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On a more uplifting note, the book does at least attempt a positive ending. When they first appeared, I questioned the need for the sections set in the 1970s. I failed to see their significance and thought them out of place. I still think them a little contrived and awkward but without them and the redemption they bring, we would be left in the same bleak and desolate landscape as Faulks’ soldiers. It takes a while to fully get to grips with Annie. You can understand her emotional and physical handicaps, and you try and make allowances. But then she would come across as too over the top and unlikeable. I could not stop listening to this book. It is wonderful. I just finished. I haven't been able to do anything except listen to this book. Excellent narration by Peter Firth. I loved it. I loved all the emotion - horror of war and passionate love. And great lines and so much to think about...... Can I collect my thoughts?!
The romance is one of the reasons Birdsong works so well. The passion in Stephen and Isabelle's relationship is so electric - the snatched, illicit moments of their affair, the excitement of their elopement, the possibilities that lay ahead. And of course, its demise is devastating. All of Stephen's army colleagues have somebody they want to return home to, a face they desperately want to see again that gives them a reason to survive. He tells himself that he doesn't have anyone like this, that he never did. But deep down, he knows that's not true. Wow! First published in 1994, Birdsong is a WWI era novel that spans 1910-1979 and focuses on main protagonist, Stephen Wraysford, a young Englishman that begins a sordid affair with a French businessmen's wife, Madame Azaire. The two are separated and years laters Stephen is now serving in the British army in France. In the 1970's timeline, a young woman named Elizabeth is becoming increasingly interested in a series of notebooks that she has found in her mother's attic and they may just have the key to some untold family secrets left over from the war. a b c d Mullan, John (29 June 2012). "Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016 . Retrieved 30 August 2016. Birdsong is a powerful novel, spanning generations and taking us through the horrors of World War 1. Faulks wrote the novel partly because he felt that the First World War had not been discussed enough in both literary and historical contexts. [ citation needed] Reflecting on the novel twenty years later, Faulks felt that the published version did not fully do justice to the experience of war: it did not provide readers with "a full appreciation of the soldiers' physical experience; and, perhaps more importantly, a philosophical understanding of what it meant to be part of the first genocidal event of the century – the one that made the others imaginable". [ citation needed]
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Birdsong is a 1993 war novel and family saga by the English author Sebastian Faulks. [1] It is Faulks's fourth novel. The plot follows two main characters living at different times: the first is Stephen Wraysford, a British soldier on the front line in Amiens during the First World War, and the second is his granddaughter, Elizabeth Benson, whose 1970s plotline follows her attempts to recover an understanding of Stephen's experience of the war. What I love the most about this book and perhaps why I’ve read it so many times and will continue to read it again and again is how Mr Faulks portrays the human spirit when humanity has been completely deserted. I approached this book, the third time I have read it, with extreme caution. I felt like I was meeting up with friends that I hadn’t seen for a while. Situations had changed, circumstances had changed and, perhaps most importantly, my reading tastes had changed. When the book begins Stephen is an impetuous twenty year old. War is not yet in his future. There are a few references to the song of birds and how this sound is annoying to him. This will not always be the case. As we follow Stephen through his horrific war experiences, we realize how he is maturing - not just aging but developing a new humanity. His courage and his desire to survive are vivid and beautifully detailed. The song of birds, once so annoying, becomes the sound of hope and life. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger really applies here. Consistently one of the greatest critiques of the novel concerns its 1970s plot-line. [17] For example, Gorra found that the addition of a parallel narrative "[ran] into problems"—especially concerning Elizabeth Benson, whom he "stopped believing in [as a] character". [9] Unlike other reviewers, the critic Sarah Belo did not question the historical investigation plot, but the depiction of Elizabeth's experience as a 1970s woman in England. [17] On the other hand, almost all of the reviewers describe the novel's war sections as excellently written; for example, the review in the Los Angeles Times called the sections "so powerful as to be almost unbearable". [17]
Sebastien Faulks won my heart with his WWII espionage book, Charlotte Gray. Well, right until that ending that left me scratching my head. But Birdsong truly moved me and is quite simply- an AMAZING book. It is less the romance, but Stephen's time on the frontlines and his time with his men that was truly the gem of the book.
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Faulks' writing is truly outstanding, the fear and hopelessness felt by the men is made vivid and terrifyingly portrayed. Wow, what a powerful read. Wow, wow, wow! I always find that middle grade books have some of the strongest themes that kids need to read about and this is definitely one of those books. Filled with conversations of finding one’s passion again after a tragic accident, finding the strength to move on past tragedy, and so much more. Birdsong is one of those reads that can make anyone feel seen.
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