i've been thinking, and i figured that maybe there was a reason the author decided to write his book with such an emotionless voice. there was a little blurb about the author at the front of the book, and it said that he was sent to a concentration camp during the war. maybe he wanted to tell people his story, but not relive the stress and horror of it himself. maybe he tried to write it the way he remembered it, but he couldn't put himself through the experience again. it also says he was a journalist before he wrote this book, and that would probably be where his emotionless writing skills came from, because this book sounds more like a news report than an actual story.

i've been trying to figure out which part of the book was real life, and which part he made up. i think most of the story while he was at home was fictional, but from the moment he was called of the bus onward, i think that was reality.

-megan hirst