The Painted Bird

The Painted Bird
by Jerzy Kosinski
read: 2018
Time 100 Novels, Guardian 1000 Novels

One of my friends opines that novels considered literature are invariably depressing. That is definitely the case with The Painted Bird, whose protagonist is a young boy sent away by his parents during the spread of Nazi Germany's power. He throws himself on the mercy of various peasant villages he finds, invariably suffering abuse, indignities, and misery as he goes. Eventually, only at the age of 10 or so, he learns that the world is governed by a heartless code:

From the moment of signing a pact with the Devil, the more harm, misery, injury, and bitterness a man could inflict on those around him, the more help he could expect. If he shrank from inflicting harm on others, if he succumbed to emotions of love, friendship, and compassion, he would immediately become weaker and his own life would have to absorb the suffering and defeats that he spared others.

Much of his journey involves attempting to make sense of the world through this kind of pattern recognition. Ultimately, he finds little purpose or meaning. The encounters he has harden him into a cold, terrifying youth of the streets. On paper, the story has a happy ending, but it feels as bleak and pessimistic as any novel I've read.

The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
read: 2019
Guardian 1000 Novels

I live in an old house, so some of the descriptions in The Haunting of Hill House hit close to home. Inexplicable doors, rooms that aren't quite square leading to a disoriented mental map, bizarre decorating decisions - none of these are foreign to someone who loves old houses, just a bit exaggerated.

*** SPOILERS BELOW ***

The psychology of the ending, too, rings true. The reader is left a little unclear how many of the events are actually happening and how much is in Eleanor's head; it's no wonder the main characters are also left with this question. That Mrs. Montague and Arthur experience no phenomena after arriving later suggests to the other three characters that everything might be in their imagination. And clearly, Eleanor was a little disturbed to begin with and her experiences at Hill House cause her to lose what grasp on reality she had. Careful recollection and examination would reveal that Luke, Dr. Montague, and Theodora had experiences that Eleanor cannot be blamed for ... but it is understandable that they do not want to recall and examine too closely, preferring to blame the crazy lady.