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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Honestly a traumatic read. It started out interesting, but progressively become more and more bleak. There was no hope, no silver lining, just horror. I feel that it crossed the line from showing the true brutality of war to just being trauma porn. It was exploitative and often sickening. It was well written at least, but I failed to see what the point was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury
dark
sad
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
“They collided with or charmed one another, hugged or trampled one another, but everyone knew only himself. His emotions, memory, and senses divided him from others as effectively as thick reeds screen the mainstream from the muddy bank. Like the mountain peaks around us, we looked at one another, separated by valleys, too high to stay unnoticed, too low to touch the heavens."
Well. This was quite a ride.
It's difficult to rate this book. In turns it earns itself both 5 stars, and 1. It's also one of those books that it's hard to say you enjoyed, but don't regret having read.
The unnamed protagonist of the story is a small boy. His exact background is left vague - we only know that his parents sent him away to live in a remote area with another family. He's also dark haired and complected (for an Eastern European.) People throughout the novel take him for a Jew or a gypsy, but the boy himself never claims one or the other.
The boy remains a cipher through most of the book. He is repeatedly shown to be a vessel into which anyone in a position of authority over him can pour any belief they wish. This allows Kosinski to ruminate about a variety of subjects from the uncomplicated viewpoint of a child and true-believer, injecting sincerity or irony into the text as necessary. It's quite effective, and the author's use of imagery and metaphor is powerfully done.
Where the novel seems to lose its way is in its depictions of cruelty. These, too, are beautifully written in their starkness. But it wallows in it without point sometimes - seemingly recounting these episodes of cruelty, viciousness or debauchery for no purpose except the telling.
The major immersion breaks come from the way background characters casually and frequently resort to murder. Not just murder, but especially cruel or torturous murder. And their fellows indifference to it. Even in the throes of war, I'd expect a certain amount of hard practicality. Turning away a starving stranger. Giving up a refugee to protect your family or village. But Kosinski's characters reaction to a great many things is simply to kill someone.
The ending is also quite abrupt, and disjointed. It does have a clear climax and falling action, though, so it doesn't end as jarringly as some books.
It's difficult to rate this book. In turns it earns itself both 5 stars, and 1. It's also one of those books that it's hard to say you enjoyed, but don't regret having read.
The unnamed protagonist of the story is a small boy. His exact background is left vague - we only know that his parents sent him away to live in a remote area with another family. He's also dark haired and complected (for an Eastern European.) People throughout the novel take him for a Jew or a gypsy, but the boy himself never claims one or the other.
The boy remains a cipher through most of the book. He is repeatedly shown to be a vessel into which anyone in a position of authority over him can pour any belief they wish. This allows Kosinski to ruminate about a variety of subjects from the uncomplicated viewpoint of a child and true-believer, injecting sincerity or irony into the text as necessary. It's quite effective, and the author's use of imagery and metaphor is powerfully done.
Where the novel seems to lose its way is in its depictions of cruelty. These, too, are beautifully written in their starkness. But it wallows in it without point sometimes - seemingly recounting these episodes of cruelty, viciousness or debauchery for no purpose except the telling.
The major immersion breaks come from the way background characters casually and frequently resort to murder. Not just murder, but especially cruel or torturous murder. And their fellows indifference to it. Even in the throes of war, I'd expect a certain amount of hard practicality. Turning away a starving stranger. Giving up a refugee to protect your family or village. But Kosinski's characters reaction to a great many things is simply to kill someone.
The ending is also quite abrupt, and disjointed. It does have a clear climax and falling action, though, so it doesn't end as jarringly as some books.
dark
Lovely prose, but the extreme level of cruelty and savage violence made it hard to truly enjoy in any sense. I never felt very close to the protagonist, which only served to make the violence feel even more gratuitous.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes