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The Painted Bird
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Michael Aronov
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
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Publisher's summary
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 30 languages.
A harrowing story that follows the wanderings of a boy abandoned by his parents during World War II, The 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.
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After four grueling years, the Great War has finally ended. Now Ernst and the few men left from his company cannot help wondering what will become of them. The town they departed as eager young men seems colder, their homes smaller, the reasons their comrades had to die even more inexplicable. For Ernst and his friends, the road back to peace is more treacherous than they ever imagined. Suffering food shortages, political unrest, and a broken heart, Ernst undergoes a crisis that teaches him what there is to live for - and what he has that no one can ever take away.
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Great Successor to All Quiet on the Western Front
- By BARRY on 02-20-19
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Thousand Pieces of Gold
- By: Ruthanne Lum McCunn
- Narrated by: Emily Zeller
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Lalu Nathoy's father called his thirteen-year-old daughter his treasure, his "thousand pieces of gold," yet when famine strikes northern China in 1871, he is forced to sell her. Polly, as Lalu is later called, is sold to a brothel, sold again to a slave merchant bound for America, auctioned to a saloonkeeper, and offered as a prize in a poker game. This biographical novel is the extraordinary story of one woman's fight for independence and dignity in the American West.
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Disjointed account of an extraordinary life
- By David on 05-01-15
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Under a War-Torn Sky
- By: L. M. Elliott
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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When Henry Forester is shot down during a bombing run over France, the World War II pilot finds himself trapped behind enemy lines. In constant danger of discovery by German soldiers, Henry begins a remarkable journey to freedom. Relying on the kindness of strangers, Henry moves from town to town-traveling by moonlight, never asking questions or even the names of the people who help him along the way. Each day brings him closer to home, yet every step in enemy territory invites new dangers.
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Great book for young people.
- By Timothy Baker on 10-02-18
By: L. M. Elliott
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The Last Crossing
- A Novel
- By: Guy Vanderhaeghe
- Narrated by: John Henry Cox, John Keating, Colin Lane, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Abridged
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This epic tale sweeps across continents and time, hovers over a key era in American history, and deftly realizes the humanity of a whole cast of characters. Told through flashbacks and alternating points of view, The Last Crossing is about redemption, about seeking and finding, about human feelings and strengths, about personal honor, and about that moment in life when we must decide to cross over and surrender to love.
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A Very Dark Story
- By Virginia on 04-05-04
By: Guy Vanderhaeghe
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Undertaker's Moon
- By: Ronald Kelly
- Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The rural town of Old Hickory. Tennessee was a quiet, picturesque community...until the O'Sheas came to town. Becoming the new proprietors of the town's only funeral parlor, with the help of their charming patriarch, Square McManus, the Irish family was wholeheartedly accepted by the local town folk. The thing began to happen. Strange things...horrible, unspeakable things...in the dead of night. The sighting of wolfish beasts congregating around an open grave in the town cemetery.
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good story but
- By simon lucas on 02-19-20
By: Ronald Kelly
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The Pearl
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Hector Elizondo
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this short book illuminated by a deep understanding and love of humanity, John Steinbeck retells an old Mexican folk tale: the story of the great pearl, how it was found, and how it was lost. For the diver Kino, finding a magnificent pearl means the promise of a better life for his impoverished family. His dream blinds him to the greed and suspicions the pearl arouses in him and his neighbors, and even his loving wife cannot temper his obsession or stem the events leading to the tragedy. For Steinbeck, Kino and his wife illustrate the fall from innocence of people who believe that wealth erases all problems.
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Stay poor
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 10-31-11
By: John Steinbeck
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First They Killed My Father
- A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
- By: Loung Ung
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
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Brutal, Heartbreaking
- By Gillian on 01-27-15
By: Loung Ung
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Wolf Winter
- By: Cecilia Ekback
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms BlackAsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow.
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So atmospheric, it hurts
- By Bookmarque on 08-24-15
By: Cecilia Ekback
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The Orenda
- A Novel
- By: Joseph Boyden
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn, Graham Rowat, Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Christophe has been in the New World only a year when his native guides abandon him to flee their Iroquois pursuers. A Huron warrior and elder named Bird soon takes him prisoner, along with a young Iroquois girl, Snow Falls, whose family he has just killed, and holds them captive in his massive village. Champlain's Iron People have only recently begun trading with the Huron, who mistrust them as well as this Crow who has now trespassed onto their land; and her people, of course, have become the Huron's greatest enemy.
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Thoughtful and interesting, if not always gripping
- By David on 06-15-14
By: Joseph Boyden
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Good format for initial exposure to the material.
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Winesburg, Ohio is a little-known masterpiece that forever changed the course of American storytelling. At the center of this collection of stories stands George Willard, an earnest young reporter for the Winesburg Eagle who sets out to gather the town’s daily news. He ends up discovering the town’s deepest secrets as one by one, the townsfolk confide their hopes, dreams, and fears to the reporter. In their recollections of first loves and last rites, of sprawling farms and winding country roads, the town rises vividly - and poignantly - to life.
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What listeners say about The Painted Bird
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- tom
- 05-01-13
what a great book!
i read "the painted bird" when it first appeared as a pocket book around 1966 or 67, and was pretty much bowled over by it. curiously, despite the much later appearance of books like "bloodlands" by timothy snyder, which described, in gory detail, the unbelievable bloodshed that took place in that area, the "bloodlands" comprised of poland and the ukraine -- i.e., the "unnamed eastern countries" of the painted bird -- i never took kosinski's book as autobiography --- i imagined it more as a story about a "collective" character, a composite character, made up of the fates of several people that kosinski may have known or whose stories he had heard. it was, i thought, a fictional, or factive, story like günter grass's "tin drum" (based on WWII) or grimmelshausen's "simplicissimus", a story about a character lost in the terrors of the 30-year-war, of 1618-48. but also the book struck me as being on a par with those two books, which are classics in their own right, very well written, memorable. the character in TPB, a picaro, jewish, as in the very first picaresque novel i'd come across, lazarillo of "lazarillo de tormes", a spanish classic from around the time of christopher columbus -- so too, the little lazar, the little jew, in this book, wanders from one scene of horror into the next, as did the character lasik in "the stormy life of lasik roitschwantz" (1960) by ilya ehrenburg. another great book in the picaresque tradition and i'm sure one that kosinski --- an author much accused of plagiarism -- must have been familiar with -- even long before it appeared in english in 1960. the english translation of ehrenburg's masterwork is pretty poor, BTW, especially when compared to the wonderful german -- and vaguely yiddish-sounding -- translation of 1929. the point here is that kosinski's book is not without antecedent, but it appeared in the english-speaking world like a comet, out of nowhere, and certainly impressed with its blinding light. i was pleased to hear the book rendered in this un-hurried, slightly foreign-accented reading -- which could, for all intents and purposes --- be a deliberate "act", part of the voice-actor's performance --- and so, what of it? it increases the sense of verisimilitude, it improves the reading. which is totally wonderful! and yes, the book holds up remarkably well. another thing that was always obvious to me -- all the more so, when i read that roman polanski and kosinski had been friends or acquaintances at the lodz film school in poland --- was that polanski should long ago have made a movie of this book. it hasn't happened so far and may now be unlikely to happen at all. polanski did make a movie of dickens's "oliver twist", which didn't really go much anywhere beyond the level of an "illustrated classic" comic book. someday somebody may have to make that movie yet, and the more time passes while we wait for it to appear, the more the stature of the book will grow as one-of-the great-classics-of-the-20th-century-that-has-never-been-filmed, much as "the catcher in the rye" hasn't. kosinski's other great book, which i found on audible in a very calm and unaffected reading by dustin hoffman -- none less! to be sure --- is "being there", which also exists as a great movie, starring peter sellers. it just antedates the reagan presidency by a few years --- if it had appeared any later it would have been thought of as a parody or political satire. even so, it serves that purpose well, seen from today's vantage point. to wrap up the point i want to make here --- this is a great reading of a great book, and deserves all the stars it can get. i would point the listener to the shorter and very different reading of "being there" next. hoffman's reading, in its subdued, matter-of-fact voice, does the book justice, as does the sellers film, one of the great movies of the 1980s. reading, hearing and seeing just these two books should allay anybody's doubts about kosinski's true stature in american literature. "the painted bird" is a classic, and this is an excellent reading of it.
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- Darryl
- 07-08-12
Excellent but Tough
I love Kosinski and hope more of his work shows up. But he is not for everyone. I think this is an excellent novel, very poetic, tragic and brutal. Much like Cormac's The Road it is very disturbing at times, but I think it is an important work that should be read more and not forgotten. Stylistically it is full of poetry and symbolism, but sections can be hard to get through. I recommend it with caution.
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- Johnna Perdue
- 09-22-23
Wow, just wow
Very gripping, emotionally challenging! The narrator was exceptional. What made this for me, was the authors summary post publication!
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- TheHandiCapperGeneral
- 03-02-24
The Painted Bird
I have a new favorite book. the best thing i have ever read. exactly what i want writing to be.
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- Colton Marshall
- 05-03-18
Powerful
Criticisms of the author aside, this book is a monumental work of literature. Its portrayal of the brutality of war and human malevolence through the naive lens of a child will humble the reader.
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- bnztek
- 03-12-21
A classic
This was just as amazing as when I read it 30 years ago in high school.
I didn’t realize the political ramifications this book endured after its genesis and the struggles the writer encountered with its topics.
Must read!
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- Daniel Thompson
- 05-01-18
no words
Similar to the nameless speechless boy, I too have no words to describe both the story and performance of this incredibly controversial yet acclaimed work of art; it shall speak for itself.
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- Walter
- 06-08-20
It couldn't keep my attention
I listened on audio & if a book is compelling I'll get sucked in but honestly 10-20 minutes would go by without my attention on the book. You may think that's a problem with me but I go through 30-40 books a year & I know when I book captivates me or not
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- geoperky
- 10-24-24
Provocative and depressing
An amazing work of fiction that provides a look at the much too reality of the world in which we live.
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- Sherray
- 12-27-10
Captivatingly haunting....
I'm somewhat of a horror buff and this book's content description caught my eye. I was not disappointed by a long shot! The narrator's voice was perfect for the subject matter and kept me riveted to the spot to hear what happened next.This guy would be a hit around a late night camp fire. I enjoyed the pull-no-punches gory scenes and the boy's tenacity for survival. A great read.
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3 people found this helpful