In modern writing, there is a difference between beautifully written stories and simply beautiful stories.

If you compared it to beautifully written stories, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas would not come out on top. Its vocabulary, sentence structure, and metaphors are extremely simple. Yet after reading it, I didn't feel disappointed or dissatisfied. It captivated me, despite its straight-forward presentation.

Targeting neither children nor adults, author John Boyne has presented readers with a unique story of the Holocaust, told from the point of view of a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. Virtually unaware of the terrible events happening all around him, Bruno, the son of a Nazi general, begins by telling us the simple misfortunes of his life. His problems are common to any child: an annoying older sister, Gretel, and the loneliness he encounters after moving.

Meanwhile, the mass murder of thousands is occurring just outside his new home, an idea he cannot and will never comprehend. Bruno spends his time talking to a Jewish boy named Shmuel, who, because he lives in the concentration camp, wears the required gray striped pajamas. Bruno remains completely ignorant of the difference between Shmuel and himself. The two share the same birthday and become best friends, despite their very different backgrounds.

It was the narrator's voice of ignorance that drew me into this simply written, beautiful story, with an ending that both surprised and saddened me.