Tricia questioned the validity of a nine year old being as naive as Bruno.
I could not get the book, so I listened to it on CD. There was an interview with Boyne at the end. Bruno's naivety was a conscious decisions to make the story work as a fable, as was the use of "out with" and "Fury" in place of Auschwitz and Fuhrer. Neither of those words are ever mentioned in the book. He said that by calling it a fable and not using those words it could be any of the camps, or any situation of that kind in any era. He is aware that it was obvious to people who come to this book with a fore knowledge of the era, who and where these words referred to. I must admit that based on my English class definition of fable, he uses the word loosely.
Jo
I could not get the book, so I listened to it on CD. There was an interview with Boyne at the end. Bruno's naivety was a conscious decisions to make the story work as a fable, as was the use of "out with" and "Fury" in place of Auschwitz and Fuhrer. Neither of those words are ever mentioned in the book. He said that by calling it a fable and not using those words it could be any of the camps, or any situation of that kind in any era. He is aware that it was obvious to people who come to this book with a fore knowledge of the era, who and where these words referred to. I must admit that based on my English class definition of fable, he uses the word loosely.
Jo
1 comment:
i think the point that Boyne is trying to make by calling this a "fable" - or at least the message i got - is that there are many ways that we put up fences and assign certain people to "Out-With" and don't see or treat them as human beings. i don't think the book should be read literally as historical fiction.
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