The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Hi all in the blogosphere,

Sorry it has been so long since my last entry. I have had to read so much for work.

I have just finished the first book I have read for myself in ages - and I had to get in here straight away and recommend it to everyone.

The book is John Boyne's "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas". I don't want to spoil the plot, as the whole beauty of the book is that you have to work it out as you go along - which is very much what the nine-year-old narrator has to do. In the hardcover version (stupid paperback wrecks it) you don't even get a blurb. You simply get this:

"The story of 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' is very difficult to describe. Usually we give some clues about the book on the jacket, but in this case we think that would spoil the reading of the book. We think 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 arive with Bruno at a fence.

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

I had seen it in the bookstore several times and was intrigued by this blurb. Get into it if you can, as while it potters along nicely for most of the book, the ending is sure to get your attention.