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Considered to be Kosinski's finest work, The Painted Bird is touching, unflinching, and unforgettable. The story follows a boy, abandoned by his parents, as he journeys across Eastern Europe during WWII, struggling to survive. Although the author claimed that this novel is not autobiographical, much of his childhood can be traced to the same locations and circumstances experienced by the main character. Not for the faint of heart. Recommended by Nate Ashley, Powell's City of Books
Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Originally published in 1965, The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Called by the Los Angeles Times "one of the most imposing novels of the decade," it was eventuallly translated into more than thirty languages.
A harrowing story that follows the wanderings of a boy abandoned by his parents during World War II, The Painted Bird is a dark masterpiece that examines the proximity of terror and savagery to innocence and love. It is the first, and the most famous, novel by one of the most important and original writers of this century.
Synopsis:
Originally published in 1965, The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Kosinski's story follows a dark-haired, olive-skinned boy, abandoned by his parents during World War II, as he wanders alone from one village to another, sometimes hounded and tortured, only rarely sheltered and cared for. Through the juxtaposition of adolescence and the most brutal of adult experiences, Kosinski sums up a Bosch-like world of harrowing excess where senseless violence and untempered hatred are the norm. Through sparse prose and vivid imagery, Kosinski's novel is a story of mythic proportion, even more relevant to today's society than it was upon its original publication.
Kosinski has received numerous awards, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters award in Literature, the National Book Award, the Best Screenplay of the Year Award, and the American Civil Liberties Union First Amendment Award.
aliasrambles, January 6, 2008 (view all comments by aliasrambles)
I want to devour Kosinski's heart and mind... what a great misfortune disbelief is... The beauty of this book changed me from the first sentence, the transformation continued explosivly to the last line. Ever since I have an addicts unattainable hunger to be in the middle of this novel once again.
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craizman59, October 20, 2007 (view all comments by craizman59)
I read this book in 1967, and it changed my life, and not in a wonderful way. It allowed me (if that's the desired word) to understand more the mindset of the people in Eastern Europe and so to understand why the Holocaust and the other atrocities happened. It was a horrible time peopled by a population that seemed to really enjoy torturing people and animals as an everyday event. Just horrible!
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Product details
234 pages
Grove Press -
English9780802134226
Reviews:
"Staff Pick"
by Nate Ashley,
Considered to be Kosinski's finest work, The Painted Bird is touching, unflinching, and unforgettable. The story follows a boy, abandoned by his parents, as he journeys across Eastern Europe during WWII, struggling to survive. Although the author claimed that this novel is not autobiographical, much of his childhood can be traced to the same locations and circumstances experienced by the main character. Not for the faint of heart.
by Nate Ashley
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
Originally published in 1965, The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Kosinski's story follows a dark-haired, olive-skinned boy, abandoned by his parents during World War II, as he wanders alone from one village to another, sometimes hounded and tortured, only rarely sheltered and cared for. Through the juxtaposition of adolescence and the most brutal of adult experiences, Kosinski sums up a Bosch-like world of harrowing excess where senseless violence and untempered hatred are the norm. Through sparse prose and vivid imagery, Kosinski's novel is a story of mythic proportion, even more relevant to today's society than it was upon its original publication.
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