This book is a melancholy journey of self discovery, violence, and war--and of course those three things are not mutually exclusive. In some ways, the narrative is plodding, but this is not a bad thing. Our orphan moves from village to village, situation to situation, and violence to violence. Because he is alone, he must grow up very quickly, but the discoveries he makes along the way--about human behavior, sex, kindness, and savagery--are revealed more slowly through Kosinski's careful prose. 
 The metaphor of the painted bird is revealed early on in the book, which I like. There was no big "reveal" of what this is supposed to mean to us or to our protagonist; although like all good metaphors, there are layers, and by the end of the book, the title, the story, and our hero come together beautifully. 
 Fred Berman does a wonderful job of narrating this audiobook. His accent (which is put on; I think he's from New Jersey) is a vague but successful Eastern European, and his voice is quiet, steady, and oddly forceful. His is not an explosive reading nor is this an explosive book, but an understated powerhouse.