Apr 8, 2009

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- John Boyne


The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- John Boyne

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.


I liked the story, and got teary eyed at the ending, but Bruno was so naive, it was frustrating. I understand he was nine, and not until the end of the war when the stories starting coming out about the concentration camps did people not there find out what was going on, but still in the book Bruno was there, he could see the camp, he saw the way the officers would treat them. It was hard to get past that character flaw to really, really enjoy the book. The book was still powerful, and touching and because of that I still gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.com. The ending is just heartbreaking though, be prepared to cry or at least get watery eyed.

About the Author

John Boyne (born 30 April 1971 in Dublin) is an Irish novelist.

He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize. But it was during his time at Trinity that he began to get published. To pay his way at that stage of his career, he worked at Waterstone's, typing up his drafts by night.

John Boyne is the author of six novels, as well as a number of short stories which have been published in various anthologies and broadcast on radio and television. His novels are published in 39 languages. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which to date has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and a film adaptation was released in September 2008. Boyne resides in Dublin. He is represented by the literary agent Simon Trewin at United Agents in London, United Kingdom.



Product Details

Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: David Fickling Books (September 12, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385751060

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