#48 - "The Painted Bird" by Jerzy Kosinski

In my previous post I said that each chapter of The Painted Bird seemed to start out in relative calm, before it 'crescendos into a roar of horror and tragedy,' which could also be said of the entire book, as each chapter seemed to be more horrific than the previous.  This was reading my 48th novel from Time's list, riding an emotional roller coaster of events so devastating, I can hardly describe them.

A small boy, unnamed and presumably Polish, roams the countryside from town to town, staying with whoever will take him in, and does whatever he can to survive.  He encounters discrimination because of his dark hair and 'black eyes' and suffers at the hands of his landlords, as they beat, torture and humiliate him.  But his nightmare isn't just his personal experience, it is also the things he witnesses; rape, murder and genocide.

I found the protagonist to be so compelling, partly from his innocence but mostly from his ignorance.  He is always surrounded by rural peasants who do anything to survive, German soldiers who are far from home waging a war, as well as Red Army soldiers who are half-starving and battle-tired, ready to take whatever they can from each village they pass.  His entire life is nothing but misery, but he has accepted his lot in life.  I was almost outraged that someone could accept such difficult circumstances, but slowly realized that having never seen anybody living in any kind of comfort, he was completely unaware that a better life existed, and thus unable to hope for anything better.

It's hard to believe such a situation could ever exist, but yet it was a reality for so many millions of people not that long ago.  Even as the book progresses, and the Germans are eventually pushed back, the people's misery only continues with the arrival of the Red Army, who's soldiers rape and pillage every place they come across.  For the people of Eastern Europe, life was a choice between two evils, without any real hope.  Perhaps it is this that allows them to be so blind to the things happening around them, and to accept as normal what you and I would consider appalling.

Despite the horrific events Kosinski depicts, I found I quite enjoyed reading The Painted Bird.  Many books of a similar nature tend to get bogged down in a very complex prose, seeking to use metaphor and simile to represent less comfortable scenes.  Kosinski more or less sticks to the point using, for lack of a better word, frank descriptions; something that can make the story easier to follow, as well as more horrifying.

As Kosinski was born in Poland, I can only assume English was his second language. This means he joins Vladamir Nabokov as writers who have written books in their second language, that made The List. I am fascinated by somebody who could do this. While I may speak it fluently, I'd have trouble writing a board book in French.

Despite being written by a native son, this book was banned in Poland for 23 years, for its depiction of Polish peasants during the war as a cruel and harsh people.  I believe people took it too literally, forgetting it was a work of fiction, even if some of the evens within were 'based' on reality (not that there's any good reason for banning a book).  But I suppose at the end of the day, it was banned because it could be.  First published in 1965, The Painted Bird was released 23 years before the fall of Communism in Poland.  The commies never did seem to appreciate a good book.



Next up, is The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth.  This week marks the two year anniversary of starting this project, so I'm more or less on a four year pace, reading 25 books per.  'More or less' are the key words in that sentence.

That hath contrived this woful tragedy!

Here I write, not quite halfway through The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski, wondering what is taking so long.  I look at this book and its' modest 234 pages, and figure I should finish it quite quickly.  But here I am, a week in, not having reached the halfway mark.  The book itself isn't a difficult read, and I always feel as if I am making good progress.

When I first starting reading this, I had thought it was 'about the Holocaust,' a general statement if ever there was one.  This only really came from having once seen the book described as 'Holocaust literature' though, not from having read any details about plot or theme.  I now know, that while it may have taken place during the Holocaust, it is about a boy, alone, struggling to survive.  He roams from village to village, staying with whoever will take him in, trying to avoid death.  But each encounter seems to end in some sort of horrible tragedy.

It occurred to me yesterday that it is these tragedies that are slowing me down.  Each chapter seems to begin relatively calmly, as the boy finds a new home, and while life isn't all peaches and cream, it could be much worse.  But as the chapter develops, things begin to unravel, as each chapter crescendos into a roar of horror and tragedy.  At the end of each, I feel as if I need to put the book down and allow the things I just read to soak in, like the pause one experiences after witnessing a horrible car accident.

But the tragedies in this book, despite being depressing as hell, aren't stopping me from enjoying the read.  The only problem is they may be stopping me from picking up the book.  While it sits on the coffee table, I can think of a million things to do instead of reading it, but once I do pick it up, it's quite enjoyable, despite being so horrific.

I would like to finish it sometime before the weekend, and have stopped reading any non-fiction on the side until it is finished.  I also need to start thinking about what books I'm going to read as I approach the halfway point.  I have often said I would read Lord of the Rings as my 50th book, and that still may be the case.  But what to read for number 49?  I currently have Native Son, All the King's Men, The Sot-Weed Factor and White Teeth out from the library.  Having read that The Sot-Weed Factor is as funny as Catch-22, it may be a nice fit after this less than funny read.

You must return and mend it.

Progress on number 48 continues, as I read The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski.  I'll admit it might end up being a bit of a slow read.  I say this because the book is turning out to be a major downer; it's about the Holocaust.  While there's nothing wrong with a 'depressing' book, many good reads are, it's just that it's a difficult read, and one you don't just breeze though.  But it isn't slow because of boredom, like To the Lighthouse or because it's so mammoth like Infinite Jest. I'm hoping that as I get deeper into it, my pace will pick up.

In other news, I've been having a little bit of trouble managing my library books.  After not incurring any fines for almost six months, I racked up fines on Animal Farm and Red Harvest in October, but only $1.40, so nothing to write home about.  Before I left for Hawai'i, I thought I had made sure I had everything renewed until I got back, but some how missed two, which became overdue the day I left.  It wasn't until yesterday afternoon I realized I had two book that were more than ten days overdue.  The books in question were Christopher Hitchens' biography of Thomas Jefferson, as well as poet Ian Williams' Not Anyone's Anything.  As a result, my library account was locked, and I was billed $7.30.  To add to my shame, I didn't read either of them, which means I paid the library seven bucks to store their books on my shelf for a few weeks.

When I had started this project, I only borrowed one or two books at a time, but thought that with the Internet making it so easy to renew, I could take out dozens at a time, and always manage them without any problems.  I guess I was wrong.  While it is still much less expensive than buying all the books I read, I have now generously donated $41.15 to the Calgary Public Library since November of 2009.  Of that, $25.15 has been from books from the list.

I vow to not incur any more fines, until the next time I forget to return a book on time; which could be as early as next week.

You may as well go stand upon the beach

Aloha from Hawai'i!  As I write this, I'm looking out over Waikiki, with the waves of the Pacific rolling onto the beach.  It's obviously a very nice setting, with perfect weather for doing anything outside.  While many may first think of sports, or maybe sun bathing, my favorite thing to do outside, in Hawai'i, is read.  With such a perfect temperature that isn't too warm or too cold, it's so nice to sit on the lanai or the beach, and read.

While I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with my reading for the past couple of weeks, Hawai'i has gotten me back on track.  I have ten pages of Go Tell It on the Mountain remaining, and will head to the lanai to finish it as soon as I am done writing this post.  From there, I've brought two other books from the list with me, Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski.  I'll probably go with Animal Farm first, as I want to read it before I get to my 50th read because Orwell has two books on the list, and I haven't read either of them yet.  It's also a short read, possibly the shortest on the list, so I should be able to get through it quite quickly.  I suppose at the end of the day, I want to finish both books while I am in Hawai'i, and feel I shouldn't have any trouble.

I've already been in Hawai'i for a couple of days, and I have been able to do quite a bit of reading.  Besides reading 75% of Go Tell It on the Mountain, I have also read some non-fiction with Moneyball, by Michael Lewis.  But I also spent some time reading a yet-to-be-released book by local Calgary author Whitney Boyd, entitled Tanned, Toned, and Totally Faking It, which I had been asked to review.

No, it isn't anything close to my normal read, as I don't often get into 'chick-lit.'  I did read Bridget Jones' Diary, but that's probably about it.  This book followed a similar plot to many books from the genre, and was sort of a Notting Hill style story with a celebrity and a 'commoner.'  I'm always excited to see local authors succeed, so I wish Whitney all the best.  I enjoyed that the protagonist was originally from Calgary, went to the U of C, and drank at the Den.  It reminded me of...myself!  Instead of having the character be from a generic American town, as so many Canadian authors seem to do, she has stayed true to her roots so to speak.  And there was even a reference to the list, as the main love interest's name was Jordan Baker, also the name of Nick Carraway's love interest in The Great Gatsby.

Now it's outside to the lanai, to finish off my 46th read.