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Liked It “Totally disturbing but riveting. I highly recommend this book.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “This book is so damn sad and fucked up. It's based in WWII so I suppose most novels about that era follow the 'sad and fucked up' rules.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
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“Totally disturbing but riveting. I highly recommend this book.”
Book Rat wrote this review Friday, October 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A horrify look at WWII and its aftermath, through the eyes of a child.”
Ron T wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“very good”
Alicia S wrote this review Tuesday, August 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Brutally realistic”
Adam S wrote this review Thursday, August 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Appalling, sickening, hard-to-put-down novel about man's inhumanity towards man. Starts with the Holocaust but gets worse from there.”
Eileen M wrote this review Thursday, July 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Horrifying. A wonderful read, but not for anything. There was one chapter that almost made me sick. Greatly written, thoroughly depressing. Recommended for those it interests. ”
James wrote this review Monday, July 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I read "The Painted Bird" at the recommendation of my mother. She told me that it was one of the most beautiful novels ever written--after having read it, I can attest to the statement that it is, indeed a beautiful novel. It tells the story of a youth growing up in Eastern Europe during World War II, and is displaced from his presumably-dead family. The story details his struggles as a Gypsy boy in a number of small scattered towns in Eastern or Central Europe, his inabilities to adapt, his personal struggles with morality and faith, and his attempts to find freedom in an unjust and discriminatory world where everyone he sees appears to be hostile towards him. His journey is a spiritual one, in which he questions faith in religion, and faith in authority, finding eventually that he has only himself to create his life. It's a powerful message that's universal and as brilliant as they come, and it's very well-presented in a novel that's both concise and powerful. However, the novel does stumble in places--for one thing, Jerzy Kosinski's writing is often stilted because of his at-the-time unfamiliarity with the language. It is competent, but rather inconsistent. The story also falters near the end, in which the novelist includes some less-than-subtle Socialist propaganda. If one is willing to overlook these flaws (and they're very easy to overlook,) one finds a novel that is incredibly moving and very clever in its execution, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone.”
JONATHAN O wrote this review Saturday, June 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This book is so damn sad and fucked up. It's based in WWII so I suppose most novels about that era follow the 'sad and fucked up' rules.”
Olivia wrote this review Saturday, May 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“One of my favorite books ever. There may be no better illustration of the brutality and cruelty of ignorance. Yet at the very end, there is a glimmer of light.”
Emily N wrote this review Saturday, April 18 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is my favorite of the several shocking books I have read by Jerzy Kosinski. I have given this book to several people. It turns out the author claimed this was true, but it wasn't quite true, and he insulted people that helped him, and so on. But regardless of that, well, just read it as fiction. It is an amazing book.”
moik wrote this review Wednesday, January 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
