The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne Reviews

This has to be one of the best books I've ever read in my life. I had low expectations after looking at the cover - very bland i thought, but how wrong was I. The author was trying to give a simple cover in contrast to the content of this book and I reckon that was very effective. It shows the reality of WWII, for both the Germans and Jews, and ...  Read the complete review

I thought this story was more of a childrens book, but I was surprised at how serious and adult it really is. I think it takes a bit of background knowledge on the actions of the Nazi party in the Second World War to understand the subtleties that are hinted at throughout, however it is easy enough to follow the plot. Bruno lives in Berlin ...  Read the complete review

It was seeing adverts for the film version of this that made me want to pick up the book and read it before seeing the film - I'm a big believer in the fact that the book version of most things is usually more detailed and interesting that the film, so I tend to like to read it first. Now, picking up a copy of this book, there isn't a ...  Read the complete review

I read this book at university after I had already seen the film at the local cinemas. The film was good but the book was truly moving as you see the character Bruno attempt to understand his fathers job and why his life is changing so much. The synopsis on the back of the book tells that you are going to go on a journey of Bruno's ...  Read the complete review

The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas stands out from the very beginning, in place of the usual synopsis on the back of the cover you are simply told that this book will take you on a journey with a boy called Bruno. That journey ends at a fence which with any luck none of us will ever have to encounter. Normally this would put me off as I ...  Read the complete review

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is written by John Boyne. It's a book about the Holocaust but unlike other books surrounding this it differs in the fact that it is written through the eyes of a young boy, 9 year old Bruno. Bruno's father works for The Fuhrer, in Bruno's naivety he understands this only as "The Fury", it ...  Read the complete review

Now and again I take a break from the usual genres that I read and pick up a book that falls into the category that I call 'books that I think I should read'. In other words, books that have in some way been critically acclaimed or had a lot of fuss made about them, whether old or new. And so it was with The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, a book that ...  Read the complete review

This is yet another book about the holocaust. John Boyne represents the event through a very different window; the view of a 9 year old boy called Bruno. He is forced from his very rich lifestyle in a big house to a house in Poland where his dad gets a job in a concentration camp. He has very mixed and confused emotions from the start to why he is ...  Read the complete review

This book is very different from your average holocaust story and I think that is why part of me loves it so much, taken from a different perspective we see life through 9 year old Bruno. Forced to move from Berlin in a comfortable house and comfortable life style to a place he calls 'Out With' it took me a while to realise what 'Out With' really ...  Read the complete review

Over the last decade hundreds of books or memoirs about the Holocaust have been published. "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" is another one of these stories. Yet this one is a little different in several ways. Told from the perspective of a 9 year-old non-jew who is unknowingly caught up in the Holocaust it is still moving and very ...  Read the complete review

This is a truly wonderful book. It is written from a child's perspective in a beautiful way. The story is of 2 little boys who meet and become friends, crossing all sorts of boundaries. It is a heart wrenching and thought provoking read. What I love about this book is the mixture of child like simplicity in the way it is written with ...  Read the complete review

I first came across this book while browsing my local branch of Waterstone's - I had never heard of it before then. Intrigued by both the title and the cover, I picked it up, started reading the first few pages and couldn't really put it down. Once I got it home, I dived into it and just kept reading till I got to the end. I loved this book. ...  Read the complete review

I came accross this book after reading a review for the film (which i saw after i read it). The book follows the story of a young boy who is the son of a commandant and is moved to a concentration camp along with his family. Where he befriends a member of that camp. There are numerous, numerous flaws in the history of this book. They ...  Read the complete review

After reading a couple of reviews on here and receiving a Waterstones book token for my birthday, I decided to buy this book. Firstly I was a bit taken aback in Waterstones when the assistant asked me if I wanted the teenage or adult version, I hadn't got the impression from the reviews I'd read that it was a children's book. ...  Read the complete review

My boyfriend bought me this book for christmas and, to be honest, I put off reading it as I didn't think it would be my sort of thing. I took it on holiday, though, and just couldn't put it down. Bruno is a 9 year old boy living with his parents and sister, Gretel, in Berlin in the early 1940's. His father is a Commandant in the ...  Read the complete review

Bruno never knew why he and his family had to move from the big house in Berlin to the small horrible house in Out-With. Bruno never knew what Father was up to. Bruno never knew what's the fence he could see from the window in his room was for. All he knew was he had a new friend in his loneliness in Out With, Shmuel, the boy with the striped ...  Read the complete review

I bought this book, as it was recommended to me. Although it is meant for adolescents, I believe everyone above eleven should take the opportunity to read this book. It is very intelligent but simple book-written through a nine year old's eyes, it contains many hints of the horrors of what was happening at Auchwitz. I like the clever way in which ...  Read the complete review

I generally dislike seeing films which are based on books unless I've read the book first (The Notebook is the only exception of this!) so when I saw The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was going to be a film, I thought I would read the book first. Although, admittedly, I never got around to seeing the film afterwards! PLOT: This ...  Read the complete review

I noticed this book after seeing the film advertised and thought I would see what is was about as usually I prefer to read the book then see the film. The book is written through the eyes of a young boy living in Germany in World War 2. The style is quite basic and very easy to read. The authour gets through the image of childhood innocence ...  Read the complete review