrived in places, perhaps lacking the impact it should have.

This book, so reads the Guardian quote adorning its front cover, relates the story of "a moment in history that can't be told enough times". Falling within the already heavily-stuffed genre of war novels; specifically Holocaust literature, that statement may not be entirely true. A lot has been said about the subject, and though it is undoubtedly one which merits the scrutiny, it takes a special kind of novel to offer a fresh perspective on the well-documented horrors without exploiting them for emotional impact.

The ostensible success of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas suggests that this is one of those novels. A bestseller around the world, John Boyne's book was also turned into a film in 2008. The first edition of the novel gave away notably little of the plot in the blurb, only stating that this is a story about two boys who met on either side of a fence - suggesting that a reading relatively unmarked by preconceptions or expectations was the kind favoured by the author. However, later editions and the release of the film have seen more of the premise laid out in advance, and I will follow that lead.

Bruno is a nine year-old boy - and, we gather, a fairly privileged one at that. He lives in a grand house in Berlin and is used to the attentions of maids and servants - as we join the story, though, all this is about to change, much to our protagonist's chagrin. In line with the 'big things' expected of his father, a high-ranking soldier, Bruno's family are being transported away from the hustle and bustle of the capital to a most peculiar place. In the middle of nowhere stands the house which Bruno will come to call home, isolated and cut off from the rest of the world.

All around the house lies a garden, and whilst one can walk as far as they want into the forests in one direction, in the other a great fence blocks the way, and extends in either direction as far as the eye can see. Bruno, bored of his new home and being an explorer at heart, takes off to find out where the fence goes. In time, he comes across a boy much like him sitting on the opposite side of the divide - this is Shmuel, and the relationship that the two boys form across a gulf that is tiny in physical terms but irrevocably vast in other, more dominant ways is the tale at the heart of this book.

Knowing that this is a book about the Second World War which starts out set in Germany, we can piece together most of the semi-buried secrets of the novel with relative ease. Where Bruno talks of his new home at 'Out-With', we soon comprehend the place he means; likewise few will struggle to make sense of "the two words Bruno must say" whenever he greets a soldier - similar devices throughout the story keep the truth partially, barely obscured. This is a curious choice by the author; hard to work out whether it is done to keep the reader guessing a little or to convey Bruno's innocence and lack of understanding of what is going on around him. It's probably closer to the latter, although the way in which the narrative (third-person, but privy to the workings of Bruno's mind) attempts to disguise what is really being discussed often feels artificial, sometimes denying the characters convincing, natural speech.

Where The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas works extremely well is in its use of the two boys to illustrate the prevailing issues of the wider conflict; Bruno and Shmuel are a microcosm of the barbaric inequality of their society, two essentially very similar children going through very different, although in some ways parallel, experiences. In keeping with the rest of the book, Boyne chooses to present the differences between the two boys solely from Bruno's perspective; they are not a German and a Jew to him, and as such, he can't understand why they are kept apart; why Shmuel, like the others on his side of the fence, wears the eponymous striped pyjamas; or why those, like his father, who are so kind to him, are so cruel to Shmuel.

Bruno's innocence and ignorance of the prevailing conditions he lives in have attracted some criticism - as have other aspects of the book - for their historical inaccuracies. There's almost certainly truth in this; a nine year-old German child, especially a son of a high-ranking official, would surely have been thoroughly indoctrinated with the ideologies of the Hitler Youth - and even if he chose not to believe in such things, it seems implausible that Bruno would not be aware of the lines drawn between his people and the Jewish. In defence of the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is not at its heart a historical record - rather, it is in essence almost a parable, a simplified tale intended to emphasise certain points.

However, if we can forgive the novel for overlooking certain details and likelihoods, there are other aspects that weaken the book. The resolution of the story is a strong, effective one that pulls together all the aspects that have gone before into a dramatic conclusion, one which is a apt payoff for the readers' efforts. However, it's all just a little too neat; once the narrative reaches a certain stage, it's as if Boyne engages endgame and steams ahead, barely pausing en route. In the author's apparent keenness to reach the ending and top his novel off with a big-hitting finale, everything just seems a bit too convenient, with all the component parts falling into place in order, paving the way for the denouement to take place. Although this is a short book in any case, and the author never spends excessive lengths of time developing character and plot, this final section feels a fraction contrived. This fits well enough if we see the story as a parable and nothing else, but there's too much novel here as well for this to sit comfortably with the reader.

There is an awful lot of good in the novel, though. Bruno is a character who really finds his voice after a shaky first chapter or two, and is surrounded by a convincing, well-written family. Although occasionally frustrating, the way in which the book hints at the surrounding atrocities is an effective one, allowing the majority of the horrors to unfold in the readers' imaginations. The author himself has said that this is both an adult's book and one for children - I think younger readers may get more out of it, although it's an interesting, well-written perspective on a thoroughly-documented subject for readers of all ages - although not without its flaws, it's a worthwhile read, and merits a look alongside other comparable war novels.

Summary: Two children strike up an unlikely friendship across a great divide.