A review by thomas_edmund
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

4.0

The Boy in Striped Pj's is a short fable about the son of a German Commandant who befriends another similarily aged Jewish boy incarcerated in Auschwitz (which he refers to as out-with)

The narration builds tension well, despite the main character being oblivious, we are made well aware of the danger, particularily for the Jewish servants of the boy's family.

My main concern of the book, is that it is too short. I realise its an attempt to be a simple story or fable, but there was so much potential to develop the characters. Instead the story ends abruptly, in an ironic but slightly too forced event which left me dissapointed.

Also a problem was the unneeded last chapter with a last sentence which left me a little WTF? Was is intended to be more irony, sarcasm? Or what.

One can't help feel a jaded sense of that the Boy in Striped Pj's is just another book attempting to evoke emotions from the holocaust, but its not bad. It won't take long to read, so well worth it.