Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski

6 reviews

alaniii's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, Incest, Rape, Violence, War, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

It's very brutal and gruesome

gssll_lpz's review

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gore, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Misogyny, Torture, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Violence, and Infidelity

Moderate: War and Bullying

ghast's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, War, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

zuuza11's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Genocide, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and War

cluey78's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Read the World Challenge - Poland

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, War, Sexual violence, Violence, and Gore

azariah_k's review

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

0.25

Anything you could consider to be the worst thing humans can do to each other is probably written in here. When I read this, know not much else beyond Jerzy being Jewish, and from Łódź, Poland, I assumed most of what's written here was from personal account. It's just written in that kind of style. It feels like someone recounting memories, and some of the shit that goes on in this book, the details of it, feel so genuine, what kind of sick person would just make this up? 
Well, Jerzy Kosiński, I guess. He was only 6 when the war broke out, and due to his family's position, he was able to stay tucked safely away for the entirety of WW2. His family lived in extraordinary conditions, considering the time, even employing "house help". A journalist and author of writers' biographies  named Joanna Siedlecka retraced his steps, where the villagers who took him in, and those around them, testified they did so willingly, knowing the consequences. 
The Poles didn't torment Jerzy or his family, the traumas in his novel are fictitious, to him at least. Joanna even called Jerzy's brother (Henryk, a boy the family took in during the war) who was very little at the time, and so kept from commenting on the accuracy of The Painted Bird to spare his brother's career (he also felt he owed too much to the Kosiński family).
Knowing that this kind of story came from this kind of person, someone who became a poster boy for surviving the Holocaust while living at home with his parents and maids, avoiding the whole war, while I'm glad he did, of course, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 
I wish this had been branded as pure historical fiction, rather than an autobiography. It feels incredibly done in poor taste, especially given that Jerzy is Jewish (as am I). 
I feel it's an important book, because I don't doubt at all that things like this happened during the war, to too many children, but it feels deceptive. I can't look at this book again for a variety of reasons, but knowing it's almost a trauma porn fic really cements it as a "will never read again"

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, and Rape