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{{short description|2006 novel by John Boyne}}
'''{{For|the film|The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film)}}
{{For|the film|The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film){{!}}''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' (film)}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2009}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox Book | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
{{Infobox book
| name = The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
| name = The Boy in the Striped <!--Do not change this spelling -->Pyjamas<!--This is original Irish spelling -->
| title_orig =
| translator =
| author = [[John Boyne]]
| language = English
| image = [[Image:Theboyinthestripedpyjamas.jpg|200px]]
| country = Ireland
| image_caption =
| author = [[John Boyne]]
| genre = [[historical novel|Historical]]
| publisher = [[David Fickling Books]]
| illustrator =
| isbn = 0-385-60940-X|<!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| cover_artist =
| country = [[Republic of Ireland]]
| title_orig =
| language = [[English language|English]]
| translator =
| series =
| image = Theboyinthestripedpyjamas.jpg
| caption = UK first edition book cover
| genre = [[Children's literature|Children]], [[historical novel|historical]], [[Tragicomedy]], [[Fable]]
| cover_artist =
| publisher = [[David Fickling Books]]
| pub_date = 5 January 2006
| series =
| pub_date = 6 January 2006
| english_pub_date =
| english_pub_date =
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pages = 216 pp
| media_type = Print (hard cover & paper back)
| isbn = ISBN 0-385-60940-X
| pages = 216
| dewey = 823.914 22
| oclc= 62132588
| congress = CS 2006/45764
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| oclc = 62132588
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = [[All the Broken Places]]
}}
}}
'''''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas''''' (ISBN 0-385-60940-X) is a 2006 novel about Germans and the [[the Holocaust|Holocaust]], from the point of view of a young boy, written by [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] novelist [[John Boyne]]. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of '' The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end. <ref name = SarahWebb>{{cite web | url = http://www.sarahwebb.info/childrens-books-John-Boyne.html | title = Interview with Children’s Author John Boyne (2006) | work = Sarah Webb | accessdate = 2007-02-23 }}</ref> To date, the novel has sold more than 5 million copies around the world, and was published as '''''The Boy in the Striped Pajamas''''' in the [[United States]]. In both 2007 and 2008 it was the best selling book of the year in Spain. It has also reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in the UK, Ireland, Australia and many other countries.


'''''The Boy in the Striped <!--Do not change this spelling -->Pyjamas<!--This is original Irish spelling -->''''' is a 2006 historical fiction novel by [[List of Irish novelists|Irish novelist]] [[John Boyne]]. The plot concerns a German boy named Bruno whose father is the [[commandant]] of [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] and Bruno's friendship with a Jewish detainee named Shmuel.
==Plot summary==


Boyne wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without sleeping much; but also said that he was quite a serious student of [[Holocaust]]-related literature for years before the idea for the novel even came to him.
<!-- Please do not edit the age of Bruno, "nine-year-old" is correct! This article is about the book in which he is 9, not the film. -->


The book has received a divided response from critics, with positive reviews praising the story as an effective [[Moral|morality tale]]. Holocaust scholars, historians and memorial organizations have criticised the book for its historical inaccuracies, which have been deemed potentially damaging to [[Holocaust education]] efforts.
Bruno is a nine-year old boy who is growing up in Berlin during World War II. He lives in a 5-story house with his parents, his 12 year old sister Gretel and a few servants. His father has a very important job and they have just been visited by a man called the 'Fury' (aka Hitler). After he visits, his father gets a new uniform and his title is changed to 'Commandant', and to Bruno's displeasure the family have to move away to a place called Out-With (Auschwitz).


The book was a best seller, topping the list in Spain for both 2007 and 2008, and reaching number one on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' Best Seller list]] in 2008. The book was adapted into a [[The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film)|film of the same name]] in 2008, a ballet in 2017 and an opera entitled ''A Child in Striped Pyjamas'' in 2023. A sequel, ''[[All the Broken Places]]'', was published in 2022.
When Bruno gets there he is immediately homesick after leaving behind his home, grandparents, and his three best friends. He is unhappy with his new home. It only has three floors and there are always soldiers coming in and out of the house. Bruno is lonely and has no one to talk to or play with. However, one day while Bruno is looking out of his window he notices a bunch of people all wearing the same striped pyjamas. As he is a curious child, Bruno asks his father who these people are, but gets a rather unusual answer. His father tells him that these people are not people at all.


== Background ==
Bruno is not allowed to explore the house or its surroundings. Due to sheer curiosity and boredom, he is forced to explore. He spots a dot in the distance on the other side of the fence and as he gets closer, he sees it's a boy. Excited by the prospect of a friend, Bruno introduces himself. The Jewish boy's name is Shmuel. Almost every day, they meet at the same spot and talk. Eventually, for a variety of reasons, Bruno decides to climb under the fence and explore Shmuel's world.
John Boyne has described the conception of his novel as an idea popping into his head instantly of "two boys, the mirror of each other, sitting either side of a wire fence". While the conception of the book came about fast, his inspiration for writing has a more lengthy foundation. Boyne has stated that his style and writing process has been influenced by [[Malcolm Bradbury]] at the [[University of East Anglia]], who suggested he write every day without rest days.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Boyne|first=John|title=My working day 'I began on Wednesday morning and continued for 60 hours'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/01/john-boyne-my-writing-day|work=The Guardian|date=1 April 2017}}</ref>


Unlike the other novels written by him, Boyne has described how he wrote the first draft of ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' in roughly two and a half days; the idea for the novel came to him on Tuesday, April 27, and he then wrote non-stop until Friday at noon. Afterwards, he ended up writing ten different drafts before sending his book to the editor.<ref name=":0" /> While Boyne has said that he was quite a serious student of [[Holocaust]]-related literature for years before the idea for the novel even came to him,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.whatsonlive.co.uk/shropshire/interviews/john-boyne-talks-about-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/3133 |title=John Boyne talks About The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas |publisher=www.whatsonlive.co.uk |access-date=2019-12-14}}</ref> he also describes his book as a "fable", that relies more on a story of moral truth than historical accuracy.<ref name=":1" />
The story ends with Bruno about to go back to Berlin with his mother and sister on the orders of his father. As a final adventure, he agrees to dress in a set of striped pyjamas and goes in under the fence to help Shmuel find his father, who went missing in the camp. The boys are unable to find him, and just as it starts to rain and get dark, Bruno decides he would like to go home, but they are rounded up in a crowd of people by the Nazi guards who start them on a march.
Neither boy knows where this march will lead. However, they are soon crowded into a gas chamber, which Bruno assumes is a place to keep them dry from the rain until it stops. The author leaves the story with Bruno pondering, yet unafraid, in the dark holding hands with Shmuel. "...Despite the chaos that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go".


==Plot==
In an epilogue, Bruno's family spend several months at their home trying to find Bruno, before his mother and Gretel return to Berlin, only to discover he is not there as they had expected. A year afterwards, his father returns to the spot that the soldiers found Bruno's clothes (the same spot Bruno spent the last year of his life) and, after a brief inspection, discovers that the fence is not properly attached at the base and can form a gap big enough for a boy of Bruno's size to fit through. Using this information, his father eventually pieces together that they gassed Bruno to death. Several months later, the [[Red Army]] arrives to liberate the camp and orders Bruno's father to go with them. He goes without complaint, because "he didn't really mind what they did to him anymore".
Bruno is a <!-- Do not change to eight! -->nine<!-- He's nine in the book, eight in the film – this article is about the book -->-year-old boy growing up during [[World War II]] in [[Berlin]]. He lives with his parents, his twelve-year-old sister Gretel whom he has nicknamed "A Hopeless Case", and maids, one of whom is named Maria and another is a Jewish chef named Pavel. After a visit by [[Adolf Hitler]], whose title the ''[[Führer]]'' Bruno commonly mispronounces as "Fury", Bruno's father Ralf is promoted to [[Commandant]] of the death camp [[Auschwitz]], which Bruno mispronounces as "Out-With".


Bruno is initially upset about having to move to Auschwitz and is almost in tears at the prospect of leaving his "best friends for life", Daniel, Karl, and Martin. From the house at Auschwitz, Bruno sees the camp in which the prisoners' uniforms appear to him to be "striped pyjamas". One day Bruno decides to explore the wire fence surrounding the camp. He meets a [[Jewish]] boy, Shmuel, who he learns shares his birthday (April 15) and age. Shmuel says that his father, grandfather, and brother are with him on his side of the fence, but he is separated from his mother. Bruno and Shmuel talk and become very good friends although Bruno still does not understand very much about Shmuel or his life. Nearly every day, unless it is raining, Bruno goes to see Shmuel and sneaks him food. Over time, Bruno notices that Shmuel is rapidly losing weight.
==Controversy==


Bruno concocts a plan with Shmuel to sneak into the camp to look for Shmuel's father, who has gone missing. Shmuel brings a set of prison clothes and Bruno leaves his own clothes outside the fence. As they search the camp they are captured, added to a group of prisoners on a [[death march|"march"]], and led into a [[gas chamber]], which Bruno assumes is simply a rain shelter. In the gas chamber, Bruno apologises to Shmuel for not finding his father and tells Shmuel that he is his best friend for life. It is not made clear if Shmuel answers before the doors close and the lights go out, although Bruno determines to never let go of Shmuel's hand.
The book is a novel: it is not [[historical fiction]]. The very premise of the book - that there would be a child of Shmuel's age - is, according to critics, an unacceptable fabrication that does not reflect the reality of life in the camps.


Bruno is never seen again, his clothes being discovered by a soldier days later. His mother, Elsa, spends months searching for him, even returning to their old home, before at last moving back to Berlin with Gretel, who isolates herself in her room. (Boyne develops Gretel's life in his 2022 novel ''[[All the Broken Places|All The Broken Places]]''.) Ralf spends a year more at Auschwitz, becoming ruthless and cold to his subordinates, while haunted by visions of Bruno. Near the end of that year, on a theory, he returns to the place where Bruno's clothes were found, discovering the gap in the fence. He deduces how his son disappeared and collapses to the ground in grief. Months later, Allied troops liberate the camp and Ralf, wracked with guilt and self-loathing, allows himself to be taken without resistance.
Rabbi [[Benjamin Blech]] condemned it: "This book is not just a lie and not just a fairytale, but a profanation." His chief complaint is that it supports the idea that ordinary people were unaware of the horrors of the Nazis' mass extermination of Jews. He argues that everyone for miles around could smell the stench of death and expresses doubt that the 9-year-old son of a Nazi official could be unaware of what a Jew is (or whether he himself is one).


The book ends with the phrase "Of course, all of this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age".
He writes, "Note to the reader: There were no nine-year-old Jewish boys in [[Auschwitz]] -- the Nazis immediately gassed those not old enough to work. Also, the [[Auschwitz]] death camp was surrounded by electric fences, making any attempts to crawl in through a hole impossible."<ref>http://www.aish.com/societyWork/arts/The_Boy_in_the_Striped_Pajamas.asp</ref><ref>Compare the Critical Reception section on [[The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film)]]</ref>. Such alleged falsification of history has important consequences, say Boyne's critics, for the way that the victims of the Holocaust might be remembered and commemorated, thus reviving arguments that were previously aired about [[Steven Spielberg]]'s [[Schindler's List]] and the manner in which that film sanitised and falsified aspects of the concentration camp experience too.<ref>See: Loshitzky , Y. (ed.) Spielberg's Holocaust: Critical Perspectives on Schindler's List, Indiana University Press, 1997</ref>
The subtitle "a fable," which is attached to the main title is entirely erroneous, because as any definition of a fable - including the Wiki definition – suggests a fable is "a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim," and that clearly does not fit the story at hand. It implies that any camp with people exterminating other people is a story, a myth, thus reinforcing those who attempt to deny the holocaust happened.


== References ==
== Genre and style ==
''The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas'' fits into the genre of Holocaust [[fiction]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/a-debate-over-the-limits-of-representation/article1374463/|title=A debate over the 'limits of representation'|access-date=2019-12-05}}</ref> Boyne uses general knowledge about the Holocaust to create a self-described "fable", that relies more on a story of moral truth than historical accuracy.<ref name=":1" /> This type of literature, as shown in ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,'' tends to be told to children, from a child's perspective.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Bayer |first1=Gerd |title=World War II Fiction and the Ethics of Trauma |journal=DQR Studies in Literature |volume=48 |year=2011 |pages=155–174, 299 |id={{ProQuest|896482224}} }}</ref> By having one child share the "bitter herbs" of history with another, the novel instills moral obligation in children.<ref name=":2" />
{{Reflist}}


Kenneth Kidd, professor of English at the University of Florida, argues that John Boyne's use of fable allows him to explore the darker elements of the Holocaust with more of a cautionary tale resulting.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|chapter=Emergence: How Novelty, Growth, and Formation Shape Organizations and Their Ecosystems|last1=Seidel|first1=Marc-David L.|last2=Greve|first2=Henrich R.|title = Emergence|series = Research in the Sociology of Organizations|date=2017-03-24|volume = 50|pages = 1–27 |doi=10.1108/S0733-558X20170000050020|isbn = 978-1-78635-915-5}}</ref>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The}}
[[Category:2006 novels]]
[[Category:Holocaust literature]]
[[Category:Irish novels]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into films]]


== Analysis ==
[[ca:El noi del pijama de ratlles]]
Sophie Melissa Smith, a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, argues that writing a factual story as a fable is damaging as it may produce misconceptions about the Holocaust.<ref name=":4" /> Examples include the ability of Shmuel to escape work and Bruno's ability to approach an electrified fence.<ref>Topography of Terror: A Documentation, trans. by Pamela Selwyn, (Eberl Print: Immenstadt, 2008){{page needed|date=August 2020}}</ref>
[[cs:Chlapec v pruhovaném pyžamu]]
[[de:Der Junge im gestreiften Pyjama]]
[[es:El niño con el pijama de rayas]]
[[eu:Pijama marradunaz jantzitako mutikoa]]
[[gl:O neno do pixama a raias]]
[[it:Il bambino con il pigiama a righe]]
[[nl:De jongen in de gestreepte pyjama]]
[[ja:縞模様のパジャマの少年]]
[[pt:The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas]]
[[fi:Poika raidallisessa pyjamassa]]
'''


Smith claims that Boyne lowers the culpability of Nazis like Bruno's father by not just humanizing them but also creating a sense of obligation in characters like Bruno's father, as Bruno's father was a Commandant at a large concentration camp.<ref name=":4" /> Additionally, the depiction of the story told through Bruno creates a greater ignorance of the Nazi regime by using words such as "the Fury" in place of the [[Adolf Hitler|Fuhrer]] and "Out-with" in place of Auschwitz.<ref name=":1" /> Generally, critics see the trivialization of the Nazi regime in this portrayal as damaging to Holocaust education.<ref name="problem">{{cite web |first=Hannah May |last=Randall |title=The Problem with 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' |website=holocaustlearning.org.uk |date=31 May 2019 |url=https://holocaustlearning.org.uk/latest/the-problem-with-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/ |access-date=22 November 2021}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=Michael |s2cid=143231358 |title=''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'': A Blessing or Curse for Holocaust Education? |journal=Holocaust Studies |date=December 2014 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=109–136 |doi=10.1080/17504902.2014.11435377 }}</ref>
The subtitle "a fable," which is attached to the main title is entirely erroneous, because as any definition of a fable - including the Wiki definition – suggests a fable is "a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim," and that clearly does not fit the story at hand. It implies that any camp with people exterminating other people is a story, a myth, thus reinforcing those who attempt to deny the holocaust happened.

=== Educational implications ===
A 2009 study by the [[London Jewish Cultural Centre]] conducted a survey in which 70% of respondents thought Boyne's novel was based on a true story.<ref name=":5" /> Many students also thought "the tragic death of Bruno brought about the end of concentration camps."<ref name=":4" />

Michael Gray, Director of Studies at [[Harrow School]] and author of ''Contemporary Debates in Holocaust Education'' and ''Teaching the Holocaust: Practical Approaches for Ages 11-18'', described the book in 2014 as "a curse for Holocaust education."<ref>[https://gcedclearinghouse.org/sites/default/files/resources/The%20boy%20in%20the%20striped%20pyjamas.PDF The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Blessing or Curse for Holocaust Education?, Michael Gray]</ref> In an opinion column for the ''[[Jewish Chronicle]]'', Noah Max criticised Gray: "Gray's 2015 study... [found] that 'respondents ''almost universally'' expressed their eagerness for studying the topic and frequently remarked that this [the Shoah] was one of the most interesting periods of history'. (My italics.) His sample of 298 [[Year 9]] students from London and Oxford is perilously narrow given the book's widespread popularity and none of his other findings are anywhere near that substantial. However, even in a sample so small, any 'universal' finding is worthy of close attention."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Max |first=Noah |date=4 April 2023 |title='Why I stand by my opera version of Striped Pyjamas' |pages=18 |work=The Jewish Chronicle |url=https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/all/why-i-stand-by-my-opera-version-of-striped-pyjamas-35u3dcb04k66CBOZGI7VnG}}</ref>

Criticising the book's accuracy, the [[Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum]] commented in 2020 that the novel "should be avoided by anyone who studies or teaches about the Holocaust."<ref>{{cite news |last=McGreevy |first=Ronan |title=Avoid John Boyne's Holocaust novel, Auschwitz Museum advises |work=[[The Irish Times]] |date=5 January 2020 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/avoid-john-boyne-s-holocaust-novel-auschwitz-museum-advises-1.4131194}}</ref> The [[Melbourne Holocaust Museum]], while finding the book a powerful introduction to the subject, cautions teachers regarding its many inaccuracies. Additionally, they question where the empathy lies as many young readers will focus on the fact that Bruno died rather than the millions of Jews.<ref>[https://mhm.org.au/boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/ How to study 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' in the classroom]</ref>

Professor Gerd Bayer from the [[University of Erlangen–Nuremberg|University of Erlangen]] has stated that Boyne's reader should not rely on "the actual truth-value of his text".<ref name="bayer">{{cite journal |last1=Bayer |first1=Gerd |title=World War II Fiction and the Ethics of Trauma |journal=DQR Studies in Literature |volume=48 |year=2011 |pages=155–174, 164 |id={{ProQuest|896482224}} }}</ref>

Following on from their research in 2016, that suggested that pupils reach mistaken and/or misleading conclusions about the Holocaust from the book, the [[University College London|UCL]] Centre for Holocaust Education's 2020 research found that 35% of teachers in England conducting lessons on the Holocaust use it, or the film.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in English secondary schools |url=https://holocausteducation.org.uk/research/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-in-english-secondary-schools/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Centre of Holocaust Education |publisher=[[University College London]]}}</ref>

In response to Noah Max's operatic adaptation of the book, Professor Nathan Abrams wrote that "it is a very tricky task to translate the magnitude of the Holocaust to a younger audience. Any device, however flawed, should be applauded for attempting to do so even if it does not fully succeed. It is the task of the reader to go and learn more to put the novel in context."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is now an opera – the case for adapting the book that the Auschwitz Museum said 'should be avoided' |url=https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/2023-01-27-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-is-now-an-opera-the-case-for-adapting-the-book-that |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=Bangor University}}</ref>

==Reception==
In both 2007 and 2008, it was the best-selling book of the year in Spain,<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Stuart J. |last1=Foster |first2=Andy |last2=Pearce |first3=Alice |last3=Pettigrew |date=2020 |title=Holocaust Education: Contemporary Challenges and controversies |location=London |publisher=UCL Press |isbn=978-1-78735-798-3 |oclc=1159166150}}</ref> and it reached number one on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' Best Seller list]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.johnboyne.com/about/ |publisher=John Boyne |access-date=2016-03-15}}</ref>

[[Kathryn Hughes]], writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'', calls the novel "a small wonder of a book." She takes issue with the laxness of Auschwitz and describes the novel as "something that borders on fable," arguing that "Bruno's innocence comes to stand for the willful refusal of all adult Germans to see what was going on under their noses."<ref>{{cite news |last=Hughes |first=Kathryn |title=Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by David Fickling |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=21 January 2006 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jan/21/featuresreviews.guardianreview18 |access-date=}}</ref>

[[Nicholas Tucker]], writing in ''[[The Independent]]'', calls the novel "a fine addition to a once taboo area of history, at least where children's literature is concerned." He asserts that it is a good depiction of a tragic event that strays away from graphic details, with the exception of the "killer punch" at the end of the novel.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tucker|first=Nicholas|title=The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-by-john-boyne-6111909.html|work=The Independent|date=13 January 2006}}</ref>

Ed Wright, writing in ''[[The Age]]'' of Melbourne, calls the novel "a touching tale of an odd friendship between two boys in horrendous circumstances and a reminder of man's capacity for inhumanity." He felt that the depiction of Bruno and Shmuel's friendship was a classic childhood friendship with a naïvety of their surroundings. He concludes by observing that "''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is subtitled ''A Fable''", and sets out to create a moral story of human nature in a fable format.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wright|first=Ed|title=The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas|url=https://www.theage.com.au/news/book-reviews/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/2006/01/03/1136050420787.html|work=The Age|date=3 January 2006}}</ref>

[[A. O. Scott]], writing in ''[[The New York Times]]'', questioned the author and publisher's choice to intentionally keep the Holocaust setting of the book vague in both the dust jacket summary and the early portion of the novel.<ref name=":10" /> Scott described how the experiences of the characters were supposed to be represented as separate from the setting of the Holocaust, and this creates a lack of the informative nature seen in other novels of Holocaust literature such as ''[[Night (memoir)|Night]]'' by Elie Wiesel.<ref name=":10" /> Scott claims that "there is something awkward about the way Boyne manages to disguise, and then to disclose, the historical context."<ref name=":10" /> Scott concludes that "to mold the Holocaust into an allegory, as Boyne does here with perfectly benign intent, is to step away from its reality."<ref name=":10">{{cite news |last=Scott |first=A. O. |author-link=A. O. Scot |title=Something Is Happening |work=[[The New York Times]] |department=Books |date=12 November 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/Scott.t.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-11-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705003805/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/books/Scott.t.html |archive-date=2018-07-05 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Rabbi]] [[Benjamin Blech]] offered a historical criticism, contending that the premise of the book and subsequent film{{snd}}that there could be a child of Shmuel's age in Auschwitz{{snd}}was impossible, writing of the book: "Note to the reader: there were no 9-year-old Jewish boys in Auschwitz{{snd}}the Nazis immediately gassed those not old enough to work."<ref name=Blech20081023>{{cite news|last=Blech|first=Benjamin|title=The Boy in the Striped Pajamas|url=https://www.aish.com/j/as/48965671.html|work=Aish|date=23 October 2008}}</ref> Rabbi Blech affirmed the opinion of a [[Holocaust]] survivor friend that the book is "not just a lie and not just a fairytale, but a profanation." Students who read it, he warns, may believe the camps "weren't that bad" if a boy could conduct a clandestine friendship with a Jewish captive of the same age, unaware of "the constant presence of death."<ref name=Blech20081023/>

Holocaust scholar Henry Gonshak rebuts Blech's historical contention in his book, ''Hollywood and the Holocaust''. He writes that "the rabbi found implausible Shmuel's very existence in the camp," but states that "Blech is factually incorrect."<ref name=":11" /> While there were no female children, records have shown that in 1944 "there were 619 male children at the camp, ranging in age from one month to fourteen years old."<ref name=":11" />

Gonshak acknowledges that this presence of children does not take away from the thousands who were murdered in the gas chambers.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vOeYCgAAQBAJ&q=blech+%22boy+in+the+striped+pajamas%22&pg=PA272|title=Hollywood and the Holocaust|isbn=9781442252240|last=Gonshak|first=Henry|date=2015-10-16|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref>

== In other media ==
In 2008, two years after being published, the novel was made into a movie ''[[The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (film)|The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas]]'', directed by [[Mark Herman]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |publisher=[[Fandango Media]] |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/boy_in_the_striped_pajamas |access-date=2024-11-04}}</ref>

In 2017, the novel was adapted into a ballet by the [[Northern Ballet]]. The score is produced by [[Gary Yershon]].<ref name=":6">{{cite news|title=Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/review-boy-striped-pyjamas-1776136|work=[[Yorkshire Post]]|date=4 June 2017}}</ref> Reviews of the ballet are generally negative with Zo and Euml Anderson of ''[[The Independent]]'' stating the casting of children's parts as adults works against "the naivety of a child's viewpoint," which the novel captures.<ref>{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Zoë |title=The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas review: Clumsy staging of novel |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-review-richmond-theatre-a7785771.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=12 June 2017}}</ref> ''[[The Yorkshire Post]]''{{'}}s review described the score as "a relentless assault on the ears," but apart from the music, it stated that it has redeemable quality in the cast, despite being depressing.<ref name=":6" />

In 2023 the novel was adapted into an opera entitled ''A Child In Striped Pyjamas'' by Noah Max.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=North |first=Nic |date=April 21, 2022 |title=Hollywood giant relents over $1m demand to stage Holocaust opera |pages=3 |work=[[The Jewish Chronicle]] |url=https://www.thejc.com/news/news/hollywood-giant-relents-over-usd1m-demand-to-stage-holocaust-opera-7wbxHYOkK8QSDTH9THXXwv?reloadTime=1650557591841}}</ref> He says of Boyne's book: "It's very hard to convince children to read a book about something as dark and serious as the Holocaust and what I find amazing is that while not all adults get the profound symbolism of the story, kids get it. They pick up on the fact that the children have the same birthday and are the same child."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Galton |first=Bridget |date=May 4, 2022 |title=Composer to stage opera of Boy in the Striped Pyjamas |work=[[Ham & High]] |url=https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/things-to-do/hampstead-comoposer-writes-holocaust-opera-8931524}}</ref> On the appropriateness of depicting the Holocaust through opera, Max says: "the only way to convey its magnitude{{snd}}and in such a way that people understood it was symbolic and not real{{snd}}was through opera."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Coghlan |first=Alexandra |title=Noah Max: my fight to make A Child in Striped Pyjamas |newspaper=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/noah-max-my-fight-to-make-a-child-in-striped-pyjamas-wzw7d3ljh |access-date=2023-03-06 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> The piece was positively received by critics. Barry Millington gave ''A Child In Striped Pyjamas'' four stars in the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', describing the work as "intense, harrowing drama... [which] invites universal grief".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Millington |first=Barry |date=2023-01-13 |title=A Child in Striped Pyjamas at the Cockpit review – intense, harrowing drama |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/opera/a-child-in-striped-pyjamas-at-the-cockpit-review-opera-b1052748.html |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=Evening Standard }}</ref> In ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', [[Nicholas Kenyon]] wrote that the piece was "emotionally ambitious... vocally eloquent... there can be no doubt of the integrity with which the tight-knit company deliver it."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kenyon |first=Nicholas |date=2023-01-12 |title=A Child In Striped Pyjamas: Holocaust drama that's emotionally ambitious and diligently delivered |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/what-to-see/child-striped-pyjamasecho-ensemble-cockpit-theatre-review-emotionally/ |access-date=2023-03-06 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==Sequel==
A sequel, ''[[All the Broken Places]]'', was published in 2022, focusing on the post-war life of Gretel, the now 91-year-old older sister of Bruno.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Devlin |first=Martina |date=2022-09-22 |title=All The Broken Places by John Boyne: A sister's lifetime in the shadow of the death camps |url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/all-the-broken-places-by-john-boyne-a-sisters-lifetime-in-the-shadow-of-the-death-camps-42007130.html |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=Irish Independent}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal|last=Gray|first=Michael|s2cid=143231358 |title=The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Blessing or Curse for Holocaust Education?|journal=Holocaust Studies|date=3 June 2015|volume=20|issue=3|pages=109–136|doi=10.1080/17504902.2014.11435377}}
*{{cite web|url=https://holocaustlearning.org.uk/latest/the-problem-with-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/|title=The Problem with 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'|access-date=22 November 2021|first=Hannah May |last=Randall|date=31 May 2019}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The}}
[[Category:2006 Irish novels]]
[[Category:David Fickling Books books]]
[[Category:Irish historical novels]]
[[Category:Irish novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into ballets]]
[[Category:Novels set in Germany]]
[[Category:Novels set in Poland]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Novels about the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Novels by John Boyne]]
[[Category:Works set in Lesser Poland Voivodeship]]

Latest revision as of 23:04, 2 December 2024

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
UK first edition book cover
AuthorJohn Boyne
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistorical
PublisherDavid Fickling Books
Publication date
6 January 2006
Publication placeIreland
Media typePrint (hard cover & paper back)
Pages216
ISBN0-385-60940-X
OCLC62132588
823.914 22
LC ClassCS 2006/45764
Followed byAll the Broken Places 

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 historical fiction novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. The plot concerns a German boy named Bruno whose father is the commandant of Auschwitz and Bruno's friendship with a Jewish detainee named Shmuel.

Boyne wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without sleeping much; but also said that he was quite a serious student of Holocaust-related literature for years before the idea for the novel even came to him.

The book has received a divided response from critics, with positive reviews praising the story as an effective morality tale. Holocaust scholars, historians and memorial organizations have criticised the book for its historical inaccuracies, which have been deemed potentially damaging to Holocaust education efforts.

The book was a best seller, topping the list in Spain for both 2007 and 2008, and reaching number one on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2008. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 2008, a ballet in 2017 and an opera entitled A Child in Striped Pyjamas in 2023. A sequel, All the Broken Places, was published in 2022.

Background

[edit]

John Boyne has described the conception of his novel as an idea popping into his head instantly of "two boys, the mirror of each other, sitting either side of a wire fence". While the conception of the book came about fast, his inspiration for writing has a more lengthy foundation. Boyne has stated that his style and writing process has been influenced by Malcolm Bradbury at the University of East Anglia, who suggested he write every day without rest days.[1]

Unlike the other novels written by him, Boyne has described how he wrote the first draft of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in roughly two and a half days; the idea for the novel came to him on Tuesday, April 27, and he then wrote non-stop until Friday at noon. Afterwards, he ended up writing ten different drafts before sending his book to the editor.[1] While Boyne has said that he was quite a serious student of Holocaust-related literature for years before the idea for the novel even came to him,[2] he also describes his book as a "fable", that relies more on a story of moral truth than historical accuracy.[3]

Plot

[edit]

Bruno is a nine-year-old boy growing up during World War II in Berlin. He lives with his parents, his twelve-year-old sister Gretel whom he has nicknamed "A Hopeless Case", and maids, one of whom is named Maria and another is a Jewish chef named Pavel. After a visit by Adolf Hitler, whose title the Führer Bruno commonly mispronounces as "Fury", Bruno's father Ralf is promoted to Commandant of the death camp Auschwitz, which Bruno mispronounces as "Out-With".

Bruno is initially upset about having to move to Auschwitz and is almost in tears at the prospect of leaving his "best friends for life", Daniel, Karl, and Martin. From the house at Auschwitz, Bruno sees the camp in which the prisoners' uniforms appear to him to be "striped pyjamas". One day Bruno decides to explore the wire fence surrounding the camp. He meets a Jewish boy, Shmuel, who he learns shares his birthday (April 15) and age. Shmuel says that his father, grandfather, and brother are with him on his side of the fence, but he is separated from his mother. Bruno and Shmuel talk and become very good friends although Bruno still does not understand very much about Shmuel or his life. Nearly every day, unless it is raining, Bruno goes to see Shmuel and sneaks him food. Over time, Bruno notices that Shmuel is rapidly losing weight.

Bruno concocts a plan with Shmuel to sneak into the camp to look for Shmuel's father, who has gone missing. Shmuel brings a set of prison clothes and Bruno leaves his own clothes outside the fence. As they search the camp they are captured, added to a group of prisoners on a "march", and led into a gas chamber, which Bruno assumes is simply a rain shelter. In the gas chamber, Bruno apologises to Shmuel for not finding his father and tells Shmuel that he is his best friend for life. It is not made clear if Shmuel answers before the doors close and the lights go out, although Bruno determines to never let go of Shmuel's hand.

Bruno is never seen again, his clothes being discovered by a soldier days later. His mother, Elsa, spends months searching for him, even returning to their old home, before at last moving back to Berlin with Gretel, who isolates herself in her room. (Boyne develops Gretel's life in his 2022 novel All The Broken Places.) Ralf spends a year more at Auschwitz, becoming ruthless and cold to his subordinates, while haunted by visions of Bruno. Near the end of that year, on a theory, he returns to the place where Bruno's clothes were found, discovering the gap in the fence. He deduces how his son disappeared and collapses to the ground in grief. Months later, Allied troops liberate the camp and Ralf, wracked with guilt and self-loathing, allows himself to be taken without resistance.

The book ends with the phrase "Of course, all of this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen again. Not in this day and age".

Genre and style

[edit]

The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas fits into the genre of Holocaust fiction.[3] Boyne uses general knowledge about the Holocaust to create a self-described "fable", that relies more on a story of moral truth than historical accuracy.[3] This type of literature, as shown in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, tends to be told to children, from a child's perspective.[4] By having one child share the "bitter herbs" of history with another, the novel instills moral obligation in children.[4]

Kenneth Kidd, professor of English at the University of Florida, argues that John Boyne's use of fable allows him to explore the darker elements of the Holocaust with more of a cautionary tale resulting.[5]

Analysis

[edit]

Sophie Melissa Smith, a PhD candidate at the University of Southampton, argues that writing a factual story as a fable is damaging as it may produce misconceptions about the Holocaust.[5] Examples include the ability of Shmuel to escape work and Bruno's ability to approach an electrified fence.[6]

Smith claims that Boyne lowers the culpability of Nazis like Bruno's father by not just humanizing them but also creating a sense of obligation in characters like Bruno's father, as Bruno's father was a Commandant at a large concentration camp.[5] Additionally, the depiction of the story told through Bruno creates a greater ignorance of the Nazi regime by using words such as "the Fury" in place of the Fuhrer and "Out-with" in place of Auschwitz.[3] Generally, critics see the trivialization of the Nazi regime in this portrayal as damaging to Holocaust education.[7][8]

Educational implications

[edit]

A 2009 study by the London Jewish Cultural Centre conducted a survey in which 70% of respondents thought Boyne's novel was based on a true story.[8] Many students also thought "the tragic death of Bruno brought about the end of concentration camps."[5]

Michael Gray, Director of Studies at Harrow School and author of Contemporary Debates in Holocaust Education and Teaching the Holocaust: Practical Approaches for Ages 11-18, described the book in 2014 as "a curse for Holocaust education."[9] In an opinion column for the Jewish Chronicle, Noah Max criticised Gray: "Gray's 2015 study... [found] that 'respondents almost universally expressed their eagerness for studying the topic and frequently remarked that this [the Shoah] was one of the most interesting periods of history'. (My italics.) His sample of 298 Year 9 students from London and Oxford is perilously narrow given the book's widespread popularity and none of his other findings are anywhere near that substantial. However, even in a sample so small, any 'universal' finding is worthy of close attention."[10]

Criticising the book's accuracy, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum commented in 2020 that the novel "should be avoided by anyone who studies or teaches about the Holocaust."[11] The Melbourne Holocaust Museum, while finding the book a powerful introduction to the subject, cautions teachers regarding its many inaccuracies. Additionally, they question where the empathy lies as many young readers will focus on the fact that Bruno died rather than the millions of Jews.[12]

Professor Gerd Bayer from the University of Erlangen has stated that Boyne's reader should not rely on "the actual truth-value of his text".[13]

Following on from their research in 2016, that suggested that pupils reach mistaken and/or misleading conclusions about the Holocaust from the book, the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education's 2020 research found that 35% of teachers in England conducting lessons on the Holocaust use it, or the film.[14]

In response to Noah Max's operatic adaptation of the book, Professor Nathan Abrams wrote that "it is a very tricky task to translate the magnitude of the Holocaust to a younger audience. Any device, however flawed, should be applauded for attempting to do so even if it does not fully succeed. It is the task of the reader to go and learn more to put the novel in context."[15]

Reception

[edit]

In both 2007 and 2008, it was the best-selling book of the year in Spain,[16] and it reached number one on The New York Times Best Seller list.[17]

Kathryn Hughes, writing in The Guardian, calls the novel "a small wonder of a book." She takes issue with the laxness of Auschwitz and describes the novel as "something that borders on fable," arguing that "Bruno's innocence comes to stand for the willful refusal of all adult Germans to see what was going on under their noses."[18]

Nicholas Tucker, writing in The Independent, calls the novel "a fine addition to a once taboo area of history, at least where children's literature is concerned." He asserts that it is a good depiction of a tragic event that strays away from graphic details, with the exception of the "killer punch" at the end of the novel.[19]

Ed Wright, writing in The Age of Melbourne, calls the novel "a touching tale of an odd friendship between two boys in horrendous circumstances and a reminder of man's capacity for inhumanity." He felt that the depiction of Bruno and Shmuel's friendship was a classic childhood friendship with a naïvety of their surroundings. He concludes by observing that "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is subtitled A Fable", and sets out to create a moral story of human nature in a fable format.[20]

A. O. Scott, writing in The New York Times, questioned the author and publisher's choice to intentionally keep the Holocaust setting of the book vague in both the dust jacket summary and the early portion of the novel.[21] Scott described how the experiences of the characters were supposed to be represented as separate from the setting of the Holocaust, and this creates a lack of the informative nature seen in other novels of Holocaust literature such as Night by Elie Wiesel.[21] Scott claims that "there is something awkward about the way Boyne manages to disguise, and then to disclose, the historical context."[21] Scott concludes that "to mold the Holocaust into an allegory, as Boyne does here with perfectly benign intent, is to step away from its reality."[21]

Rabbi Benjamin Blech offered a historical criticism, contending that the premise of the book and subsequent film – that there could be a child of Shmuel's age in Auschwitz – was impossible, writing of the book: "Note to the reader: there were no 9-year-old Jewish boys in Auschwitz – the Nazis immediately gassed those not old enough to work."[22] Rabbi Blech affirmed the opinion of a Holocaust survivor friend that the book is "not just a lie and not just a fairytale, but a profanation." Students who read it, he warns, may believe the camps "weren't that bad" if a boy could conduct a clandestine friendship with a Jewish captive of the same age, unaware of "the constant presence of death."[22]

Holocaust scholar Henry Gonshak rebuts Blech's historical contention in his book, Hollywood and the Holocaust. He writes that "the rabbi found implausible Shmuel's very existence in the camp," but states that "Blech is factually incorrect."[23] While there were no female children, records have shown that in 1944 "there were 619 male children at the camp, ranging in age from one month to fourteen years old."[23]

Gonshak acknowledges that this presence of children does not take away from the thousands who were murdered in the gas chambers.[23]

In other media

[edit]

In 2008, two years after being published, the novel was made into a movie The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, directed by Mark Herman.[24]

In 2017, the novel was adapted into a ballet by the Northern Ballet. The score is produced by Gary Yershon.[25] Reviews of the ballet are generally negative with Zo and Euml Anderson of The Independent stating the casting of children's parts as adults works against "the naivety of a child's viewpoint," which the novel captures.[26] The Yorkshire Post's review described the score as "a relentless assault on the ears," but apart from the music, it stated that it has redeemable quality in the cast, despite being depressing.[25]

In 2023 the novel was adapted into an opera entitled A Child In Striped Pyjamas by Noah Max.[27] He says of Boyne's book: "It's very hard to convince children to read a book about something as dark and serious as the Holocaust and what I find amazing is that while not all adults get the profound symbolism of the story, kids get it. They pick up on the fact that the children have the same birthday and are the same child."[28] On the appropriateness of depicting the Holocaust through opera, Max says: "the only way to convey its magnitude – and in such a way that people understood it was symbolic and not real – was through opera."[29] The piece was positively received by critics. Barry Millington gave A Child In Striped Pyjamas four stars in the Evening Standard, describing the work as "intense, harrowing drama... [which] invites universal grief".[30] In The Daily Telegraph, Nicholas Kenyon wrote that the piece was "emotionally ambitious... vocally eloquent... there can be no doubt of the integrity with which the tight-knit company deliver it."[31]

Sequel

[edit]

A sequel, All the Broken Places, was published in 2022, focusing on the post-war life of Gretel, the now 91-year-old older sister of Bruno.[32]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Boyne, John (1 April 2017). "My working day 'I began on Wednesday morning and continued for 60 hours'". The Guardian.
  2. ^ "John Boyne talks About The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". www.whatsonlive.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d "A debate over the 'limits of representation'". Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Bayer, Gerd (2011). "World War II Fiction and the Ethics of Trauma". DQR Studies in Literature. 48: 155–174, 299. ProQuest 896482224.
  5. ^ a b c d Seidel, Marc-David L.; Greve, Henrich R. (24 March 2017). "Emergence: How Novelty, Growth, and Formation Shape Organizations and Their Ecosystems". Emergence. Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Vol. 50. pp. 1–27. doi:10.1108/S0733-558X20170000050020. ISBN 978-1-78635-915-5.
  6. ^ Topography of Terror: A Documentation, trans. by Pamela Selwyn, (Eberl Print: Immenstadt, 2008)[page needed]
  7. ^ Randall, Hannah May (31 May 2019). "The Problem with 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'". holocaustlearning.org.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b Gray, Michael (December 2014). "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Blessing or Curse for Holocaust Education?". Holocaust Studies. 20 (3): 109–136. doi:10.1080/17504902.2014.11435377. S2CID 143231358.
  9. ^ The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: A Blessing or Curse for Holocaust Education?, Michael Gray
  10. ^ Max, Noah (4 April 2023). "'Why I stand by my opera version of Striped Pyjamas'". The Jewish Chronicle. p. 18.
  11. ^ McGreevy, Ronan (5 January 2020). "Avoid John Boyne's Holocaust novel, Auschwitz Museum advises". The Irish Times.
  12. ^ How to study 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' in the classroom
  13. ^ Bayer, Gerd (2011). "World War II Fiction and the Ethics of Trauma". DQR Studies in Literature. 48: 155–174, 164. ProQuest 896482224.
  14. ^ "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in English secondary schools". Centre of Holocaust Education. University College London. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  15. ^ "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is now an opera – the case for adapting the book that the Auschwitz Museum said 'should be avoided'". Bangor University. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  16. ^ Foster, Stuart J.; Pearce, Andy; Pettigrew, Alice (2020). Holocaust Education: Contemporary Challenges and controversies. London: UCL Press. ISBN 978-1-78735-798-3. OCLC 1159166150.
  17. ^ "Biography". John Boyne. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  18. ^ Hughes, Kathryn (21 January 2006). "Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by David Fickling". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Tucker, Nicholas (13 January 2006). "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne". The Independent.
  20. ^ Wright, Ed (3 January 2006). "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". The Age.
  21. ^ a b c d Scott, A. O. (12 November 2006). "Something Is Happening". Books. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  22. ^ a b Blech, Benjamin (23 October 2008). "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas". Aish.
  23. ^ a b c Gonshak, Henry (16 October 2015). Hollywood and the Holocaust. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442252240.
  24. ^ "The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Review: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". Yorkshire Post. 4 June 2017.
  26. ^ Anderson, Zoë (12 June 2017). "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas review: Clumsy staging of novel". The Independent.
  27. ^ North, Nic (21 April 2022). "Hollywood giant relents over $1m demand to stage Holocaust opera". The Jewish Chronicle. p. 3.
  28. ^ Galton, Bridget (4 May 2022). "Composer to stage opera of Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". Ham & High.
  29. ^ Coghlan, Alexandra. "Noah Max: my fight to make A Child in Striped Pyjamas". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  30. ^ Millington, Barry (13 January 2023). "A Child in Striped Pyjamas at the Cockpit review – intense, harrowing drama". Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  31. ^ Kenyon, Nicholas (12 January 2023). "A Child In Striped Pyjamas: Holocaust drama that's emotionally ambitious and diligently delivered". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  32. ^ Devlin, Martina (22 September 2022). "All The Broken Places by John Boyne: A sister's lifetime in the shadow of the death camps". Irish Independent. Retrieved 9 January 2023.

Further reading

[edit]