The Painted Bird

Jerzy Kosinski's novel «The Painted Bird» is a harrowing tale of survival set against the backdrop of World War II. A six-year-old boy, whose appearance resembles that of a gypsy or a Jew, finds himself in a strange village, where he faces the horrific realities of war.
He calls for his mother, but she is nowhere to be found. Instead, he witnesses brutality, violence, humiliation, perversion, and bloodshed. He himself becomes a victim of medieval savagery and bullying. The boy desperately searches for ways to survive. He tries to become a "gray bird," to wash away the "paint" from himself in order to blend in with the flock. The child is forced to make horrific compromises in order to stay alive.
«The Painted Bird» is not simply a cruel story. It is a profound meditation on the nature of human cruelty and how people learn to survive in the most horrific of circumstances.