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Product Reviews:
Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War |
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Summary: Better Novels Cover the Same Ground
Comments: Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong was not a bad book. However, I had trouble getting into it. Again I have the trouble with having a contemporary writer writing about things past. The book is so well-researched, however, that as a reader I feel to be in the thick of the battle. The battle scenes are as realistic as anything else that we have read this semester. Faulks brings us into the battle by drawing out Stephen as a highly sympathetic character. I rooted for him to survive, all the while waiting for him to die in some mundane scene where "all [is] quite on the western front." This fate does not lie ahead for him though. Instead we are granted a trying journey through the collapsed caved underground. I kept thinking that this would be the end, however it wasn't. Instead, he finds his way out to the peace that had passed over him while he was in the tunnel. I think the introduction of a patriotic Jew to be the savior of Stephen was a little heavy handed with the cultural knowledge that readers on this side of the Second World War have in the connotative pocketbook.
That said, I still think that the scenes set in the trenches are the almost all successful. The beginning part may be necessary to draw a picture of Stephen as a person with feelings, hopes, dreams, and memories. If we as readers dove right into the killing fields, it would maybe mirror the other works that we have read this semester too much. Much has been said about the discomfort experienced on reading graphic love scenes. I am not making a statement about obscenity, however if you as a writer include such scenes, you should be fully aware of their necessity to the audience's understanding of the character and the work as a whole.
There is a lack of tension maked between the2characters. We are aware of Stephen's own desires because the narrator is closely tied to his consciousness, however Madam Azaire's outpouring of lust comes across as a complete surprise. Add to this the scene with Lisette on the fishing trip, and you have some scenes that really do nothing to carry the story forward. I think the Amiens section works successfully, however that it could be better.
In contrast to the other sections, and to fill out to the troika of times, we have the late 70's. These sections come across to me as entirely superfluous. Maybe Faulks was hunting for something that would tie up some loose ends that he himself saw, or perhaps he was trying to build a bridge between the past and the present. Whatever the motivation for the inclusion of this scene, it doesn't come across successfully. These scenes bogged down the action in knee-deep mud, and after trudging through them, the mud dried and stuck to my jodhpurs in a way that angered me. They slowed down the action that was the meat of the story. To me, it seems irrelevant about that lady trying to hunt down her grandfather's past, and in finding his past she will be connected to the past as a whole, sitting and staring at the arch with the names of all the men lost in the fields in the north of France.
The work itself is that bridge between the then and the now, and we do not need to be too vulgar about drawing that message. It has passed into cliché, however he who forgets the past, repeats the same mistakes. Under the façade of adventure, almost all literary war novels do not romanticize war, they condemn it. That's why I have heard "All Quiet on the Western Front" called both "The Best War Novel of All Time," and also "The Best Anti-War Novel of All Time."
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Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Powerful, Evocative, Searing
Comments: I absolutely love this book. Ravishing love story, devastating war story, all the soaring heights and depths of great drama, yet written in a way that deliberately underplays the emotion and lets the events speak on their own. Absolutely masterful and memorable. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Powerful Wartime Writing
Comments: There is a lot that is great about this book with some stunning narratives that clearly show life on the front line during the 1st world war. The book is arranged into parts;1set in 1910,3set in the 1970s and the rest (the majority of the book) between 1916 and 1918. The parts set during the 1st world war are excellent; vivid and often harrowing.
The book begins in 1910 where the main protagonist, Stephen Wraysford, is visiting France on business. I found this section of the book laborious and did not find the characters particularly likeable. Some of the characters are stereotypical caricatures while others seem to act unexpectedly, considering the time period.
Moving into the parts covering the 1st world war I wasn't really interested in the character of Stephen Wraysford because of who I felt he was after the 1910 events. It took a while for me to start enjoying the well crafted writing of Faulks in this part of the book. The harrowing events that the soldiers went through were vivid and thought provoking. The futility of the front-line conflict and tunnelling seemed extraordinary. The 1st world war is a period of history that I do not know much about and this book has made me realise that I need to learn more about it.
I thought the relationship between Wraysford and the other men around him was interesting, particularly his relationship with a sapper called Weir. Weir's own journey back home to England for a period of leave was particularly interesting; his parents do not seem to be able to comprehend, or perhaps want to be able to comprehend the terrible events that their son has experienced. It was a rather saddening aspect of the story. Why did not the people left back at home want to understand what was really happening in France? An interesting discussion to have with a book club I am sure.
The sections covering the 1970s seemed to just serve the purpose of providing closure on the story of Stephen Wraysford however the ending felt like a bit of a let down. The parts of the book set between 1914-1918 are excellent however the parts of the book set in other time periods seem to detract from the power of Faulks vivid writing. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: War is Hell
Comments: A quite riveting fictional account confirming true historical accounts that WWI was the worst of all possible wars with its description of trench warfare. The use of gas is alluded to however not described. The love story emphasizes the fictional nature of the book. |
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: Paperback condition
Comments: This book was in great condition when I received it. It was quickly shipped, too. I would purchase from seller again. |
