Not for the weak of heart. This is one of the most brutal books about the terror and physical cruelty of World War II. Escaping the Holocaust, a dark haired olive-skinned boy ( maybe a Jew or a Gypsy ), wanders through war-torn Slav villages. The boy is sometimes hounded and tortured, other times sheltered and taught. This is an uncompromisingly savage book and a chapter of the Nazi experience that no reader will ever forget. Grim. Intense. Terrifying. In the end, for all it's brutality, this novel is still a testament and celebration of the individual will. This is a triumphant work of art and the most macabre odyssey.