bookshelves: fiction
]]>
bookshelves: autobiographical-novel
Because Kristin suggested it. . .and there's not a huge selection of used books in northern Laos! ]]>
bookshelves: history, memoirs, non-fiction
]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]>
bookshelves: fiction
Jerzy Kosinski would likely have gone entirely unknown to me had it not been for the recommendation of Irish George at Backstreet Books in Chiang Mai Thailand. I've read plenty about the holocoust in my youth, never really enjoyed stories about war, and believe enough in stereotypes that I wouldn't dare bore myself to death with a dreary Eastern European author.
Good thing it came to me via recommendation then!
I figured I couldn't argue with Irish George and was even happier to receive a discount upon purchasing the book. Likely as a result of him recommending it to others, none of whom were willing to go through with it!
Though incredibly dark and twisted, the Painted Bird was also remarkably vivid and riveting. Following a young orphan through war torn Europe could not have been more interesting as Kosinki really brings the reader in to the book.
Part of what I think I enjoyed so much about this was it's straight forward, no-nonsense language. In the forward (labled the 'afterward'), Kosinski admits that English is not his first language yet he felt compelled to use it for his first novel. The reason he claims was that being a second language, he would be able to employ it to tell a story void of emotion or personal agenda. What a great idea but how impossible of a feat! To be honest, the simplicity of the story seems to me to convey such a deeper emotion. Seeing the world through a child's eye should not take a professors brain to unravel.
Great book, super interesting, vivid account of life during, but not necessarily in, WWII. Not sure what else Kosinski has written but I'm interested in looking in to more. . . ]]>
Adam
added a quote:
"If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To attain any kind of life in this universe of ours appears to be quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky, of course: We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. It is a talent we have only barely begun to grasp." — Bill Bryson
"If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-and by 'we' I mean every living thing. To attain any kind of life in this universe of ours appears to be quite an achievement. As humans we are doubly lucky, of course: We enjoy not only the privilege of existence but also the singular ability to appreciate it and even, in a multitude of ways, to make it better. It is a talent we have only barely begun to grasp." — Bill Bryson
by Tom Robbins
I hear Mphedlund doesn't believe in finishing books ]]>
Hi Dood! Welcome to the 'illest book club side of the Pacific! ]]>
Adam
added a quote:
"Soul is not even that Crackerjack prize that God and Satan scuffle over after the worms have all licked our bones. That's why, when we ponder--as sooner or later each of us must--exactly what we ought to be doing about our soul, religion is the wrong, if conventional, place to turn. Religion is little more than a transaction in which troubled people trade their souls for temporary and wholly illusionary psychological comfort--the old give-it-up-in-order-to-save-it routine. Religions lead us to believe that the soul is the ultimate family jewel and that in return for our mindless obedience, they can secure it for us in their vaults, or at least insure it against fire theft. They are mistaken." — Tom Robbins
"Soul is not even that Crackerjack prize that God and Satan scuffle over after the worms have all licked our bones. That's why, when we ponder--as sooner or later each of us must--exactly what we ought to be doing about our soul, religion is the wrong, if conventional, place to turn. Religion is little more than a transaction in which troubled people trade their souls for temporary and wholly illusionary psychological comfort--the old give-it-up-in-order-to-save-it routine. Religions lead us to believe that the soul is the ultimate family jewel and that in return for our mindless obedience, they can secure it for us in their vaults, or at least insure it against fire theft. They are mistaken." — Tom Robbins