goodreads | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Author: John Boyne
Genre: WW2, YA
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 224
Date read: December, 2010

Berlin 1942

When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance.

But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

I'm not entirely sure what I think about this novella. I had no expectations at all, as the only thing I knew about it, was that it took place during WW2 and that "the boy in the striped pyjamas" was a prisoner of a concentration camp.

Generally speaking, I liked the book - although I'm not sure that 'liked' is the right term for the effect it had on me. I liked the way it was written through a young naive boy's POV, even if that boy did at times act FAR beneath his age. I'd have found it a lot more believable if Bruno had been 6 rather than 9. Forgetting the names of some of his best friends after less than a year? Really?

Still, it was Bruno's naivete and innocence that made the story work. The ending wouldn't have been at all believable if Bruno had been more mature or world-wise. As it was, it was a tragic story that (apart from Bruno's age) really worked for me.