Surprised that people are saying Bruno was naive.  Let's think about the horror of the holocaust and realise how shocking it still is to think about that kind of thing happening - even today.  It's not something an adult would want to easily believe could be going on, let alone a nine year old child.

A keeper for me.

What a brilliant book.  I liked the fact that the story was told in such a "simplistic" way - it really brings home the horror of the holocaust.  The fact that once Bruno put on the pyjamas he suddenly looked very like Schmuel really reinforces the fact that we are all the same underneath.  I thought the last line was excellent too "Not in this day and age".  It was a typical child like ending, but of course, we know that other atrocities are taking place throughout the world.  I have wanted to read this for a long time, and was definately not dissapointed.

My husband and I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the end you just wanted to take Bruno away from what you knew was going to happen. Even though the book was written for children we found it very cleverly written, a quick read and one that everyone should read.

I didn't think about the plausibility when I read this book - after all when we read fiction shouldn't we suspend belief to a certain extent. I don't believe Bruno was naive. I grew up in the fifties and by today's standards we were extremely innocent. I wasn't really aware of my dad's work - children are selfish they don't really care what their parents do do they?

This book should be read in schools. It tells the story of the holocaust in a simple but shocking way that children won't forget. 

 

pattigee:

This book should be read in schools. It tells the story of the holocaust in a simple but shocking way that children won't forget. 

I agree - it is definately one that I will get my son to read when he is older.  He is a similar age to Bruno, and I think it would disturb him to much at the minute.

I read this in one sitting today and WOW! I didn't even consider the plausibility of it at the time, in fact, it took me a little while to confirm OutWith and Fury. It made me cry and as a previous poster said (sorry can't remember who!) what adult would want to believe the things that happened, let alone a child? I loved it. Definitely a keeper and I will be lending it to anyone who I can. What a great book.

I read this last night and really enjoyed it!  I did spot the Out with not really translating in German, but other than that, wasn't bothered by anything else.  I don't think it's implausible that he would be that innocent, it was a completely different time and also he had led a very sheltered and priveleged upbringing before hand.  I saw the ending coming the moment they mentioned him going under the fence, but still found it shocking cos I was hoping I was wrong!! 

It definitely had me thinking, and I am recommending it to everyone now!  Fantastic story!

Nat

i read this whilst on holiday, i really enjoyed it with a great but sad ending. i don't think this was written for children as i think a couple of people mentioned, as they wouldn't understand bruno's mistake with "out with" & the "fury". seeing it through the eyes of bruno and his naivety as a child , without the author having to go into horrific graphic detail made it even more upsetting for me. i really enjoyed it

Just read this and the reviews - think all your comments are really interesting. I wondered as I read it if Bruno was being naive, but I don't think so - as a young child with no knowledge of such atrocities, why would he naturally asume what was really happening? We know about the holocaust now so it's impossible to say what people could and couldn't have understood about the true horror of it. I thought the way Boyne weaved the innocent narration of Bruno with thoughts of adults who clearly knew more than him was very well done indeed.

I started crying on page 108 and didn't stop until the end! I must admit to being surprised at the ending, though - I thought that Bruno's father was going to discover him and mistake him for an inmate and so there would be a moment where he might realise that they weren't that different after all, as with the birthdays being the same/the head shaving etc that seemed to be what was being set up.

Think the novel would be a good book to read to a child.

I have just finished this and thought it was excellent. I agree with the comment above, I don't think Bruno was naive either. It was a different time. 

It was very well written. The ending was quite shocking, I have to admit I never saw that coming.  I thought Bruno would be discovered.  They last two sentences of the book were quite haunting when you think about all the current conflicts that are going on at the moment.  This is a book that should be on the curriculum.

I just read this yesterday.  I'm not sure it is the sort of book that you can say that you "enjoyed" reading given the subject matter.  I thought it was brilliantly written and that the ending was incredibly powerful. 

I thought that he captured the viewpoint of a 9 year old very well.  Children at that age only see a very limited world and see themselves at the centre of it.  Children would certainly have been more innocent back then than they are now, but even so I doubt many 9 year olds know that much about world politics or understand wars.  I don't think it is surprising that he didn't know what was going on in the camp as what information was given to ordinary people was controlled so many adults wouldn't have even been aware of it.

The only thing I wish about this book was that I had read it without knowing anything about it at all because I think it would be more effective if you don't know what is going on and have to piece things together as Bruno discovers things.  

I finished reading this the other day I'm glad I didn't read this chain until I had read it.

I can't say I enjoyed cos thats the wrong word to use with this book as it was so thoughtprovoking. It was a good read and I really felt I was there at the side of Bruno all the way through, as the author seemed to be able to put across what a nine year old's view of life was like As others have said 9 year olds had a very limited view of the world especially in the second world war.

This book is one that will stay in my mind for a very long time

 I have just finished this book and really enjoyed it. I must have been one of the only ppl who was not sure how it would end and kept me guessing till the end - i actually thought he was going to get shot by a soldier or something and i knew my pages were running out and something had to happen soon.

LOved it and would reccomend it to anyone - had me teary at the end 

I finished this book last night and I too really enjoyed it.  And yes, I did cry at the ending, although I did guess what was going to happen when Bruno put the pyjamas on.   It still shocked me when I realised what was going to happen.    I thought it was perfectly plausable and a nine year old child in that time would probably have been that naive.   I got the Out-With and Fury right away too.   Very sad, thought provoking book.  Would highly recommend it.   I can't wait to watch the film of it now.

smiler07:

However, when I was browsing amazon earlier I thought I'd read some of the reviews on there to see what others thought of this wonderful book and was slightly surprised when someone mentioned the fact that the book is so implausible that it stopped them from enjoying it. The reviewer had a point though and I cant believe that I didnt realise when I was reading it that "out-with" would not translate to sound like that in German, and also raised other points about Brunos naivity for a nine year old. I know that Brunos innocence was the central theme of the book, but never questionned the fact that this was so unrealistic for a nine year old.

I speak German and it wasn't until I'd mentioned to my mum (who'd already read the book) that I reckoned that Fury = Fuhrer, and she'd hinted that there was another mispronounced word that I figured out that Out-With = Auschwitz. I doubt I would have figured that out until later in the novel because it's really not pronounced anything like it would be in German, and my brain wouldn't have made the connection. I honestly can't see how you can get logically from Auschwitz to Out-With (especially when it's a German child pronouncing the world) when it's pronounced Owe-schvih-ts. And there is also the vital fact that there is no "th" sound in the German language!! Oh, and W = V, so With does not make any sense whatsoever. I do really like this book and this is my only complaint, but this issue does annoy me a bit.