The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

· Random House
529 reviews
Ebook
256
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

Lines may divide us, but hope will unite us.

Nine year old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust.

He’s oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country.

All he knows is that he has moved from Berlin to a desolate area where he has no one to play with.

Until he meets Shmuel.

Shmuel lives in a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence, where everyone wears a uniform of striped pyjamas.

Despite the wire fence separating them, the two boys become best friends.

As they grow closer, Bruno starts to learn the terrible truth that lies beyond the fence, and what life is like for his friend.

John Boyne’s classic novel explores the friendship and loss of innocence of Bruno and Shmuel, during one of the worst points in history.

Lines may divide us, but hope will unite us. Nine year old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He’s oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has moved from Berlin to a desolate area where he ha...

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Ratings and reviews

529 reviews
Aden Pulford
August 17, 2014
This book is awful. *****Spoiler Alert***** Firstly lets start with the plot holes: - Bruno is a boy who grew up in Germany during Hitlers reign and went to a public school (Which was required to have a picture of Hitler on the wall) and thus should have known when Hitler came to his house who he was. - Secondly Bruno pronounce Auschwitz as Out-With which is all cute until you put out with into translate and find he has been calling Auschwitz Raus Mit - Thirdly (Getting into the deep stuff now) Bruno cannot see any buildings at all when he gets to Shmuel meaning (Due to the curvature of the world) He is 5 kilometers away from them, Auschwitz was 4*8 kilometers meaning that he should be able to see the end of the fence from the house and especially from where Shmuel is and if he can't half of Auschwitz is being used for one child. - Fourthly, Bruno climbs through a small hole of an electric fence, a double layered electric fence, in the rain. He did not do that without A) Him being shocked B) Him being caught in between the layers. Now on to the authors writing style: John Boyne wrote this book in two days, and it shows. The book is terribly written. Sorry no room.
5 people found this review helpful
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Eepy (The Meow Meow)
March 21, 2026
I had to read this book for school,and mainly due to me being a bookworm,finished it in a day,despite being so short,I absolutely loved it from start to finish,some things are historically inaccurate though and as someone who researched the holocaust, this isn't ok as this was a real event that impacted many lives,besides that I really enjoyed, especially the plot twist and the childlike explanations and narration,I will be rereading this for fun :)
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Sallona Ramesh
March 17, 2013
A brilliant tale written from a 9year old perspective that achieves the rare task of being so simple yet deep that it appeals to the forgotten truths.and.9 years old inside all of us.
4 people found this review helpful
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About the author

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, five for young readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning book The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John’s other novels, notably The Absolutist and A History of Loneliness, have been widely praised and are international bestsellers. Most recently, The Heart's Invisible Furies was a Richard & Judy Bookclub word-of-mouth bestseller.

His novels are published in over fifty languages.

John Boyne was born in Ireland in 1971. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, five for young readers and a collection of short stories. Perhaps best known for his 2006 multi-award-winning book The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, John’s other novels, notably The Absolutist and A History of Lon...

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