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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (original 2006; edition 2007)

by John Boyne

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
14,865850369 (3.96)469
Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence.
Member:attolia
Title:The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Authors:John Boyne
Info:David Fickling Books (2007), Edition: 0, Paperback, 215 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***1/2
Tags:2013, fiction, ya, historical

Work Information

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (2006)

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    The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy (vvstokkom)
    vvstokkom: Written from a point of view of a baker's daughter in Germany. If you liked The boy in the striped pyjama, you will love The Baker's Daughter.
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(see all 28 recommendations)

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» See also 469 mentions

English (736)  Spanish (34)  Dutch (24)  German (15)  Catalan (9)  Portuguese (Portugal) (8)  Finnish (5)  Italian (3)  Turkish (2)  Swedish (2)  French (2)  Portuguese (2)  Norwegian (1)  Polish (1)  Danish (1)  All languages (845)
Showing 1-5 of 736 (next | show all)
Haunting, harrowing and thought-provoking.

I reread The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas before starting All the Broken Places and it had an even greater impact on me second time round.

The stark contrast between Auschwitz seen through the eyes of a naïve, 9-year-old forced to leave the luxury of his 5-storey home in Berlin when his father is promoted to the rank of camp commandant and the vivid images stamped on my mind from newsreels showing the liberation of the camps and the horrors of the atrocities committed there, from documentaries about the holocaust and the final solution and from interviews with survivors made this book a chilling and compelling read.

When Bruno innocently ponders why the hordes of passengers being forced to board an already packed train on the opposite platform can’t just cross over and join him on his empty train going in the same direction, I pictured the grim reality with a sick feeling in my stomach.

The characters are all really well drawn: the repetition of phrases, mispronunciation of key words and gripes over the lack of playmates, lessons and The Hopeless Case perfectly portray Bruno as a self-preoccupied and privileged young boy while the depiction of his new friend Schmuel on the other side of the fence is simply heart-breaking. The coldness and cruelty emanating from Lieutenant Kurt Kotler send shivers down the spine while Mother’s medicinal sherry and Father’s iron fist create a real impression of home life.

For a relatively short book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas packs a powerful punch and poses many questions for adult and younger readers alike. A harrowing and haunting work of fiction, a tense and atmospheric read and a unique perspective on this unforgettable period in history.

“You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you’re pretending to be.” ( )
  geraldine_croft | Mar 21, 2024 |
Ӕ
1 vote AnkaraLibrary | Feb 29, 2024 |
I first discovered this story when I came across the movie by accident while browsing through an online movie streaming channel. I really enjoyed the movie for what it was to me, a fictitious tale of a lonely innocent boy taking place in a tragic historical setting. A few years later I came across the book while perusing a bookshop in Ireland and decided this might be good for my daughter to read in a few years when she is older. Subsequently, I read the book with the movie in the back of my mind and no expectations of historical accuracy, but as a tale of fiction told through the eyes of, or written by, a nine year old. That said, I was quite taken aback by some of the negative reviews here. I get it that the book is full of implausible events and historical inaccuracies, but I don’t expect much more when I read a “fable”. In that regard, I thought the author did a good job, although given the context of the time period and plot, I think it would have been more believable if Bruno was two or three years younger. Granted, the author picked one of the worst instances of man’s cruelty against humanity as the backdrop, but that makes the impact of Bruno’s naiveté even more profound, in my opinion.

If you are looking for a moving story told through the eyes of a child, you might enjoy this book. If you are looking for a factual holocaust story, then read an account from a reputable historian or someone who was there. ( )
  amurray914 | Feb 27, 2024 |
Sadly, I only "discovered" John Boyne in 2017 when "The Heart's Invisible Furies" was published. Now I have begun to delve into his back catalog and I just read this wonderful book, which tells a tragic story about the effects of the Nazi regime through the eyes of a child of a high-ranking SS official. I believe it was written as a book for middle school age children, and it has some flaws in the story-telling, in my view (e.g., the main character, Bruno, is nine-years-old, and despite being corrected on more than one occasion, he calls the Fuhrer "the Fury" and Auschwitz "Out-With" and he also comes up with phrases that seem too adult). Children that age might not understand some of the subtleties of the story or its moral lesson. ( )
  bschweiger | Feb 4, 2024 |
Restricted Viewpoint, a sub-set of Unreliable Narrator, is the device John Boyne uses very effectively to tell the story of Auschwitz in an original way. It will take all the self-control you can muster not to sob uncontrollably at the ending.

Bruno, the young son of a high-ranking Nazi officer during World War II, is unhappy when his family has to leave their comfortable Berlin home and move to much more Spartan accommodations at a place his untrained ear perceives as “Out-With.” But the move was ordered by “the Fury,” the German leader, so off they go. At Out-With, there are no friends for Bruno to play with, so when he sees a boy in pajamas sitting on the other side of a fence, he approaches and befriends him. Bruno misunderstands or misconstrues the few bits of information he gleans from his new friend. Ignored by his parents, harassed by his big sister, Bruno comes to live for his furtive meetings with the boy at the fence. But to say anything more would be to enter Spoiler Alert territory.

Easily read at a sitting, this simple tale has knockout power. Even if you’ve seen the excellent film, the book is well worth reading. ( )
  b00kdarling87 | Jan 7, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 736 (next | show all)
"Powerful and unsettling.......As memorable an introduction to the subject as The Diary of Anne Frank."
added by cvosshans | editUSA Today (Sep 24, 2009)
 
"Deeply affecting......Beautiful and sparely written"
added by cvosshans | editThe Wall Street Journal (Sep 24, 2009)
 
added by ianreads | editThe Guardian, Kathryn Hughes (Jan 21, 2006)
 
Aunque el uso habitual de un texto como éste es describir las características de la obra, por una vez nos tomaremos la libertad de hacer una excepción a la norma establecida. No sólo porque el libro que tienes en tus manos es muy difícil de definir, sino porque estamos convencidos de que explicar su contenido estropearía la experiencia de la lectura. Creemos que es importante empezar esta novela sin saber de qué trata. No obstante, si decides embarcarte en la aventura, debes saber que acompañarás a Bruno, un niño de nueve años, cuando se muda con su familia a una casa junto a una cerca. Cercas como ésa existen en muchos sitios del mundo, sólo deseamos que no te encuentres nunca con una. Por último, cabe aclarar que este libro no es sólo para adultos; también lo pueden leer, y sería recomendable que lo hicieran, niños a partir de los trece años de edad.
added by Pakoniet | editLecturalia
 
Escolhi ler este livro porque consegue abordar a época Nazi de uma forma simples, não deixando, no entanto, de ser cruel e realista. Foca a inocência de duas crianças, que apesar de pertencerem a culturas diferentes, conseguem viver uma amizade inocente num mundo ignorante. Recomendo-o pois ele consegue transmitir que somos todos seres humanos e que devemos ser respeitados independentemente dos nossos ideias, costumes e cultura, porque se não o fizermos podemos magoar quem realmente amamos.

 

» Add other authors (28 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
John Boyneprimary authorall editionscalculated
Beck, LauraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jakobeit, BrigitteTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jonge, Jenny deTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Maloney, MichaelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the family's maid - who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet - standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates, even the things he'd hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody else's business.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence.

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