Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War | Sebastian Faulks

Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War | Sebastian Faulks | Most wonderful book I've read in awhile

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Birdsong: A Novel ...

	Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War Sebastian Faulks Vintage, 1997 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 187 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Requiem for the lost

If there is a better anti-war book, I'm not sure any of our book club members would choose to read it, at least not immediately. The emotional commitment required for this sort of novel does not lend itself to a steady diet. Having said that, it is clear from our members' comments that no one regretted reading Birdsong. Despite the tears, the anguish, the revulsion, this book stands out as one of our all time favorites.

Part historical fiction, part erotic love story, and part battle hymn, author Faulk creates something akin to a non-denominational religious work of art, a sort of belated requiem to the lost. Like a canary in one of those dreadful tunnels so incredibly described in the book, Faulk's memorial is a warning to us all: War is senseless; there has got to be a better way; get out now.

Set in two periods: WWI and 1970s Europe, Faulk shows us the worst and best of human emotions. By contrasting the two, his belated memorial to the millions of young men who suffered and died during WWI, becomes all the more poignant. One note of caution: Don't be put off by the early erotic encounters. This is not even close to pulp fiction. There is nothing cheap or frivolous about this book. For me. it was worth every tear. As one of our readers put it, read it and weep. But, read it.

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Most wonderful book I've read in awhile

Finally got around to reading this after picking it up and putting it down many times.I feel this is a novel of extremes .Extremes of Love(especially between the men in the trenches),of loss,of human endurance,of human stupidity.Through it all though the beautiful characters that populate this work never completely lose faith that things can get better if you simply go on.I found it to be really inspiring and wise.After reading what people had to endure in Birdsong and their strength in the face of such upheaval a jerk of a boss or a stressfull day at work or even heartbreak over a lost love seems so minor and trivial(maybe the heartbreak is still substantial...lol).Birdsong encourages you to live your life wih intensity.A blurb on my copy sums it up nicely "Not a perfect novel-just a great one".Deserves it's modern classic status.

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Emotional Saga

The story goes from a broken love affair between a young Frenchwoman and an Englishman living in France, to the trenches of WW I, to modern-day England, all the while moving back and forth, binding together decades with themes of love, honor and commitment. A wonderful saga told with the deepest feelings by the complex character's.

Birdsong

Faulks has a gift for detailed narrative, and this book is a great read. His depiction of the conditions in the trenches during the war are both harrowing and illuminating.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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