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Boy in the Striped Pajamas | 
 enlarge | Author: John Boyne
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.14
Buy New: £5.27
You Save: £0.87 (14%)
Rating:  203 reviews
Sales Rank: 9547
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.4
ISBN: 0385751532
EAN: 9780385751537
ASIN: 0385751532
Publication Date: October 23, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Amazon.co.uk Review
John Boyne's The Boy in Striped Pyjamas will no doubt acquire many readers as a result of the subsequent film of the novel, but viewers of the latter would do themselves a favour by going back to the spare and powerfully affecting original book. Bruno is nine years old, and the Nazis’ horrific Final Solution to the aJewish Problem’ means nothing to him. He's completely unaware of the barbarity of Germany under Hitler, and is more concerned by his move from his well-appointed house in Berlin to a far less salubrious area where he finds himself with nothing to do. Then he meets a boy called Shmuel who lives a very different life from him -- a life on the opposite side of a wire fence. And Shmuel is the eponymous boy in the striped pyjamas, as are all the other people on the other side of the fence. The friendship between the two boys begins to grow, but for Bruno it is a journey from blissful ignorance to a painful knowledge. And he will find that this learning process carries, for him, a daunting price. A legion of books have attempted to evoke the horrors of the Second World War, but in this concise and perfectly honed novel, all of the effects that John Boyne creates are allowed to make a maximum impact in a relatively understated fashion (given the enormity of the situation here). The Boy in Striped Pyjamas is also that rare thing: a novel which can affect both children and adults equally; a worthy successor, in fact, to such masterpieces as To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye -- both, of course, books, dealing (as does this one) with the loss of innocence. --Barry Forshaw
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| Customer Reviews: Read 198 more reviews...
 A parable that will stay with you... September 13, 2008
Michelle Moore (Kent, UK)
71 out of 77 found this review helpful
I'm sure that this is a book that most people have now heard of, especially with the film now released. However, it's probably approached with as least pre-information as possible. I prefer the synopsis that the book originally had..
"The story of "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think it is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about. If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn't a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence. We hope you never have to cross such a fence."
It is listed as a children's book, but it's not for younger children, and it's certainly an adult book aswell. If you haven't yet read it, don't go searching the reviews, just pick up the book, and read it in the way it was intended.
The book is told in a simple manner, reflecting the innocence and naivety of Bruno. I believe it's meant to be read in the same way as a parable or fable, it's not meant to be a historically accurate text. To me, it was a simple, very effective piece of story telling, which brought me to a stand still, made me cry, and has stayed very much in my thoughts.
Effortlessly profound August 18, 2006
Lauren H. (UK)
71 out of 78 found this review helpful
I am fifteen and have been regularly taught History for about ten years of my life. It was not badly taught and this book certainly didn't teach me anything I didn't know about the Holocaust that I didn't know before - it just strikes from a different angle.
The reason I make this point is because I read a few other reviews of this book before writing my own and a couple of people have said that it doesn't tell you anything new about WW2 therefore John Boyne is clueless, and that the author tries too hard to be moving. I disagree with this because I believe that Boyne was not attempting to teach us, but was describing what he already knew in a different, and slightly quirky, way. I also believe that he did not go out to write an epic but was merely experimenting with a plot and this style of writing - but that does not make the book any less worth reading.
The innocence of his writing is loveable yet infuriating, as more than once I felt a desperate need to shout at Bruno to wake him up when he was at the peak of his naivety. Then again, it is this which makes what is normally a grim and terrible subject approachable... and it certainly beats a three-inch thick textbook!
I easily read this book in a day - but that does not mean this is an easy read. Long after I had finished the book (and the crying had stopped) it still disturbed my thoughts. There is not one type of person which I wouldn't recommend this book to, and even those who do not have a keen interest for History should definitely still give it a go.
Excellent and moving July 7, 2006
D. A. Harris (Oxford, UK)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
Essentially this is the story of a friendship between two boys, from different backgrounds, set among appalling events. It is truly moving and also deeply shocking.
This is a stunning book, but it's difficult to do justice to it here without undermining the effect. The book works by gradually revealing a situation from the point of view of Bruno, a rather sheltered and naive nine year old, who makes a friend. That gradual revelation helps us discover history - which we might think we know and understand - from a new perspective, so making the events fresh - and horrible. Saying too much about the plot would spoil this and I won't.
There are many touches which make Bruno a very convincing nine year old, but I paused before giving this five stars due to a niggling doubt about whether he wouldn't know just a little bit more about the world than he apparently does: the book is set in the middle of the war, for example, but Bruno doesn't seem to be very aware of it.
But I think that's missing the point. Some reviewers have taken against the book, saying it's insulting, not true to life, unlikely and so forth. I think that they miss the same point. Yes, to produce the effect the author does he has to take liberties with the facts. The reason for that is that we - now - know what was going on at the time, and we've known it so long that we can't remember when we first knew, and familiarity softens that edge. How would you feel if you didn't know, and then found out? That's the experience this book manages to create, and I think the author is to be congratulated, not condemned.
Finally, I read this as a parent to my son - I would recommend that as it gives you a good opportunity to discuss the facts behind the book, but if you are a parent, do read the book yourself first.
A painfully poignant little gem of a book. October 30, 2006
A. B. Pearl (London)
23 out of 27 found this review helpful
The injustices of this world are always most effectively and poignantly portrayed when done so through the eyes of a young, innocent child. Harper Lee showed us this with 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. And more appropriately in the context of this book, the words of Anne Frank also have enormous resonance for us today. John Boyne clearly understands this, as is evident from this fine book. Those critisizing the book on the grounds of being historically innacurate are, I think, missing the point here. And the point is this: this is a novel - a work of fiction. Works of fiction - particularly those that deal with the largest industrialized form of genocide the world has ever known - are written to move us. We must therefore give all writers poetic licence. The truth of the matter is that John Boyne has written a deeply moving novel. While the simplicity of its language is its strength, it also disguises a deftly constructed storyline that has been beautifully thought through. I defy anyone with young children to read the penultimate chapter without shedding a tear. The horrors of war could not be more powerfully evoked. This is a very brave book. One that deserves a place on every school bookshelf.
Fantastic! August 5, 2006
K. S. Lane (London)
17 out of 20 found this review helpful
This book is superb. It is best if you do not know anything about it so that you can do some problem solving while reading it. I am a secondary school teacher and read it with a low level class. They adored the novel. They were excited and proud of their discoveries whilst reading and were engaged the entire time we were reading it. A real gem of a novel!
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