I here set aside all issues with authorship or biography. Equally, I set aside the history of this book's reception and the discourse that arose around this book after publication, a discourse that first defined the book as one of the great texts of Holocaust literature and then castigated the book as a fraud of Holocaust literature. Both those receptions are false to the book itself and speak only of what others would have had of the book.

While the book takes place in occupied Poland during WWII, this book is not about WWII. It is not a book about the Holocaust: indeed, "Jewishness" plays at best a trivial role in the book, and the camps but a minor role. Nor is this book an indictment of Nazi Germany: if it were it seems rather odd that an SS officer is one of the kinder people toward the boy (the unnamed, main character of the book). But then it is entirely false to the book itself to try to read it as an historical narrative.

_The Painted Bird_ is, rather, a mythic tale, in many ways told in the nature of a European fairy tale. It is the story of a mythic hero cast by circumstances outside his control into a symbolic "journey through hell": beginning in what to all purposes are medieval peasant villages, then moving loosely through time into the larger "village" that is the communism of the Russian liberators. (But not moving "historically" through time; in this strange world there is no past or present; just the mythic now.) The question here is not whether the boy will survive the journey or be killed: the question is whether he will emerge the mythic hero on the other side of the journey, or fail and become lost, permanently, in the dark otherworld. To that end, there are two, primary, greatly inter-related energies within the book. The first is that which goes to painting the Bosch-like (not my phrase, but a good one) vision of hell. The second lies in the philosophies of being that the boy encounters, that he learns directly or indirectly through those individuals he meets on his journey. It is through these philosophies of being that the boy seeks not only the means to endure the physical difficulties of his journey, but more importantly -- and here we get to the central conflict of the book -- the means to maintain his individuality against the cruelties of cultural groups that at its core cannot tolerate individuality. It is a book about painted birds, yes, birds that are destroyed by the flock because they are different. But it is also a book about how the birds get painted in the first place. Most importantly, it is a book about psychical individuality.

The book is wholly a literary work: well conceived and designed and very well crafted. Yes, the violence is to the extreme, but it is well used to the end of pulling the book out of an historical world and into a mythic world. (Even within the violence and sex one can find mythic, fairy tale, and old-world-religious thematics.) If you can enter this work removing it from the discourse of Holocaust literature that tried to claim the book as its own, you will discover quite an aesthetic, literary experience. _The Painted Bird_ is literature of a higher caliber, and it deserves to be preserved and praised as such.

To note: I use the idea of the mythic hero with the intention of the connection being made to such works as Jospeh Campbell's _The Hero with a Thousand Faces_. The more I think about _The Painted Bird_, the more resonance I find between the journey of Kosinki's boy and the mythic journey as described by Campbell. Those energies go all the more to the symbolic and literary value of the work.

Also to note, it is worth getting the second edition of the book (the current edition) so as to have the Afterward, written a decade after the original publication. In my edition the Afterward comes first in the text. I would recommend not reading it until after you have finished the book. In truth, the afterward is mostly about the reception of the book, not the book itself. As such, it may create false ideas that might be brought into the book. However, once you have read the book, the Afterward easily slips into its rightful context.

I read this long ago - prefer the audio book - the narrator sounds just like Kozinski. He was almost killed in the Helter Skelter murders, but his luggage got lost.... Too think all that he went through with the Nazis. So sad his life ended up like it did, glad he stuck around long enough to give us some really great reading....

One of the most brutal books, which I have ever read. It is well written, but I have problems to finished it. in the end, I did it. At least, I know now, why this book is not so popular in Poland. I will not recommend it to my wife. And I hope, that my children would not read it until they are 30 years old.

This book was recommended by a friend after I finished another detailing the transformation of ordinary men into nazis. This book goes over the life a young boy traveling through eastern Europe during WWII. Of his will to live and rn suffering he endures. At times the graphic nature makes you take a break, but shortly after, it sucks you back in. It's an easy read for young readers, and well written that adults can enjoy it as well.

Picked up a new copy for a friend to read as a gift. A great book by a great writer.

Excellent for understanding human behavior and the consequences of neglect. Warning: graphic in some parts.

WW2 brought out the worst in the people in this story. Some scenes were almost to horrific to read. The youngster in this book was changed as he survived though his adventures trying to stay alive. An awesome tale.

I stole this book from my older brother when I was fourteen. I read it in a weekend which was a feat for me at the time. The young boy's survival in light of horrendous and surreal experiences had great impact. Several scenes stuck with me through the years including the Jewish girl from the train and the admiration paid to the SS officer in black. I was also amazed at the superstitious peasant villagers.

All of that resonated again in my second read of The Painted Bird. What struck me afresh was how the young boy seems the most mature in comparison with the adults he comes across. Kosinski's decision to harden the boy makes sense given the deprivations and abuse experienced. What seems less believable is alluding to a breakthrough in his personality. That now seems less than assured or probable. A child's resiliency can only stretch so far.

This is a haunting read. It will follow you for a long time after reading. That is the mark of an excellent book and Kosinski certainly penned one here.