Set before and during the great war, Birdsong captures the drama of that era on both a national and a personal scale. It is the story of Stephen, a young Englishman, who arrives in Amiens in 1910. Over the course of the novel he suffers a series of traumatic experiences, from the clandestine love affair that tears apart the family with whom he lives, to the unprecedented experiences of the war itself. (19990312)
Birdsong
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Readers who are entranced by sweeping historical sagas will devour Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks' drama set during the first world war. There's even a little high-toned erotica thrown into the mix to convince the doubtful. The book's hero, a 20-year-old Englishman named Stephen Wraysford, finds his true love on a trip to Amiens in 1910. Unfortunately, she's already married, the wife of a wealthy textile baron. Wrayford convinces her to leave a life of passionless comfort to be at his side, but things do not turn out according to plan. Wraysford is haunted by this doomed affair and carries it with him into the trenches of the war. Birdsong derives most of its power from its descriptions of mud and blood, and Wraysford's attempt to retain a scrap of humanity while surrounded by it. There is a simultaneous description of his present-day granddaughter's quest to read his diaries, which is designed to give some sense of perspective; this device is only somewhat successful. Nevertheless, Birdsong is a rewarding read, an unflinching war story and a touching romance.
Review
An amazing book - I have read it and re-read it and can think of no other novel for many, many years that has so moved me or stimulated in me so much reflection on the human spirit (Quentin Crewe Daily Mail 20031022)
This is literature at its very best: a book with the power to reveal the unimagined, so that one's life is set in a changed context. I urge you to read it (Nigel Watts Time Out 20031022)
So powerful is this recreated past that you long to call Birdsong perfect (Sue Gee The Times 20031022)
With Birdsong Faulks has produced a mesmerizing story of love and war... This book is so powerful that as I finished it I turned to the front to start again (Andrew James Sunday Express 20031022)
An overpowering and beautiful novel... Ambitious, outrageous, poignant, sleep-disturbing, Birdsong is not a perfect novel, just a great one (Simon Schama New Yorker 20031022)
This is literature at its very best: a book with the power to reveal the unimagined, so that one's life is set in a changed context. I urge you to read it (Nigel Watts Time Out 20031022)
So powerful is this recreated past that you long to call Birdsong perfect (Sue Gee The Times 20031022)
With Birdsong Faulks has produced a mesmerizing story of love and war... This book is so powerful that as I finished it I turned to the front to start again (Andrew James Sunday Express 20031022)
An overpowering and beautiful novel... Ambitious, outrageous, poignant, sleep-disturbing, Birdsong is not a perfect novel, just a great one (Simon Schama New Yorker 20031022)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
123 of 124 people found the following review helpful
By C. Calisgil
Format:Paperback
I read Birdsong about 14 years ago, when it was first published in paperback; it must have impressed me because it stayed on my bookshelf rather than being passed on. This second reading has reminded me why I kept it - it has to be one of the most haunting novels I've ever read, and it kept me reading well into the small hours! The early chapters deal with a love affair in which the author so clearly recreates the sense of overwhelming desire and reckless behaviour that accompanies true passion. This, however, is only the start of Stephen Wraysford's story, for we soon move on to his involvement as a young officer in the First World War and this, for me, is what makes the novel such an amazing work. Knowing that the fiction was based on real events, together with the vivid descriptions, makes the story so very moving. It's not just a chronicle of events though, Sebastian Faulks is a master of detail, which makes the readers feel they're actually there, in the mud of Flanders - there were times when I too held my breath and envisaged how the fear must have felt. The penultimate chapter was so moving, it reduced me to tears and this, for me, is unusual! Reading and remembering the words of old men from my childhood, it's hard to believe that little more than 20 years later, man embarked on a Second World War and, after both those events, it seems incredible that man has still not learned his lesson! I would urge everyone to read this novel, and if you've already done so, then read it again!
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Birdsong is set during the 1st World War and despite being a story, its historial and geographical content is accurate.
It tells the story of Stephen Wraysford and the events that shape his life. Starting in pre-war France and moving on in time, it deals with Stephen's experiences in love and war. The novel incorporates Stephen's friendship with Michael Weir, a fellow soldier and also includes the stories of other soldiers that fight alongside them.
This is a graphic and detailed novel. Faulks describes in detail the events that these soldiers lived through on a daily basis. Despite the disturbing nature of some of these scenes, the novel is so beautifully and cleverly written that it is compulsive.
Faulks ties in the events of Stephen Wraysford during the First World War to modern life with the quest of Stephen's Grandaughter, Elizabeth, to trace her past and seek out what happened to her Grandfather. She does this when she discovers the journals that her Grandfather wrote during the war.
The novel is structured so that it moves forward and back in time and reminds the reader of the benefits we have today because of the sacrifices made by so many men.
It is a poignant and moving novel and one which brings home the realities and the true atrocities that the soldiers of the First World War suffered. Once read, it will never be forgotten.
79 of 81 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This a such a powerful war novel.
I will justify this statement, not by repeating the things other people have said but through highlighting just one passage that really moved me.
This is when Michael Weir - Stephen Wraysford's closest wartime friend - goes home on leave to his parents in Leamington Spar. Weir has experienced death, squalor, disease, and utter degredation in the trenches. Yet his family cannot understand or respond when he tries to convey these experiences to them. It is beyond their imagination - as it is ours - that men could tolerate such conditions. Instead we see his parents treating him as if he has just been up to town for the week. They rebuke him, for example, for not telling them exactly the time he would be arriving. His mother fusses over him like a child: "You look a bit thin, Michael. What have they been feeding you on over in France?" You sense Weir's desperation as he realises that he cannot communicate any of the reality of the war to his family. This is so moving and heart-wrending. One can really believe that it was like that for so many men and their families when the war, for the British people, was "over there".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
truly brilliant.
Erotic, moving, horrifying, tense, emotional, raw, beautiful. How life is unstoppable and irresistible amidst the worst that humanity can do to itself.
Published 8 days ago by Mr. D. V. Carruthers
4.0 out of 5 stars
birdsong
Haven't finished it yet but so far I find it very absorbing. At the same time I find it very distressing. Looking forward to the outcome.
Published 23 days ago by payclk07
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very nice book about love and war
The perfect recipee is there: love, war, separation, friendship, courage, pain.. The book takes you in a vivid tale through the horrors of the trench war and the fragility of life. Read more
Published 24 days ago by Jak Levi
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stoey that captures the imagination.
I bought this book as it was recommended by our guide when we toured the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. Read more
Published 27 days ago by M. E. McClagish
4.0 out of 5 stars
exellent read.
The description of the world war one trenches is very realistic.an excellent book and will definitely be reading more of sebastian faulks books.
Published 27 days ago by wilfred grainger.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome book
I couldn't wait to pick it up and keep reading, emotional, heart rending, loved when John was born, amazing, you felt like you were there!
Published 1 month ago by Tony Beverley
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent book
An excellent read - written in a way that allows the reader to gain a real insight into the horrors of the trenches, whilst telling a story of love and affection, and how these... Read more
Published 1 month ago by KarenB
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a disappointment.
Reading the first part of the book I wondered if I had picked up a Mills and Boon with overtones of Jilly Cooper! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Peter760
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book
One of the best books I have read in a long time and it was much better than the film
Published 1 month ago by maree klingsick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive treatment of a difficult subject.
Novelists who tackle the First World War take on themselves an enormous challenge - how to capture the sheer inhumanity of the trenches without losing themselves in overwhelming... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Readingaddict
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