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[CCBC-Net] A caveat
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From: Ruth I. Gordon <druthgo>
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:34:53 -0800
A British friend sent me a book which s/he thought might interest me. It has not been published in the U.S., but certainly may be. I would like librarians in the U.S. to read it before publication here if possible. BOYNE, JOHN The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (David Fickling Books, G.B., 2006) Publisher's web site: www,davidficklingbooks.co.uk
I have several concerns about the protagonist, a young German boy, 8-9, who lives in a home of an important Nazi-S.S. officer, his father. The family transfers from Berlin to Poland to a place Bruno calls "out with," and who refers to the national leader as "The Fury." The book has neither notes, afterword, foreword, or any explanatory matter. Now, I have a fairly good memory and background in modern history and W.W. II so could figure out that "The Fury" is the Fuhrer and "out with" would be Auschwitz. That's for starters. But what about those who do not have adequate, or even minimal, knowledge of the camps, the Holocaust, the Nazis--and research indicates that many, many people in the U.S. lack such information. Wouldn't the son of a high ranking Nazi know that "Fuhrer" was just that and not "Fury." Wouldn't he have known the greeting "Heil Hitler" and what it meant? What are striped pajamas?
As the book proceeds, Bruno, who sees the fence around the place, is lonely and walks a long distance along the fence where he meets "the boy in striped pyjamas," Shmuel, a young prisoner about the same age as Bruno. The boy is far away from the masses jammed into the camp. That's another bit of non-history. Shmuel would have been one of the first to be sent to death when he debarked from the train because he was a child. Once within the camp, he would not have been allowed to leave the rest of the prisoners on his own at any time, no less every day.
And I can continue about style, situation, history, misinformation, lack of explanation, and the state of Holocaust denial among many people who are in the news.
Boyne's book worries me. In fact, I am upset about the possibility of its publication.
Should others read it, I will be grateful for their views.
Ruth Gordon
(Big Grandma)
Received on Thu 02 Mar 2006 06:34:53 PM CST
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 16:34:53 -0800
A British friend sent me a book which s/he thought might interest me. It has not been published in the U.S., but certainly may be. I would like librarians in the U.S. to read it before publication here if possible. BOYNE, JOHN The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (David Fickling Books, G.B., 2006) Publisher's web site: www,davidficklingbooks.co.uk
I have several concerns about the protagonist, a young German boy, 8-9, who lives in a home of an important Nazi-S.S. officer, his father. The family transfers from Berlin to Poland to a place Bruno calls "out with," and who refers to the national leader as "The Fury." The book has neither notes, afterword, foreword, or any explanatory matter. Now, I have a fairly good memory and background in modern history and W.W. II so could figure out that "The Fury" is the Fuhrer and "out with" would be Auschwitz. That's for starters. But what about those who do not have adequate, or even minimal, knowledge of the camps, the Holocaust, the Nazis--and research indicates that many, many people in the U.S. lack such information. Wouldn't the son of a high ranking Nazi know that "Fuhrer" was just that and not "Fury." Wouldn't he have known the greeting "Heil Hitler" and what it meant? What are striped pajamas?
As the book proceeds, Bruno, who sees the fence around the place, is lonely and walks a long distance along the fence where he meets "the boy in striped pyjamas," Shmuel, a young prisoner about the same age as Bruno. The boy is far away from the masses jammed into the camp. That's another bit of non-history. Shmuel would have been one of the first to be sent to death when he debarked from the train because he was a child. Once within the camp, he would not have been allowed to leave the rest of the prisoners on his own at any time, no less every day.
And I can continue about style, situation, history, misinformation, lack of explanation, and the state of Holocaust denial among many people who are in the news.
Boyne's book worries me. In fact, I am upset about the possibility of its publication.
Should others read it, I will be grateful for their views.
Ruth Gordon
(Big Grandma)
Received on Thu 02 Mar 2006 06:34:53 PM CST
