Tag: Jewish

John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas | Review

March 28, 2019
Authors A-E (By Surname)Fiction

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Author: John Boyne

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 216

Rating 2/5

 

 

I’d heard such good things about this book and it left me so disappointed. I just struggled to suspend my disbelief throughout, and it also felt as though the author was constantly trying to exploit the reader’s emotions. On the back, it implied that it was for adults, whereas I felt it was more like middle grade. And then you can see the ending coming from a mile away, as soon as Bruno discovers that he can tunnel beneath the fence and into Auschwitz.

Speaking of which, how was he able to spend so much time speaking to a Jewish kid? Where were the guards? Why didn’t the kid just climb under the fence and escape? How had a 9-year-old living in Berlin in 1942 never heard of Hitler? And if his father was high up enough for Hitler to be paying them house visits, why wasn’t Bruno in the Hitler Youth? And why, at the end, do the Nazis randomly gas an arbitrary group of Jews that happen to be standing together instead of specifically targeting the sick, the elderly and the unfit to work? Weird.

 

 

Click here to buy The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Jemma Wayne – Chains of Sand | Review

May 17, 2016
Authors U-Z (By Surname)Fiction

Title: Chains of Sand

Author: Jemma Wayne

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 336

Rating: 8/10

 

Jemma Wayne - Chains of Sand

Jemma Wayne – Chains of Sand

 

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

This book was pretty interesting, a literary fiction piece that shows the difference between London and Gaza, and the different lives that their inhabitants have. As if jumping from London to Gaza isn’t confusing enough, it also jumps backwards and forwards through time, but don’t let that put you off – it’s well-worth reading, even if it does leave you feeling like you need to re-read it to appreciate what actually happens.

And it really isn’t an easy read – it felt like it was taking me longer to read than it should do, although I did still blitz through it over a weekend. But that’s because there are so many layers to it, and you sometimes need to stop and think, because it’s the type of book that makes you do that.

As for the story line, it mainly focuses on two characters. First up, we have Udi, a 26-year-old Veteran of the Israeli army. Udi is the same age as I am and he’s already killed five men, and he wants to start a new life on London. Then there’s Daniel, a 29-year-old Londoner. Daniel is a Jewish investment banker who seems to have everything, but who still wants something more – in this case, he wants to move to Israel. Oh, and his family thinks that he’s crazy.

If you wanted to categorise this, you’d call it a piece of literary fiction. It’s more than that, though – it’s a strong exploration of the world that we live in, and one which makes you think. It’s rare for a contemporary book to do that – these days, in a culture which prefers instant gratification, it’s unusual for someone to take such an evocative approach to showing where things are wrong, and where we should fix it. It makes you think.

 

Jemma Wayne

Jemma Wayne

 

Click here to buy Chains of Sand.