Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

On my bedside table is a sepia-tinted photograph of my grandfather, aged about 17, in his British army uniform, prior to his stint in France towards the end of the First World War. He was lucky; he returned. Had he not done so I would not be writing this now. I thought about him a lot as I was reading Sebastian Faulks’ novel “Birdsong” in which the author vividly portrays what life was like for those who endured the trauma of service in the trenches. ...
...it is not a comfortable read. It is not for the faint-hearted or anyone of a nervous disposition. It will shock all but the most desensitised of readers. At times I had to put it down as I was overwhelmed with tears, so powerful was the narrative. And yet I felt compelled to continue until I emerged at the end with a sense that I had at least grown a little in understanding as a result of reading it. I am glad that I was steered to read it by its ...

Discerna 05.03.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

...the First World War but Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks stimulated my interest and affected me the most in this terrible period of the twentieth century. Birdsong opens in France in 1910 with the arrival of twenty-year-old Stephen Wraysford at the house of the Azaire family. He is there to study the textile industry at the factory owned by Monsieur Adaire, who is a cold fish and a snob. His wife Isabelle is younger and it is obvious it is a marriage ...
...trying not to worry their loved ones. I was held throughout by this wonderful and brilliant novel and effected by the strength of human spirit and the compassion that stayed with me throughout and still does. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Published by Vintage UK £6.99 ISBN 0-09-938791-3 ...

silver40 06.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

A history teacher friend of mine recommended Sebastian Faulk's 'Birdsong' to me a number of years ago, on the basis that it had two main ingredients that I would find irresistible: a World War I setting combined with a endearing romantic vein running throughout. So, on his advise, I bought a copy of the book almost immediately, however, it stood on a shelf until two years ago, forgotten and completely unread. One day I picked up the book by chance ...
...book for my second time. No mean feat I must point out, as it is seldom that I ever read a novel twice. My friend’s advice and its predicted appeal was uncannily accurate. The story is based around Stephen Wraysford, a young English graduate who finds himself in pre-World War I France on a work-placement. He is staying with a French family, and falls hopelessly for his host’s wife Isabelle, eventually eloping with her, only to return home one evening ...

JonnyWigan 19.03.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

I considered myself a fairly informed person about the 1st World War, until I read this book. It is one of the most disturbing accounts of the effects of atrocities upon the human mind I have ever read. A friend of mine who is a psychiatrist, and specialises in the effects of shock on the mind, borrowed this from me and was impressed with the accurate portrayal of the reactions of humans to extreme stress. The book starts some years before the war ...
...with a French family to gain work experience. He falls in love with the wife of the family and they start a passionate affair eventually leading her to leave her husband and children. After moving to a small town and living together for some time, she leaves him to return to her family and, finally he returns to England.Years later he finds himself back in France under more strained circumstances, in the mud of the trenches. We follow Wraysford ...

indychick_uk 07.03.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

There are some books, where after I have read them, I am compelled to consult my bookshelves and re-read another book that echoes the plot or style of the one I have just read. After reading ‘Birdsong’, I re-read ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. One of these, I concluded, is a great novel and the other I’m afraid, just falls short of greatness. It is 1910, and Stephen Wraysford is visiting a small town in France on ...
...family, the Azaires’. During his stay he falls in love with Madam Azaire, and she reciprocates the feeling. They elope, but through guilt, fear and an unexpected pregnancy Madam Azaire runs away to her sister’s and Stephen is left with a proverbial broken heart. His life dramatically changes when war is declared and he enlists to join the British Army and fights on the front line in Flanders. As a distraction to the events of war, halfway ...

HappyBunny 15.05.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Strangely I was first attracted to this book by the picture on the cover.It shows a soldier standing over a grave.As someone with an interest in military history, especially twentieth Century, I thought It may be of interest to me, I later read a review of it in one of the national newspapers and having liked what I read, decided that I would give it a try. I had not even heard of Sebastian Faulks before ,let alone read any of his other books. ...
...action and tales of bravery-what I got was so much more. The books main character is Stephen Wrayford.The story begins in France 1910.A young man, Stephen is sent by his factory owning employer from England to France in order to try and learn some modern working practises that would help improve his employers companies prospects.He lodges with the owner of a French factory and his Family. After a while Stephen and the wife of the factory owner ...

murky5 03.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

...horrific and unforgettable. Birdsong derives most of its power from its descriptions of gunge and gore, and the hero's struggle to hold on to his dignity, and sanity, while surrounded by it, and submerged in it. Birdsong is an excellent novel which skillfully takes the reader through what is essentially a love story with gentle understanding. This is in stark contrast to the incredibly detailed and intense account of the horrors of war. This may ...
...creator." Excerpt from Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. Copyright © 1994. ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ Birdsong is not a light read, but it presents a world that shaped the lives of a generation of people, and its presentation is vivid and eloquent. ©proxam2002 ...

proxam 24.11.2002 (03.01.2006) · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

This is a wide ranging novel, whose overall theme would seem to be that there is no end to what men can endure. Throughout the novel, pain and fear are the dominant feelings; mud and blood are the prominent visuals. Although this is typically considered a great novel, I am not convinced that I enjoyed reading this novel, because I, personally, prefer a different style of writing. Stephen Wraysford is a young man visiting Amiens, France in 1910 at ...
...the wife of his host, a young woman trapped in a loveless, passionless marriage, and the first part of the novel is concerned with their passionate journey together. The relationship develops so swiftly as to be almost unbelievable and none of the characters comes across as particularly likeable, despite the sad back stories the lovers are given by Faulkes. Soon the action moves to the trenches in France where Jack Firebrace, a miner, is listening ...

brokenangelkisses 09.11.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

A Study of how Sebastian Faulks conveys the terrors of war, through his description, style and literary techniques. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed ‘Birdsong’ by Sebastian Faulks. I selected this novel because it was recommended to me having previously enjoyed the classic, ‘All Quiet on the Western Front.’ Sebastian Faulks has established himself as a great, modern-day writer, known for his brilliant and vivid descriptions of war. I believe ...
...what I found to be the most outstanding aspects of the novel- his excellent use of literary techniques, style and the way in which his brilliant depiction gave me the urge to continue reading. I would like to investigate how Sebastian Faulks conveyed the terrors of war through his style, literary techniques and use of description. The book has been split up in to several parts, each beginning during a different period. The story was therefore not ...

michael4321 03.11.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

In this book Sebastian Faulks shows a rare gift for describing a love affair against a historical backdrop. The book is a multi-layered journey into the life of a young man (Stephen Wraysford) making his way into the world as seen from the perspective of his granddaughter (Elizabeth) looking into her antecedents diaries. Elizabeth is searching for a certain something which is missing from her Cosmopolitan world in London and her furtive affair ...
...in codes investigate the cryptic diaries of her grandfather. The first part of the book shows Stephen as a young man from an orphaned background lodging in Paris,living at the home of the industrialist (Monsieur Azaire) to whom his employer has agreed to prepare a report on ways to improve his business. The Azaire family relationships are examined from the viewpoint of the outsider, Stephen feels Monsieur Azaire to be pompous old fool easily impressed ...

fairenoughclough 31.10.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

...book in this style might be predictable, but Birdsong is not. No one is covered in glory. The futility of it all is written large, and the flawed nature of underlies the whole story. This is a book which should be read, but some people might not enjoy it. ...

Saturn 14.08.2000 · Read full review
Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

...a professional writer in 1991. Birdsong was his fourth novel, published in 1994 and in the intervening decade, has come to be seen as a classic in the field of war literature. In contrast to the majority of books based around experiences of war, Birdsong is set primarily in World War 1. The novel is a major work, taking in the effects the war has not only on those who fought in it, but on those whose lives are changed irrevocably as a consequence. ...
...Faulks writes Birdsong with a graphic attention to detail. The harshness and detail of his imagery make some parts of Birdsong a visceral experience. The scenes of battle in particular will stay with you for a long time to come. Faulks has taken events which have been practically forgotten by the modern audience and brought them right back into the forefront of his readers\' minds. ...

NeilG1 13.09.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

This book was forced on me by my mother when I was 17 and so at first I was very cynical. However after the first few pages I was hooked. The graphic, harrowing account of the First World War touches the soul. You feel as if you are there in the trenches and one can almost smell the mud and blood. This book has something for everyone. It not only gives you the story of the war but also a realistic account of an affair that evokes different emotions. ...

eleanor73 12.01.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

The novel tells the story of Stephen, a young Englishman in early twentieth-century France, and of his granddaughter’s mission to translate his story from his diaries, during the 1970s. The main theme of ‘birdsong’ is the Great War. Faulks also explores the complexity and mysteriousness of relationships amongst men and between men and women during the early 1900s as well as presenting various attitudes and misconceptions towards the war at the time ...
...years on. Despite the fact that Faulks is a modern, late twentieth century author, his depiction of the Great War is harrowing, graphic and poignant. However, his protagonist Stephen is in some ways 'unlikable'. He is portrayed as cold hearted and inconsistent in his reactions. Stephen becomes caught up in a passion which is out of his control, and his actions towards Isabelle Azaire do not reflect the afore-mentioned description of him, leading ...

julia_brava 30.05.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

I began reading this war novel as part of an A-level wider reading list. I was fairly inexperienced when it came to war literature so I had low expectations for the book. However i was immediately hooked into the first few chapters, as it seems nothing like a war novel. However once the reader is involved with the plot, Faulks moves from different time periods throughout the novel, almost as though to show how much of a contrast the main character ...
...war to his passionate romance with a married woman. As a reader you are very much compelled to read on as as our insight into the soldiers lives widens. The novel covers a number of different topics such as love, comradeship, death and suffering, all of which were key symbols of war. The only minor disadvantage is the subplot of a woman trying to find out about Stephen, who is actually a relation of hers. I think this modern twist is unnecessary ...

Yazzi1 13.05.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks