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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I'm so conflicted about this book. It is categorized as semi autobiographical, but is a fictional novel. The book is a long laundry list of horror experienced by a very young boy as he wanders Poland basically trying to avoid being beaten and killed. A lot of sexual depravity. War is horrific but this is almost so terrible as to not be believable; even the "kind" individuals are despicable. I think it is eye opening to be exposed to real life horror that happens in war, though, and this book was written from a perspective that I've never seen regarding WW2.
Picked up this book after seeing it listed in the Wall Street Journal as a classic war novel. The tale of a six-year old boy roaming the countryside during WWII, trying to survive, sounded intriguing. It's well written. The author uses metaphors beautifully. But, two things grated on me the longer I read the book. First, the voice is nothing like a child's. Secondly, the violence is so over the top. Every chapter is a different episode of violence, abuse, aberration... you name it, this book describes it. Overall I had a mixed reaction to the book.
A fascinating and stark novel in which a child's naivete crashes with the extreme viciousness of the war and the prejudices and antiquated mores of the countryfolk twisted by that war, The Painted Bird places no filter between the cruelties of the world at one of its worst moments, and the reader. The author caught a lot of flak over the line between fiction and memoir, even though, as far as I know, he never claimed the book to be limited to his own experiences. Some of the metaphors deployed here are unforgettable, including the one referenced in the title.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This is a hard book to review. Had I just read it and left it at that I would have proclaimed this was a terrifying portrayal of an orphan in Eastern Europe during World War II. It reminded me very much of Cormac McCarthy's The Road and Solzhenitsyn's A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. It is a constant barrage of brutality and pain. You get glimpses of light, but you are quickly plunged back into darkness.
But… I also read that there was a lot of controversy around the author and this book. He was discredited, much of the book was said to plagiarized, and there are some that say Kosinski didn't even write it. It is hard for me to disconnect the writing from the writer.
But… I also read that there was a lot of controversy around the author and this book. He was discredited, much of the book was said to plagiarized, and there are some that say Kosinski didn't even write it. It is hard for me to disconnect the writing from the writer.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking
Update in next paragraph: A young Jewish boy, during WWII, fended for himself among the peasants of Eastern Europe. Although I expect dark horrors in a book of this kind, it became utterly unbelievable that all of this could have happened to one person. Gruesome, graphic, horrific things that just didn't ring true.
That review was written in 2014. I’ve now lived nine more years, and learned a lot in that time. Nothing is unbelievable at this point.
That review was written in 2014. I’ve now lived nine more years, and learned a lot in that time. Nothing is unbelievable at this point.
My friend loaned me this book- saying it was one of the best she's ever read. Huh! I thought it was vulgar and in many places, pornographic. It was a piece of fiction trying to show the horror of the Nazi occupied Slavic villages during WWII.
The young Jew/Gypsy is abandoned at 6 years old and left to wander from village to village, succumbing to the tortures the frightened and moronically superstitious villagers leveled at the little guy. He witnessed descriptive rapes of the Slavic women, as well as bestiality, incest, all forms of brutality and death.
God! This was awful!
The young Jew/Gypsy is abandoned at 6 years old and left to wander from village to village, succumbing to the tortures the frightened and moronically superstitious villagers leveled at the little guy. He witnessed descriptive rapes of the Slavic women, as well as bestiality, incest, all forms of brutality and death.
God! This was awful!
An incredibly bleak novel that manages to so beautifully describe all the ugliness of hatred.