The Painted Bird

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.

'The Painted Bird' is certainly a unique coming of age story. It tells the tale of a young boy seperated from his family in the early days of WWII and his ensuing travels and tribulations. He wanders about the countryside of rural Europe among the uneducated and exceedingly superstitious peasantry. His appearance is such that he is welcome nowhere; yet everywhere he finds some form of shelter and "family".

In 'The Painted Bird' there are many themes and morals. Most are easily discerned and could easily be seen as the crux of the books missive. Among these are the wretchedness of humanity, anti-sematism, the nature of suffering, the will to survive, and of course the eponymous one. More obfuscatory is the joy of youth and of simply being. Throughout descriptions of what can only be described as inexpiable acts this moral is one which is easily missed. The antipathy inspired by the anecdotal narrative could easily incite rejection of even the possibility of a positive aspect, but therein also can it be found.

It is in the protagonists intractable perspective of his trials as nothing more than condign events which could be justified through the knowlege of their meaning that this moral is promulgated. It is the search for this knowledge which motivates him. In this search he becomes so mutable that his voice is lost, thus preventing any unintentional perversion of this ultimate truth. This is also the moment in which the simple joy of being and elation in the senses becomes hedonistic, even salacious. Not long after these events he relents in his search for truth and meaning and instead begins the process of spiritual and ethical stagnation. His voice is then recovered, thus revealing his belief that he might change the world to suit himself rather than the inverse. Having 'come of age' in this way, his attestation ends.

This book is Kosinski's first published success. The grittiness and graphic horrors portrayed in the book are trademarks for this writer. Whether or not this is a hidden autobiography of his wartime childhood - it is a well written and disturbing book. An in your face reminder of the brutality of man and the ravages of war.