John Boyne

I was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where I was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.

My early writing consisted mostly of short stories and I published a number of them. My first story, The Entertainments Jar, was shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award in Ireland. In total, I’ve published about 70 short stories.

I’ve published eight novels, six for adults: THE THIEF OF TIME (2000), THE CONGRESS OF ROUGH RIDERS (2001), CRIPPEN (2004), NEXT OF KIN (2006), MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (2008) and THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE (2009) and two for younger readers: THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS (2006) and NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY (2010).

My 2006 novel, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The novel itself won 2 Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted or won a host of international awards. Amongst other accolades, it spent more than 80 weeks at no.1 in Ireland, topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and was the bestselling book in Spain in both 2007 and 2008. Worldwide, it has sold more than 5 million copies.

My novels are published in 42 languages.

My eighth novel, NOAH BARLEYWATER RUNS AWAY, a book for younger readers, was published in October 2010 and reached no.1 on the Irish Bestseller Chart. It was also shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year. It’s currently due to be published in 20 languages.

My ninth novel, THE ABSOLUTIST, will be published in the UK in May 2011.

I live in Dublin.

John Boyne

Praise for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (click on the title to see John Boyne's official website)

Winner: Irish Book Award Children’s Book of the Year, Irish Book Award People’s Choice Book of the Year, Bisto Book of the Year, Que Leer Award Best International Novel of the Year (Spain), Orange Prize Readers Group Book of the Year.

Shortlisted for British Book Award, the Border’s New Voices Award; the Ottaker’s Children’s Book Prize, the Paolo Ungari Literary Award (Italy) , Irish Book Award Irish Novel of the Year Award]]; the Leeds Book Award; the North-East Book Award; the Berkshire Book Award; the Sheffield Book Award; the Lancashire Book Award; Prix Farniente (Belgium); Flemish Young Readers Award; Independent Booksellers Book of the Year; Deutschen Jugend Literatur Preis (Germany).

Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the International IMPAC Literary Award

Reviews
' A small wonder of a book' Guardian

' This is what fiction is supposed to do: introduce you to the minds of those who wouldn't ordinarily meet' Guardian

' Quite impossible to put down, this is the rare kind of book that doesn't leave your head for days' Becky Stradwick, Borders, The Bookseller


'Packed with overstones that remain in the imagination ... it stays just ahead of its readers before delivering its killer punch in the final pages' Nick Tucker, Independent


' The Holocaust as a subject insists on respect, precludes criticism, prefers silence. One thing is clear: this book will not go gently into any good night' Observer


' An extraordinary book ... a powerful story, simply told' Irish Examiner


'It is a novel that inspires thought and difference of opinion, it is a book that deserves to be read, to be discussed, to be held close to the heart' Achuka

' A wonderful, haunting story' The Bookseller


' A book so simple, so seemingly effortless, that it's almost perfect' Irish Independent


' Overwhelmingly powerful' Carousel


' A book that lingers in the mind for quite some time. It is a subtle, calculatedly simple and ultimately moving story. For any age' Irish Times

A new book for a new season

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is the book I have chosen for this new term.

To tell you the truth I had read some reviews about the book and I was looking for it, but it was impossible to find it in English, so on one of my journeys to Wigan I bought it. When I saw the book sitting on the bookshop shelf of Waterstone’s, it screamed at me, “pick me, pick me!” How can I say no when a book just screams at you, begging to be taken home and read. So I got two copies, one for me and another for my friend’s daughter who was nine years old.

The story of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very difficult to describe. Usually we can read some clues about the book on the cover, but in this case the author thinks that would spoil the reading of the book. It is important that you start to read without knowing what it is about.

If you do start to read this book, you will go on a journey with a nine-year-old boy called Bruno. (Though this isn’t a book for nine-year-olds.) And sooner or later you will arrive with Bruno at a fence.

Fences like this exist all over the world. I hope you never have to encounter such a fence.

I would highly recommend that you go and get this book. You’ll enjoy it.

Hey, ... are you talking to me?

Have you ever get that “ah-ha!” feeling when you read a book? You come across a passage that practically shouts out loud, “Hey,guy. Pay attention—this is YOU!”

I love that books can do that…make us see ourselves…recall feelings and experiences…and put them all into words!

Discussion question:

Is there a particular character—or moment—in the book you’re reading now that gave you a sense of self-recognition? What about in other books? If you’ve come across those passages, can you recall how they made you feel?