John Boyne
John Boyne
John Boyneis an Irish novelist. He is the author of nine novels for adults and five novels for younger readers. His novels are published in 50 languages...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth30 April 1971
CountryIreland
letting-go hands holocaust
...Despite the mayhem that followed, Bruno found that he was still holding Shmuel's hand in his own and nothing in the world would have persuaded him to let go.
pajamas sitting miserable
Sitting around miserable all day won't make you any happier.
boys dots figures
The dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy
my-best-friend shmuel said
You’re my best friend, Shmuel,’ he said. ‘My best friend for life.
unknown-worlds finding-happiness knows
It is possible, you know, to drift off to an unknown world and find happiness there. Maybe even more happiness than you've ever known before.
boys years immaturity
... Nine-year-old boys usually turn ten at some point. It's the nineteen-year-olds who have difficulty turning twenty.
grandmother costumes pretending
It reminds me of how grandmother always had the right costume for me to wear. You wear the right outfit and you feel like the person you're pretending to be.
boys doors sky
Very slowly he turned his head back to look at Shmuel, who wasn't crying anymore, merely staring at the floor and looking as if he was trying to convince his soul not to live inside his tiny body anymore, but to slip away and sail to the door and rise up into the sky, gliding through the clouds until it was very far away.'' -The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
coward tumbling irony
Do you see the irony at all, Tristan?’ I stare at him and shake my head. He seems determined not to speak again until I do. ‘What irony?’ I ask eventually, the words tumbling out in a hurried heap. ‘That I am to be shot as a coward while you get to live as one.
opposed war
I am opposed to war, to killing people, to any kind of hatred and violence.
charles christmas dickens excite failed teenage throughout
Throughout my teenage years, I read 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens every December. It was a story that never failed to excite me, for as well as being a Dickens enthusiast, I have always loved ghost stories.
glorify people tend war
People try to glorify war, particularly those who aren't actually fighting in them. People tend to make heroes of those who are fighting in them.
employed entirely far term
What makes a classic is difficult to define. It's entirely subjective, of course. And the term is employed far too promiscuously.