The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne is a young adult novel set during WWII. While I am not a fan of this genre, I read it with high hopes because it was recommended by my book club. I have to say that I was very disappointed. It is the story of a boy whose father is a high-ranking Nazi Officer and is reassigned to Auschwitz. The family is forced to leave Berlin and live on the grounds of the camp. The boy has no one to play with, so he meets a boy that “lives on the other side of the fence.” They become friends and spend several afternoons talking. The end of the novel takes an unfortunate turn that leaves the reader questioning the point of the entire book.

One of the many things that bothered me was the changing of names/people to child-speak. This would have been all right if the novel was narrated by the boy, but it was a third person narrator through out, so the changing of names made little sense to me. Auschwitz was changed to “Out With” and the Fuhrer was changed to the “Fury.” I did not see the point in this and it distracted me throughout the entire book. Unfortunately for Boyne, the novel also drew comparisons to Night, which no book that I have read about WWII can win that comparison. There were other problems too, some of the language in the book also seemed out of place and not very authentic to the time period.

On a positive note, the book was well paced and read very quickly. I was able to read it in a single day, which is nice because it provides a sense of accomplishment.

The Terror

The Terror by Dan Simmons is easily the most terrifying novel that I have read in years. I loved it. The story is rather simple, about a group of explorers searching for the Northwest Passage during the 1840s. It is based of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845. The boats are trapped in the ice in the Artic for three years. The story documents the struggles of the various crewmembers during that time. Even more frightening that being trapped on a boat while the temperatures are usually near –100 degrees is the fact that most of their food stores are rotten and there is something on the ice hunting them. The story is not really clear until the very end about what is on the ice hunting them, but that is what makes id so horrifying. The book is told partially through journal entries and by various member of the expedition. It is a well-written historical horror story that left me wanting more even after 750 pages.

I began reading Stephen King novels in grammar school, so I am well versed in the horror genre. Salem’s Lot scared me so bad in 6th grade that I am not sure I was able to sleep for weeks, but The Terror was in many ways more horrifying, because of the weather, hardships of the crew, the mysterious esquimaux woman and the ‘thing’ out on the ice. At one point in the story, the Captain complains about the situation they are in and enviously tells them story of the whale ship Essex. This is the story that Moby Dick was based on, a whaleboat sunk by a whale and the crew forced to survive on the open ocean in rowboats with the only food being each other. Not only the book very well written, but also Simmons does an amazing job with the setting. I was actually cold while reading the book, and could easily “see” everything that was happening. The book was very long, coming in at over 750 pages, but it was well paced and very interesting so it never felt like a long read.

I loved this book and strongly recommend it to anyone that enjoyed the novels of Patrick O’Brian, or Stephen King, fans of horror stories, fans of historical fiction or any one that enjoyed Nathaniel Philbrick’s story of the Essex. I have to be honest and say it is along book, but it is worth the work to finish it. I think that this would be an amazing miniseries on the Sci-Fi network because it is a very visual and exciting novel.

The Thirteenth Tale

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a great book for anyone that loves books and reading. It is a complex story in the sense that the narrator, Margaret Lea, is almost a subplot of her own story. The plot focuses on a story that she is being told by Vida Winter, one of the great authors of her time. The story is supposed to be the story of Vida Winter’s life, but in this book as in life, the truth is ambiguous. Margaret is told a very convincing story that seems to be factual, but the reader can never be sure. The story is great and full of unexpected twists and turns. Some of the book is a little graphic and there are some rather depraved sexual relationships, but over all those things are secondary to the story.

I have read this book twice now, the first time back in 2006 when it was first released and again last month for my book club. I enjoyed it both times, but a couple of the people in my book club did not enjoy it. The characters are not very likable, but I am not sure the reader needs to like them to enjoy the story. It is a book that reminds us that a great story has real power, perhaps even more power or importance than the truth. I think that this is the underlying message of the novel. The book will definitely make you question what is true and what the truth means. Several of the characters struggle with the idea that maybe a great story is better than the truth. Is it better not to know the truth? That is an idea that comes up over and over in the novel.

Personally, I really enjoyed this book both times. I found it similar to The Shadow of the Wind (one of my favorite books of all time), and it brought to mind Life of Pi because that is another book where the reader needs to figure out what is true. It aloes reminded me that sometimes in life a great story at the right time is all we need. There is a difference between a great book and a great story and this is a great story.