Conor Donovan from Cork interviews John Boyne, author of The Boy in the
Striped Pyjamas for Scoilnet’s Storytime.
Q: Where and when did you first get the idea for this book?
A: The idea for the novel came to me in April 2004 as an image of 2 boys sitting on either
side of a fence, having conversations. I knew where that fence was situated and why both
boys were there and was interested in telling the story that would reflect their separate
situations. I wrote the first draft in a short space of time – almost non-stop for a few days –
but it took about a year to rewrite and work towards the final draft.
Q: Are there certain characteristics in Bruno that you can relate to or share with him
(for example Bruno's love of exploring)?
A: I think Bruno has a certain naiveté and innocence which I may have also had as a child.
But one of the things I wanted to create was a character who, while likable, was also human.
At times during the novel, Bruno makes mistakes, such as when he denies his friendship with
Shmuel in the kitchen of his house in front of Lt Kotler, but he realises afterwards what he’s
done and apologises for it.
Q: In 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' there is no real mention of date or time for the
setting of the story. Was this intentional? And if so, why?
A: Well, there is in a way because it’s mentioned that both Bruno and Shmuel were born on
15 April 1934, and that they are both nine years old, which sets it within 1943. The dates
of their births were intentionally the same, as it provided a further connection to their
mirrored existences. It’s also the date and year of my father’s birth, which I used intentionally
to consider the lives and families the boys might have had, had they survived the war.
Q: Throughout the book why does Bruno keep referring to his older sister, Gretel, as a
Hopeless Case? What did you (or should I ask what did Bruno) mean by this?
A: This relates to the fact the Bruno is a boy who overhears a lot of adult conversations and
reproduces phrases and ideas from them, without fully understanding them. Although it’s
never mentioned how he came up with this particular phrase, it’s always been my idea that in
a moment of stress he has heard Mother referring to Gretel as a hopeless case and has
adopted it since then.
Q: What age were you when you wrote your first story? And did you always want to be
an author?
A: I started writing stories when I was about 12 or 13 and wrote literally hundreds during my
teenage years and early twenties. I published my first story when I was 21 and have published
many stories since then, and then my first novel in 2000, when I was 29. And yes, I’ve
always wanted to be a writer and can’t imagine what else I might have done in life had I not
succeeded at it!
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