The Boy at the Top of the Mountain Paperback – June 6, 2017

John Boyne is a gifted and sensitive writer who knows how to construct a story to great effect. This book and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas use the background of the Holocaust to tell an immensely moving tragic story. His verbal inventiveness adds brilliant touches. The boys speak of "the fury" and "out-with" because they cannot pronounce "the Führer" and the name of the extermination camp Auschwitz. It's minor but effective device. I first became aware of these stories when I saw the film production of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Spoiler: I was moved to tears by the plot. One of the boys is Jewish, the other a Gentile. The twist is this: the Gentile boy is the beloved son of the Commandant of Auschwitz, and the boy innocently follows his Jewish friend into the gas chamber where they both perish. The implied grief of the Commandant and his wife is supreme irony in that they are compelled to share the grief of all the families whose loved ones were lost in Auschwitz.The Boy at the Top of the MountainThe Boy at the Top of the Mountain

Not the easiest of subjects to write about but it comes across for what it is. I would not choose even a novel, which has Hitler as a principal character of the story yet this does work. There are parts that stretch the imagination and I found myself Googling Hitler's lair, the Berghof to learn more, so from that perspective I have been introduced to a part of history that I previously did not know about. Watching sweet, kind, gentle Pierrot morph into the fanatical Nazi, Pieter that he becomes was wholly credible. I have not yet read a John Boyne I have not enjoyed, this is no exception.

This is the second book I have read by John Boyne. I am never bored and always can’t wait to turn the page.What a fantastic read, my emotions were on high alert.I plan to quickly purchase another book by John Boyne!

I really hated this book but at the same time I literally could not put it down. From the very beginning I had a gut feeling it was going to make me sad. But it also made me angry. Experiencing those conflicting emotions simultaneously made me uncomfortable and I think that is, simply put, what makes Boyne's writing so compelling.He writes about the human condition with such audacity and incisiveness, yet its also clever and engrossing. In this case we have Pierrot, a boy of 7 with a French mother and a German father living in Paris in 1936. His father, dogged by his demons from WWI, has become an alcoholic and abusive. He (I believe) either committed suicide or was so inebriated that he fell in front of a train leaving Pierrot and his Maman to fend for themselves. Shortly thereafter she succumbs to tuberculosis orphaning Pierrot. This is in the blurb and not a spoiler.What's important to note here is Pierrot's characterization. His best friend is the deaf Jewish boy downstairs, Anshel, who writes stories and gives them to Pierrot to critique. Their bond is a palpable one and they even develop their own language. He is small for his age, is constantly ridiculed for it and the cherry on top was how Boyne ensnared me with how sweet, kind and tender-hearted he is which made all the suffering exponentially harder to stomach. After a brief time with Anshel's family he's sent to an orphanage where he was bullied before his long lost aunt sends for him.Beatrix is the housekeeper at the Berghof. *horrified face*Things rapidly deteriorated from there, as you can imagine. He grows up under the diabolical tutelage of the Führer in the heart of the Nazi regime from the ages of 7 to 16. Formative years, to be sure.What I found so riveting was this notion that Boyne's playing with of power and corruption and how easily, given a certain set of circumstances, they can alter a person. Beatrix in her desire to do right by her brother set in motion a chain of events that irrevocably changed people's lives, altering sweet little Pierrot in chilling ways and transforming him into loyal Pieter, Oberscharführer, who's unruly and capable of monstrous deeds. Which leads to the question of can reparations be made? And at what age are we to be held accountable for our actions?I'm certain everyone will have a different experience with this book. I lean towards optimism and perseverance, but regardless, anything that makes me think, examine and evaluate this much is worthy of 5 stars despite the fact that I still feel a bit sickened and in desperate need of some fluff.Nevertheless, Boyne's writing leaves an impression that's hard to ignore, so I will continue to read his words.

It really reads like a young adult novel. Interesting in premise but vague, under developed and basically so so. Not bad, not great.

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain is about a German child who grew up during WW II in the mountain retreat of Adolf Hitler. While the1 boy is a fictional figure, the details of the story and the picture painted of Hitler and his Nazi companions are true. The boy himself symbolizes the German people taken in by nationalism an d who became inst1ruments of evil. Ordinary Germans knew what was being done in their name and few of them resisted the powers that committed unimaginable atrocities. I have family in Germany. The terrible truth of the 1940's is not forgotten. School children learn about the Nazi regime and the holocaust it precipitated. Americans could learn a lot from the Germans, that our history must be taught truthfully and should be looked at carefully lest we too allow evil to replace the good in us.

The book was a well developed story about the Holocaust. While we may all start off as a tabula rasa, our inherent values influence our moral compass. The main character goes through transformations during his lifetime. Early friendships form powerful connections.

A different kind of look at the war. A side we seldom read about. The author made this a compelling story. There were times that I could not stop reading. A very fast read with characters that are easy to visualize as you read. I’ll read it again some day for sure.