The Painted Bird - Softcover

Kosinski, Jerzy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080213422X ISBN 13: 9780802134226

Publisher: Grove Press, 1995

Synopsis

Originally published in 1965, The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Kosinski's story follows a dark-haired, olive-skinned boy, abandoned by his parents during World War II, as he wanders alone from one village to another, sometimes hounded and tortured, only rarely sheltered and cared for. Through the juxtaposition of adolescence and the most brutal of adult experiences, Kosinski sums up a Bosch-like world of harrowing excess where senseless violence and untempered hatred are the norm. Through sparse prose and vivid imagery, Kosinski's novel is a story of mythic proportion, even more relevant to today's society than it was upon its original publication.

About this title

Review:

Many writers have portrayed the cruelty people inflict upon each other in the name of war or ideology or garden-variety hate, but few books will surpass Kosinski's first novel, The Painted Bird, for the sheer creepiness in its savagery. The story follows an abandoned young boy who wanders alone through the frozen bogs and broken towns of Eastern Europe during and after World War II, trying to survive. His experiences and actions occur at and beyond the limits of what might be called humanity, but Kosinski never averts his eyes, nor allows us to.

From the Back Cover:

Originally published in 1965,The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Called by the Los Angeles Times one of the most imposing novels of the decade it was eventually translated into more than thirty languages. A harrowing story that follows the wanderings of a boy abandoned by his parents during World War II, he Painted Bird is a dark masterpiece that examines the proximity of terror and savagery to innocence and love. It is the first, and the most famous, novel by one of the most important and original writers of this century.

About this edition

• Publisher: Grove Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 080213422X
• ISBN 13: 9780802134226
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 234