Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War | Sebastian Faulks

Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War | Sebastian Faulks | Unsteady on its perch.

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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 183 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Readers who are entranced by the sweeping Anglo sagas of Masterpiece Theatre will devour Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks's historical drama. A bestseller in England, 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 World War I. 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 an unflinching war story that is bookended by romances and a rewarding read.

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Mostly Fabulous

On the negative side, "Birdsong" is rather disjointed. The first part with the graphic sex is well written, but doesn't really flow into the rest of the story. The lame flashes to the 1970s also seem out of place and add nothing to the book.

However, the bulk of the novel that covers WW1, more than makes up for any deficiencies eleswhere. The writing is wonderful here. In particular, the part that describes the First Battle of the Somme just turned my blood cold. Extremely powerful and highly recommended - not just for history or war buffs.

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Unsteady on its perch.

Faulks goes for the big themes here with a seriously impressive load of characteristically self consciously humourless and weighty prose. First, we get a series of fin de siecle cameos a la Zola, EM Forster and Renoir etc. with "Luncheon of the boating party / la grande Jatte" scenarios; but then it's time for the trenches though I must admit the first world war mining tunnels broke new ground for me (metaphorically speaking)and the whole thing is obviously meticulously researched.
The problem is that there's has a smugly contrived feel with a seam of undermining modern day political correctness. Thus we have the Jewish German soldier banging on about the fatherland, the free love scenes of 1912 and 1978, the entire moral ambiguity thingy. The historical scenes have a vaguely phoney feel.It's still a great read though.

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Good Book

Really well written and paced. Lots of interesting historical detail. Would have gotten a five if it wasn't so damned depressing.

One Story Too Many...

In 1993's "Birdsong", author Sebastian Faulks crafts a multi-generational drama around the undoubted horror of trench warfare on the Western Front in the First World War. The novel is for the most part beautifully written, even haunting. It may perhaps be overambitious in the arc of its narrative.

In the first part of the narrative, young Englishman Stephen Wraysford arrives in Amiens, France, in 1910 to work with a local clothing manufacturer named Azaire. He stays at Azaire's home, and shortly begins a passionate affair with Azaire's young and abused wife, Isabelle. Stephen and Isabelle will elope, but when Isabelle learns she is pregnant, she abandons Stephen without explanation.

The second part fast-forwards to 1916. The First World War is in progress. Stephen Wrayford is a brand new subaltern, just promoted from the ranks and leading a British infantry platoon on the Western Front. One of his responsibilities is to assist an engineering company digging tunnels under the German lines. The leader of the engineering company, one Captain Weir, will become Stephen's best friend during the horror of the fighting. One of the enlisted engineers, Jack Firebrace, will be with Stephen at several points of mortal peril during the war and the two men will bond over their shared experience. As the war winds on, and Stephen struggles to find reasons to survive, he unexpectedly meets Isabelle's sister Jeanne. From Jeanne, he will learn Isabelle's story, and from her, he will also learn to draw strength.

The third portion of the narrative concerns a woman in her late 30's named Elizabeth, working as an executive at a small clothing design in 1978 London. Elizabeth is single, childless, and carrying on an extended affair with a British diplomat. This portion of the narrative overlaps with the second, as we wonder whether Stephen will survive the war and as we watch Elizabeth become pregnant and suddenly develop an interest in the First World War. At the climax of the novel, Stephen is trapped in a collapsed tunnel beneath the lines while, two generations away, Elizabeth prematurely begins to give birth in a seaside cottage.

Faulks is a wonderful writer. His prose is exceptional, especially the portions of the novel concerning the Western Front, which are graphic in their telling and haunting in their insight. The initial portion of the novel serves to introduce us to Stephen Wrayford as a person, so that the changes driven by the war will be more visible to us. The connections between the first and second parts, as Stephen accidently encounters Jeanne, are important in helping to keep Stephen alive but are less compelling as a continuation of the love story. The third portion, as Stephen's and Elizabeth's stories are finally looped together, is frankly awkward and strains to be plausible. The novel might have been better served by a shorter narrative.

"Birdsong" is highly recommended as a well-written, dramatic, and moving story of the First World War. It is somewhat less convincing as a multi-generational love story.

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Good, a little slow, but interesting and horrifying at the same time...

This book was given to me by someone who knows I love historical fiction. The detail on the war was incredible, very scary.....

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

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