When I first saw the cover of this book a couple of years ago, I was genuinely surprised. I am not a very historical fiction type of guy, so getting surprised by one is not common. Then, after starting middle school, our English teacher assigned us to read it, and at first, I was really excited. I had never read a novel about the Holocaust, and I was ready to see what would come of this book. Sadly after I read it, I was extremely disappointed. Mainly because the author had so much potential to create something amazing. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is set during the Holocaust, and is about a young kid named Bruno who just moved from Berlin to Poland. But in the book, they call the place Out-With. Obviously, Bruno doesn’t like the new home, but after a couple of days, he comes across a young kid named Shmuel that lives on the other side of a barbed wire/fence within a concentration camp. If you didn’t know, concentration camps were very heavily guarded, and had to be surrounded by fences so that the Jews wouldn’t escape. But anyway, after Bruno meets Shmuel, they become best friends, and Bruno suddenly finds a reason to like Poland! For the next few days, Bruno mostly lives peacefully with his family, and talks to Shmuel on a daily basis, until the end… I want to point out for some readers, though, that the book never explicitly says any of this. The author wants you to figure out what’s going on. He never says that they’re in Poland. He never says the book takes place during the Holocaust. In fact, Bruno always call the new place Out-With! But my classmates and I soon discovered that it wasn’t Out-With; it was Auschwitz, one of the worst concentration camps at the time! After I learned this, I finally understood more about the story! But now, the review. The worst thing about The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is that it’s so linear, and it becomes very predictable. It just moves along, chapter after chapter, without many twists and turns. This is especially seen during the ending, which I won’t spoil! There were also these little side stories drifting away from the main story, and none of them connect to each other or the main plot. Like for example, Bruno’s family pays a maid named Maria to work for them. But we learn nothing interesting about her! What if SHE was a Jew, and was hiding as the maid for Bruno’s family, but then gets caught, and the reader gets suspicious of this because she is shaking and shivering the whole time? But no, instead, the author uses Maria as a character that appears and disappears, and the author does this frequently with other characters as well. The story also doesn’t have anything interesting to show during some periods of the book, and instead brings in these other characters for a couple of minutes. An example of this is when Hitler (aka The Fury, according to this book) is invited to Bruno’s new house, and he just comes and goes, and never comes back again. This not only cuts out what could have been some interesting moments, but leaves you bored and annoyed, thinking, “That’s It?” We also barely get to learn about Shmuel’s past, so you don’t feel very connected to their friendship. What if we actually got to see his family? We also never get to see Auschwitz very well. I really wish Bruno would have actually spent more time there instead of getting told by Shmuel what’s going on. This lack of freedom also dramatically affected the ending for me, and I didn’t really feel any emotion after I finished the book. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas really disappointed me not only because the author failed to create an interesting story, but also because he had such a huge opportunity to make one! This book could have been an action-packed, suspenseful adventure with a dramatic closing, but it unfortunately isn’t. I like how the author never explicitly said anything about the setting, and I like how the description is sometimes funny, but after a while, that also becomes really annoying. Unless you have a lot of patience for getting through books, I’d recommend to go and read something else. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. David Fickling Books, 2006. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Saturday Newsletter: December 21, 2019
“Bowl of Joy” by Ethan Hu, 8 (San Diego, CA) published in Stone Soup December 2019 A thank you from William Before we get into the usual newsletter, I wanted to say thank you on behalf of all of us to everyone who has already donated to our annual fundraising drive. We have been overwhelmed by your generosity this year, especially your response to our ongoing refugee project and outreach programs. We are excited about our special issue next year—made possible by your donations—and all the other great projects we will be able to work on thanks to you, our supporters. Click here to read more about our plans, and below if you want to donate—and thank you. A note from Jane Levi What is your favorite holiday decoration? Ethan Hu’s lovely painting of a bowl of baubles in our December issue reminds me of something my mother often does at Christmastime. She says it’s a festive way of displaying some of her prettiest ornaments when there isn’t enough room for all of them on the tree. My own preference is to hang a crazy selection of the baubles I have picked up over time. I like to find something new every year (my decorations do not follow a tasteful, pre-planned color scheme), and the sillier the better! I’m very fond of a food-related decoration and was thrilled to find a half-shell oyster, complete with pearl, on a visit to New Orleans last month. It looks great with the sliced red onino and brussels sprout I picked up in California in 2017, and the giant Christmas pudding my friend bought for me in London last year. My favorite,and the crowning glory, though, isn’t a bauble at all. It’s the handmade fairy I found in Antigua, in the Caribbean. She must be almost 20 years old by now, but she doesn’t look it to me. She sparkles with stars around her head and ankles, in her sweet little golden dress and her net wings. Whenever I see her I know it’s really Christmas. What aspect of your home’s Holiday traditions make you feel like it’s really that time of year again? Is it the smell of the tree or a special food, the look of the decorations, the songs you sing, the people you bring together, a walk you take, or a game you always play? Whatever it is, we hope you enjoy it this year, and that if you have a quiet moment to appreciate it, savor it, and turn it into a piece of art (written or visual), that perhaps you’ll share it with us. Happy holidays everyone! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Abhi reviews the classic movie Lawrence of Arabia, from 1962. Read why Abhi thinks he could “see it fifty times and I would still not be bored with it.” On Wednesday, we published another part in Marco’s series on science fiction. Read ““Deus Ex Machina and the Power of Plot Convenience” to learn more about the concept of Deus Ex Machina, plus Marco’s tips about how to avoid it in your writing. Subscriptions make great last-minute gifts! Looking for a last-minute gift? Look no further! A subscription to Stone Soup magazine is the gift that keeps on giving all year long! Every subscription includes digital access, which starts immediately. And all subscriptions purchased in December will begin with the January issue, which will ship by the end of December. What could be better to brighten up the first few weeks of the new year than the arrival of the fantastic January 2020 issue of Stone Soup? If you are not sure you want to invest in a whole year’s subscription, opt for a smaller taste of Stone Soup. You can sign up for month-by-month payment and cancel at any time or order a single issue from our online store, where you can also order our Annual or any other books for delivery after the holidays. From Stone Soup December 2019 Colored pencils A Christmas Poem By Gianna Guerrero, 7 (Ontario, NY) Santa Claus is always on schedule If he misses, a piece of snow The wind will blow, blow, blow! That sled of his will set a trail Of a wish and a blow through the wind Those rooftops are The ones that clickety tock Some have branches tall and wide Others have so many thunks and clunks of presents Down, down, down the clattering Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498. Stone Soup’s Advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
Lawrence of Arabia, Reviewed by Abhi, 11
Image via Wikimedia Commons History is more complicated than you think. It isn’t just some quarrel between different countries that started WWI. It was much more than that, and Lawrence of Arabia showcases this theme perfectly. I started watching the beginning of this movie, but I was very worried about the pacing and storyline, since it’s nearly four hours long. I tried avoiding it, but I couldn’t keep myself from doing so. I only watched about thirty minutes of it on a plane flight to India, and after that, I couldn’t get rid of it. My mind was obsessed with scenes from the movie, and kept on telling me the same thing: You have to watch this movie. You HAVE to. So after a long six months, I watched it all — in one sitting. My mind was blown away. Lawrence of Arabia is a true story of a British soldier named T.E Lawrence, who is assigned to protect Arabia in WWI and help Prince Feisal, the leader of Arabia, defeat the ruling Turkish Empire. But his journey to get freedom for Arabia is a bumpy one. He makes many friends, and many, many enemies. The thing that sets Lawrence of Arabia apart from other movies is that T.E Lawrence is not a hero that solves ALL the problems for Arabia. He realizes he can only do so much as a human being. For example, after he rallies the Arabs to defeat the Turks, he realizes that the Arab tribes are still fighting amongst each other, and cannot put their differences aside to unite as a common people and form a nation. By the end, Lawrence realizes he is just a mere pawn – used by Arabs for their own purpose (defeat enemy who is stealing their land), and used by the English/French and the Western countries for their own needs (to gain more land and control in the Middle East). This taught me that nothing in history is really solved. Problems creep up over and over again. For example, remember when we had WWI and Germany lost? Sure, the US and other countries got some relaxation for a while, but then Germany got revenge back in WWII! By the end, T.E Lawrence wants to get away from the desert and just live a normal life. T.E Lawrence also has many different aspects to his personality. Sometimes he’s good, sometimes he’s bad, but he never has one fixed personality! This leads to some really tense moments, because you’re scared about what he’s going to do! Lawrence also stands out from the crowd. He talks in a very strange way. Like in one part of the movie, Lawrence and his guide are traveling to Arabia, and they stop at a well. But just as they’re about to drink, a stranger comes and kills Lawrence’s guide! When the killer comes up to Lawrence and asks for his name, he says: “My name is for my friends. None of my friends is a murderer!” He also does some pretty crazy things, some resulting in near death. He also has some really memorable lines. One of the greatest lines he says is: “Nothing is written.” That one line captured the whole spirit of the movie for me. Lawrence is trying to say this when he tries to rescue a lost friend in an empty desert. Everyone is saying he would likely die from the heat, but Lawrence says that there’s still a chance, and he’s going to take it and obviously, he’s successful! The acting is just as perfect as everything else. Peter O Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn – all these actors play out their roles perfectly, and create very memorable characters. For example, Prince Faisal (played by Alec Guinness, aka Obi Won Kenobi) is very wise and kind as the Arab prince, but Auda Abu Tayi (a tribal Arab leader played by Anthony Quinn) is very quick-tempered and rough. The music is downright amazing. After I heard it, I started going on YouTube and playing the soundtrack over and over again. It truly fits the theme. The final thing I love is how this film captures history. Some of the battles and meetings are staged in a unique way, making this war with the Turks truly different than others (that’s also another reason this film is so good!). This is because this war is not just two different sides fighting each other. It showcases the stand-off between different tribes and countries, and some are fighting for different reasons than others! The imagery is awesome, like when Lawrence is shown on his camel traveling through the desert. The camera captures the shape and color of the mountains and sand and paints the whole scene in a beautiful sunny light. This is also one of the only movies I’ve watched that I seem to have no problems with! No wonder it won 7 Oscars, including Best Picture in 1962. I’m sure I can see it fifty times and I would still not be bored with it. Lawrence of Arabia completely surprised me. It truly captures the spirit of a simple, smart man that changed history, and trust me, he is more interesting than any superhero! He is the kind of protagonist I’ve always wanted in a movie.
