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wouterk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This book really paints the picture of humanities darkest moments. The pettiness, cruelty and hatred of regular people, full of prejudice and selfishness. And Kosinski makes us feel these things even more by contrasting these phenomena by picking a first person perspective of a child to experience and witness these horrible things. Humanity at its worst experienced and contrasted by a human at its most innocent and inexperienced.
We follow a child that has been left with farmers in the countryside to prevent prosecution from the Germans during WWII. People consistently perceive him to be a Gypsy or Jewish stray and so begins a journey of continuous flight, cruelties (to himself and others). There are moments of hope but as looking at it from the outside as a reader we already see it is futile. I will not say anything about the ending, although I found it very interesting as we see how all these experiences add up into personality, behaviour and world view of the boy.
What stood out to me is how religion and religious practices are very attractive to those who feel utterly powerless and unfortunate. It also shows it does not help at all for the actual faith, but it gives a focus outside of the suffering which in itself eases suffering. This goes for Christianity but really for all sorts and also completely made up understandings of how the world work. At some point the boy really explains the world in influencing your faith by winning favor through doing evil or setting others to evil. How else could those who do evil be so powerful? To me, it shows the clouding and inebriating effect of beliefs on our understanding of the world or acknowledging our current situation. Similary, it shows how beliefs may be the only way to mentally survive utterly desperate circumstances.
Now I can talk a lot about this book, but not without spoilers. So I'll finish by saying I will think a lot about this book, probably for years and at the same time do not feel like reading it again. If you have not though, I do recommend it.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment, and War
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
juliacatherine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Fire/Fire injury
jacobimerman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
icanread17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Gaslighting, and War
maraudergrl90's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Antisemitism, and War
goosetroop's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, and Abandonment
kimisaboss123's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
alaniii's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, and War
It's very brutal and gruesomegssll_lpz's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and War
al3k's review
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War