tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post3913648150713642361..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Marlon James, "Black Leopard, Red Wolf"Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-75502810063485850682022-07-20T09:53:52.865-04:002022-07-20T09:53:52.865-04:00@David I didn't like him. There were some good...@David I didn't like him. There were some good fragments, but a lot of it seem to be added solely for the shock value (e.g. cossacks raping women while riding on a horse).<br /><br />Kosiński was in Poland. He and his family (they were IIRC well assimilated Polish Jewish family, Lewinkopf) survived the war by hiding in Polish village Dąbrowa. They pretended to be Polish family, so it's not clear for me whether their survival was ensured by perfect camouflage, or - as villagers would want to present it - everyone knew and pretended they didn't. He was supposedly bullied by local POlish kids on at least one occassion and saved by other Polish kids.<br /><br />Strange thing: I've read that supposedly Jerzy when young even refused to play with Jewish kids, saying he is Polish, not Jewish.<br /><br />There is a movie "Painted Bird", with local talking in interslavic. I am still not sure whether I want to see it.szopenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12096688483881484656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-27520433870250735882022-07-20T09:18:54.860-04:002022-07-20T09:18:54.860-04:00I really enjoyed this book review as well (so much...I really enjoyed this book review as well (so much that I'm returning to make this comment after several days). Fuck the gods, it's a good review.<br /><br />@szopeno: I'm struck that you mentioned Kosinski. What do you think of him? I tried "Painted Bird" and thought it was horrible, and ultimately sort of boring. I couldn't finish it. Like a lot of readers, I seriously doubted that Kosinski had truly been in Poland or in the Nazi camp system. He was just pretending so he could write a serious of highly-constructed sex-and-violence vignettes, like the Marquis de Sade.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-30668498165228152372022-07-17T03:52:40.181-04:002022-07-17T03:52:40.181-04:00I wonder why is that the negative book reviews are...I wonder why is that the negative book reviews are much more enjoyable to read than the positive :)<br /><br />I've heard about this book and wondered whether to read it (it's on legimi, a Polish netflix-like site for books). Graded 3.5/5 ONe of the reviews, google-translated and corrected a bit:<br /><br />"I was tempted by African mythology ...<br />In fact, it reminded me of Kosinski ..<br />Slimy and loathsome in the same way. And with the same gibberish. It was written on drugs, I think, with a porn channel running in the background, layered with scenes of all kinds of copulating animals.<br /><br />Nope… this chaos cannot be read. Waste of time. It's neither nice nor well written. And for this it is supposed to be a trilogy. I recommend you to avoid this." szopenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12096688483881484656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-25561378721486005362022-07-16T22:48:02.055-04:002022-07-16T22:48:02.055-04:00I suppose one is meant to wonder who is really the...<i>I suppose one is meant to wonder who is really the good guy, and who is bad. <br /><br />I didn't wonder, I just hated everybody.</i><br /><br />I had this kind of response with certain films from the 70s.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com