Customer Reviews: Read 119 more reviews...
 Objectionable August 21, 2008
THE Music Enthusiast
"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" is an original tale set in Nazi Germany, telling the story of Bruno, a young and naive German boy who befriends a Jewish boy. The book is written in simple language and is easy to read. It is though the innocence of the main character and the style of the writing that the book ultimately achieves its impact, with the story growing darker and darker as it progresses and the reader - not Bruno - being the one to realise what's going on. The climax, albeit slightly predictable as the end approaches, is harrowing and will bring home the horrors of the Holocaust.
However, I'd agree with some of the other reviewers about the questionable realism of some of the events in the book, and would emphathise with those who found the story insulting or offensive. Does a child really walk around with their eyes and ears shut the way Bruno does? (One history book I read on Hitler contained photos of young German children burning Jewish literature.) I doubt it.
Whilst "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" as a story is interesting, my personal opinion is that authors should leave the subject of the Holocaust well and truly alone. The world has had several decades to come to terms with this dark period of history. It's about time writers found something else to explore and stopped digging up what is an extremely painful past for many. I'm only giving this book two stars because of this.
 The boy in striped pyjamas August 12, 2008
Ms. Z. Wastell (london, england)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read this on holiday. I have a keen interest in the second world war. I was very disappointed. Although I understand that the book is totally fiction, I felt that the writer hadn't really done enough research into it and that It was as though a child had written a short story about the war.
 Wow what a PUNCH at the end! August 11, 2008
~ Bookworm ~ (U.K)
I would certainly recommend this as a great book for young people to read, it is a small easy to read book, with short chapters...... I read it in a couple of days, and thouroughly enjoyed it. I don't want to give anything away, but it was interesting seeing it from 'the other side's' point of view, and through a childs innocent eyes. Wow what a PUNCH at the end, certainly hits hard!! Worth reading, especially before the film is released in September....... I have now given it to my 14yr old son to read.
It just 'sticks' in your mind... August 1, 2008
Bookworm (London, UK)
This book is one of those rare reads. Long after you have finished it, you think about it and find it is stuck in your mind. It's an extremely quick read, a day on holiday for me, I had bought it at the airport last minute and knew nothing about it so it was a nice surprise to find I had picked up something that was completely different to my usual sun lounger reads.
I am not going to give anything away, but if you are in two minds, just buy it, you will skip through it quickly and you too may find you are still thinking about it a couple of weeks later.
I must say though I am really disappointed in Amazon for not removing or editing earlier reviews which totally go in to the synopsis of the book, particularly when the publishers have gone out of their way in not giving anything away, so much so that even the back of the book gives no real clues as to what it is about.
To anyone browsing these pages. Read the book - not the reviews!!
Too horrific for words but a brilliant read! July 19, 2008
Lexia269 (UK)
It's been a long time since I've read a book that has moved me in such a way as this one did.
'The Boy In Striped Pyjamas' tells the tale of the family of a Nazi Commanding Officer during World War Two and how their lives change when they are uprooted from their large mansion house in Berlin to a small, lone house in Auschwitz. Just as he is becoming more and more bored with his new life, Bruno meets Shmuel, a boy of the same age who lives on the other side of the wire fence at the end of the garden, and who always wears striped pyjamas. The boys soon become friends but little does Bruno know, that this friendship will open his eyes to a world he had never known.
Telling the tale from the point of view of nine year old Bruno adds to the already horrifying circumstance that the book examines, as the language is so simple and innocent that it makes the events all the more terrible.
With a climax that'll leave you in complete shock, this is a definite must-read.
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