I was surprised that this novel is used in a lot of Irish schools
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a novel about a boy named Bruno whose father is the commandant of the Auschwitz, and Bruno's friendship with a Jewish prisoner. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum commented it “should be avoided by anyone who studies or teaches about the Holocaust.”
byu/CatPooedInMyShoe inwikipedia
Posted by Tadhg
30 Comments
Why
Why is that surprising?
Is this a thread about things that surprise us?
My cat jumped on me from a bookcase once. That surprised me because I don’t have a bookcase.
It’s accessible, emotional and also has an Irish author. It makes sense, despite the obvious historical inaccuracies
Yeah I find it really disappointing as well. Author is a melt who wouldn’t take critique from the Holocaust Museum and had a strop about it.
Yeah we had it in secondary school.
Even as a kid it felt like schmalzy Hallmark crap.
I was given this to read as teen, dropped it because I thought it was a pile of shite.
Was forced to read it in school.
It is the worst book I have the misfortune of reading.
The whole premise is children are stupid.
Bruno was old enough to look into a concentration camp and know it isn’t a wonderland of Cafes like Berlin.
The fact everyone thought it was brilliant was confusing.
Thankfully years later opinions have changed.
The author is a dick and genocide scholars have called the book harmful.
Now I know I’m old. We read Silas Marner
We didn’t have it
The book doesn’t claim to be an accurate assessment of the Holocaust. It’s fiction. I didn’t like the book but lots of people do. What’s the issue when it’s a work of fiction thought in English class?
I bought this in the airport when it came out, mostly because the Staff Recommends tag said “this is a story about a boy who wears striped pajamas”. I thought, ‘oh this must be excellent if they’re being that coy.
I eventually realized they probably hadn’t read it.
My 11 year old wants to read it and is currently reading Anne Frank. I’m going to let her read it so we can have the discussion as to why it’s inaccurate as much as anything. Her teacher seems to think the book is good and she’s relayed some weird misconceptions he has about how people were forced to be Nazis etc rather than it being a massively popular movement.
To the people saying it’s fiction so who cares, I partially agree but if it’s being used in school the analysis should be heavily about how fictional it is and that the basic premise of the book is impossible.
The lad who wrote it is such a whiny little bitch.
I wrote a book report for this book in school I never actually read the book but my review was so good it was in the school library on the wall for years
God, the terribly depressing books they made us read like this and The Kite Runner.
Would you believe me if I told you I read this book in primary? And watched the movie.
Can’t remember a shred of it. But I do know that it’s a dark book to be letting 12 year olds read.
As a book it was useful just to introduce historical events. I don’t think though it’s a book that would probably have much use nowadays after a lot more books that cover the topic of the Holocaust
Do we not separate art from the artist anymore? It’s a work or fiction…
We read it in both primary school and secondary school as a class.
Primary 2008-2016, secondary 2016-2022
Well, at least it’s a bit more contemporary than Paig, Wuthering Heights and Pride and fucking Prejudice
Surprised that it still is. Surely the shine has got to have worn off it after his very public spat with the Auschwitz Museum?
Yeah that book should definitely not be on any curriculum in our schools. The book has the reader sympathising with a nazi family. Claiming they were unaware of what was happening in the death camps. I really can’t understand why schools would use this book
it really annoys me how the emotional climax of the film (especially in the movie) is trying to make you feel bad for the camp general and his wife for losing their son when hundreds of people were being murdered every day by them.
Better than nothing, I suppose. /s
MAUS would be a better read in my opinion
Handy for world book day when the kids have to dress up for school.
I accept the criticism, but I question the opinion that it’s damaging.
At least, my memory of this book is about the innocence of children in a world filled with hate. At a young age I, of course, had no comprehension of what the extreme hate of Nazi ideology really was. That this books story would never have happened.
But as I grew I was exposed to more history about the holocaust in history class.
I never confused the two.
But; I’d hope the curriculum is open to feedback and improving it. Plenty of other good books that could be used.
I generally think teaching about the holocaust is pretty good in Ireland. This has been apparent to me a number of times when discussing with people around the world.
It shouldn’t be taught in schools on the basis that it’s a shite book and the author’s a dose.
I enjoyed it 🤷
Yeah it’s bizarre, especially since the diary of Anne frank is right there if you want to teach kids about the holocaust