John Boyne

War today is such a more visible thing. We see it on television, on CNN. In 1914, war was a concept.

— John Boyne

“The women are always the whores; the priests are always the good men who were led astray.”

— John Boyne

“I think perhaps the adults we become are formed in childhood and there's no way around it.”

— John Boyne

“And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore the uniforms?”

— John Boyne

“Do you think . . . ?" 'I do sometimes, my boy,'admitted the old man. 'When I can't avoid it.”

— John Boyne

I am opposed to war, to killing people, to any kind of hatred and violence.

— John Boyne

“Hay cosas que sencillamente están ahí, sin molestar a nadie, esperando a que las descubran.”

— John Boyne

Bruno: We're not supposed to be friends, you and me. We're meant to be enemies. Did you know that?

— John Boyne

I move between the two: I write an adult novel, and then I write a children's book. I quite enjoy that. It's…

— John Boyne

Throughout my teenage years, I read 'A Christmas Carol' by Charles Dickens every December. It was a story that never failed to…

— John Boyne

“It was a difficult time to be Irish, a difficult time to be twenty-one years of age and a difficult time to…

— John Boyne

“For a moment he considered running across the platform to tell people about the empty seats in the carriage, but he decided…

— John Boyne

Children's book writers tend to feel quite superior, and adult writers tend to feel they wouldn't know how to write a children's…

— John Boyne

In his heart, he knew that there was no reason to be impolite to someone, even if they did work for you.…

— John Boyne

I enjoy the research element. There are so many stories from the past that interest me, that I want to learn more…

— John Boyne

“You are not there, Father,” I cried. “I wake up at Gaudlin Hall, I spend most of my day there, I sleep…

— John Boyne

“I had never considered myself to be a dishonest person, hating the idea that I was capable of such mendacity and deceit,…

— John Boyne

“He pushed his two feet together and shot his right arm in the air before clicking his two heels together and saying…

— John Boyne

Unless you're very boring, I think most people who've lived long enough have something in their past which will never go away.…

— John Boyne

And I have tried to forget him, I have tried to convince myself that it was just one of those things, but…

— John Boyne

With the adult ones, I feel I need to get as deep inside the psychology of a character as I can, and…

— John Boyne

War today is such a more visible thing. We see it on television, on CNN. In 1914, war was a concept. There…

— John Boyne

“Don't you ever think,' he asked cautiously, 'that it would be better to be a bully than to be bullied? At least…

— John Boyne

“It was important to look confident, he realized that very early on. After all, there was a terrible tendency among adults to…

— John Boyne

“Other things are probably better off left alone. Like a dead mouse at the back of a cupboard.”

— John Boyne

Unless you're very boring, I think most people who've lived long enough have something in their past which will never go away.

— John Boyne

I can't bear to be on a train without a book", she announced. " It's a form of self-defence in a way" .

— John Boyne

“The history that one can create with a friend, a lifetime of history and shared experience, is a wonderful thing and shabbily…

— John Boyne

. . .only the victims and survivors can truly comprehend the awfulness of that time and place; the rest of us live…

— John Boyne

It occurs to me that even though Zoya and I are both still alive, my life is already over. She will be…

— John Boyne

It's not easy making a living as a writer, and for many years I worked at a Waterstones in Dublin. It was…

— John Boyne

“Regrets and apologies are all very well, but there's things that happen in a person's life that are so scorched in the…

— John Boyne

We all are [normal]. Their idea of normal just happens to be different to some other people's idea of normal. But this…

— John Boyne

I was a very quiet child, quite introverted, really. Independent, yes; I didn't need a lot of supervision. Less so than I…

— John Boyne

“Bruno was jealous, he had to wear stupid pants en shoes while the boys at the other side of the fence were…

— John Boyne

“What you know about women,” replied Maude, “could be written in large font on the back of a postage stamp and there’d…

— John Boyne

It reminds me of how grandmother always had the right costume for me to wear. You wear the right outfit and you…

— John Boyne

There will be outrage and disgust and people will turn on me at the last, they will hate me, my reputation will…

— John Boyne

“I like 'fresh fruit flan'," said the donkey. "Three excellent words." "I don't have one," said Noah immediately before the question could…

— John Boyne

He suddenly became convinced that if he didn’t do something sensible, something to put his mind to some use, then before he…

— John Boyne