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A review by azariah_k
The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
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"
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"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, and Rape