Whoa! There is a movie based on the book. Sneaked out of my workplace and completed the book. Though its not one of the best worded books, I love the way the author writes it from the perspective of the 9-year old Bruno! Interesting, the way the author uses the same lines everywhere he wants to talk the kid’s expression. Everytime the boy is surprised , it goes like ” …his mouth made the shape of an O and he felt his arms stretching out at his sides like they did whenever something surprised him…”
I must say its one of the best books I have ever read cause the book is so very honest with zilch glorification attached to it.
Here’s one part of the book that I loved! (No spoilers if you are planning to read the book)
The boy’s family is forced to move from Berlin to the country side and at first Bruno is all upset about leaving his ‘ three best friends for life’ cause he just loved playing with them, walking back from school munching biscuits and having all kinds of fun a nine year would with ‘friends’.
Bruno, the kid that he is, he loved exploring. From his new place in the country side he sees a lot of people wearing ‘striped’ clothes living on the other side of the fence and decides to take a walk alone. As he walks he sees a dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy!
The two kids sit cross-legged facing each other with a fence in between them and just talk. Meanwhile Bruno still misses his ‘best friends for life’ cause he never has a chance to play with anybody here on the country side. Days pass, and months pass, Bruno and the boy in the striped pyjamas spend their days talking and sitting cross-legged facing each other without even seeing each other’s face clearly cause of the barrier.
Finally, he hears from his dad that they are moving back to Berlin and there is this moment when Bruno realises that he is not happy about going back and meeting his ‘best friends for life’ and infact feels bad that he has to leave this real best friend for life who he never ‘played’ with and just spent all his time talking to him.
One of the best parts about the book is the fact that even a nine year old makes his ‘best friends’ based on how much the kid opens up to the other kid than just considering the person that you ‘play’ with the most as your best friend!
Lotsa little things to learn from the book!
