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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
An interesting read. Perhaps not as shocking today as it was when first published but it still paints some awful imagery. I appreciated Kosinski's use of metaphor. It's a breezy read you can feel cool about having read. There, I said it.
Het gruwelijke relaas van de Pools-Amerikaanse schrijver (1933-1991) van de ontberingen van een ouderloos Joods jongetje tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog in Oost-Europa. Geteisterd door honger en kou trekt het kind mishandeld en weggejaagd door de primitieve bevolking van dorp tot dorp. In de 2e druk kreeg het boek een nieuwe vertaling van Oscar Timmers (na die van Mischa de Vreede) en een uitgebreid voorwoord uit 1976 van de auteur (de zgn. 'tweede editie'); sindsdien is het ongewijzigd herdrukt. In dat voorwoord (20 blz.) wijst Kosinski met klem het vermeende autobiografische element in het boek af (hij zat zelf destijds ondergedoken bij Poolse boeren). In de geschiedenis van dit kind zijn alle gruwelen, mensen aangedaan in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, samengebracht. Het verhaal geeft daarmee een aangrijpend, maar dus ook vertekend, soms zelfs wat surrealistisch beeld.
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I loved this book! The author has a real talent for portraying horrible things through the eyes of a child. There's little bits of whimsy and magic thrown in through the boy's journey that makes it all that more enjoyable to read.
It was a horribly gruesome book in more ways than one. A guy got his eyes gouged out with a spoon, and someone stepped on them and squished them into jelly. Several detailed beating and rape scenes. I wouldn't recommend this book if you don't like gore, because there's a lot of it. However, it was an impactful book I won't be forgetting anytime soon
It was a horribly gruesome book in more ways than one. A guy got his eyes gouged out with a spoon, and someone stepped on them and squished them into jelly. Several detailed beating and rape scenes. I wouldn't recommend this book if you don't like gore, because there's a lot of it. However, it was an impactful book I won't be forgetting anytime soon
Acaba mejorando, pero no deja de ser un libro bastante asqueroso. Probablemente, lo más asqueroso que he leído nunca.
thought this book was about an orphaned child, and I guess it is
I was prepared for sadness, but not for depravity
very visceral; prepare for pain
I was prepared for sadness, but not for depravity
very visceral; prepare for pain
The point of this story seems to be to illustrate how barbaric Polish xenophobia was around the time of World War II - particularly towards Jews and Gypsies (Romani). This is an important point to make, as people frequently overlook this in favor of hero stories about the Polish Resistance, etc. You pretty much can't meet any Polish-Americans these days who won't claim to have been related to a resistance fighter although it's probably not as likely as they'd like to think. The fact is that the Polish people did some pretty awful things in the name of patriotism, religion, and scapegoating. They were racially insulated, impoverished, and ignorant. This story isn't a story about the Poles, it's a story about humanity gone wrong.
My main problem with it is that it's just chapter after chapter of brutality without any soul searching about the root causes. I read about 40% and put it away for good.
My main problem with it is that it's just chapter after chapter of brutality without any soul searching about the root causes. I read about 40% and put it away for good.
The remarkable thing about this catalog of horrors is the naive, straightforward tone it's told in, especially at the start, when the narrator is believably very young. There were a few moments during the story that pulled me away from the narrator's perspective because they were blatantly metaphorical or otherwise didn't ring true, and the author's context-setting prologue is hardly necessary, but by the end it does become a narrative of the development of the character. The use of language is really excellent (Kosinsky had someone to help him with his English when writing this -- unclear how much that person contributed).
We are confronted with scenes of extreme horror here, which the narrator claims (a few too many times) that he was too transfixed to look away from. One of the many animal metaphors is that of a pit full of rats, tearing at each other as they try to climb out, eating each other alive, and unable to escape. Humans here are largely driven by fear and desperation, and kindness is bestowed on a whim and soon withdrawn, and random cruelty is far commoner, mixed with sexual lust that's equally brutal. There's a certain repetitiveness as the author makes this point over and over, but he does contrast a number of different settings, and a number of different ways that the narrator tries to understand and control his surroundings (magic, religion, and Communism being belief systems with their own complex set of rationalizations, and failures). The narrator, growing from 6 to 12 years old, comes to recognize both his need for complete independence and an inescapable urge drawing him to other people.
We are confronted with scenes of extreme horror here, which the narrator claims (a few too many times) that he was too transfixed to look away from. One of the many animal metaphors is that of a pit full of rats, tearing at each other as they try to climb out, eating each other alive, and unable to escape. Humans here are largely driven by fear and desperation, and kindness is bestowed on a whim and soon withdrawn, and random cruelty is far commoner, mixed with sexual lust that's equally brutal. There's a certain repetitiveness as the author makes this point over and over, but he does contrast a number of different settings, and a number of different ways that the narrator tries to understand and control his surroundings (magic, religion, and Communism being belief systems with their own complex set of rationalizations, and failures). The narrator, growing from 6 to 12 years old, comes to recognize both his need for complete independence and an inescapable urge drawing him to other people.
Táto kniha bola divná. Zo začiatku sa čítala dobre, čakala som, že sa dej pomaly zmení, ale potom to už bolo ťažšie. Bola som prekvapená krutosťou, ktorú si tak detailne malý chlapec pamätal a čo je horšie, niekedy sa jej i zúčastňoval. Je až neuveriteľné, že by jeden človek-chlapec, zažil toľko zla a skoro žiadne dobro. Príde mi, že veľa vecí je tam prikrášlených ak nie dokonca vymyslených a, že sa autor v tej krutosti až chorobne vyžíval. O to podivnejší je príbeh a dianie okolo tejto knihy. Tento príbeh sa mi hodnotí ťažko. Začiatok čtivý, ale postupne môj záujem opadal a do dočítania som sa už musela nutiť.
There is nothing, nothing, nothing I could add to the thousands of words (pro/con/uncommitted) that have been written about this. And then there are the controversies of authorship, authenticity, and so on. I don't give a hoot or a holler about any of that. This book is one of the wonders of the modern world.
For those with misconceptions: it is not about the Holocaust, it is not about Nazis, it's not even about war (although it takes place during WWII in Poland). It's about a young boy who suffers unimaginable cruelty and observes unimaginable cruelty to others around him. All the while, he tries to figure out why these things are happening (how many prayers will he have to say to make it stop?). That's the brilliant part. Kosinski penetrates the mind of a child as he learns all the wrong things. Then he grows up. Watch out!
I can only say two more things. There are readers out there who will not be able to handle this. You've been warned. Others among you, if you are more daring, plunge ahead. If this book doesn't turn your hair gray overnight, you are probably bald.
For those with misconceptions: it is not about the Holocaust, it is not about Nazis, it's not even about war (although it takes place during WWII in Poland). It's about a young boy who suffers unimaginable cruelty and observes unimaginable cruelty to others around him. All the while, he tries to figure out why these things are happening (how many prayers will he have to say to make it stop?). That's the brilliant part. Kosinski penetrates the mind of a child as he learns all the wrong things. Then he grows up. Watch out!
I can only say two more things. There are readers out there who will not be able to handle this. You've been warned. Others among you, if you are more daring, plunge ahead. If this book doesn't turn your hair gray overnight, you are probably bald.