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The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Boyne is the author of 6 novels. Unlike the months of planning Boyne had for his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of Boy in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end. To date the novel has sold more than 3 million copies around the world. In 2007 it was the best selling book of the year in Spain.
Plot
The book is about a young boy, Bruno, the son of commander general. He has a head strong sister, Gretel (called "the Hopeless case"). They used to live in a five storey mansion, but are one day suddenly move to a place called Auschwitz. Bruno, angered and confused by his father's decision to move, and desperate to go home, spends his time in his room, without any friends to play with. He misses their old five-storey mansion. With such a small space, there isn't any room for exploration (a hobby of Bruno's) like there was in his old home.
From his bedroom window, Bruno spots a fence behind which he sees many people in 'striped pyjamas'. These are the Jews, and they are in a concentration camp. One day his parents come to an agreement that both Bruno and Gretel need a tutor for their education so they hire Herr Liszt. To Bruno, Herr Liszt is the most boring teacher one could ever have; he teaches social science instead of reading and arts, which Bruno prefers. So, in boredom and confusion, Bruno wonders what is going on at Auschwitz and why people are always dressed in striped pajamas there. One afternoon, he goes exploring, and finds a Jewish boy called Shmuel, a name Bruno has never heard of before but which apparently is quite common in the concentration camp. Shmuel soon becomes Bruno's friend and Bruno goes to see him every afternoon to talk. Bruno is told that the people in the striped pyjamas on the other side of the fence are Jews and that he and his family are "the opposite". Shortly after this, Bruno and Gretel get a bad case of lice and Bruno has to have his head shaved. This makes him look a lot more like his friend Shmuel and he finds himself thinking that it is as if "they weren't all that different, really."
The story ends with Bruno about to leave Auschwitz . As a final adventure, he agrees to dress in a set of striped pyjamas and climb under a loose wire in the fence to help Shmuel find his father, who went missing in the camp. They are unable to find him, and just as it starts to rain and Bruno decides he would like to go home, the people in the area of the camp which the boys are in must go on a march. Neither boy knows where this march will lead. However, they are crowded into a gas chamber, and the author leaves the story with Bruno pondering, yet unafraid, in the dark.
The book ends with the effects of Bruno's disappearance on his family and his father discovering his clothes outside the fence, realising the implications of this.

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martes, 14 de abril de 2009

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