Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War

Fantastic book at putting you into the mind of multiple different soldiers and how they coped, or didn’t cope, with the unthinkable life of a WW1 trench soldier. Worth re-reading.

The best war-based fiction I've possibly ever read. Birdsong begins as a love story. The young Englishman lives with a business partner's family in France while on assignment and falls in love with his wife and manages to steal her away. From there the book destroys said main character, Stephen, with the unreliability of love and the horror of war. Faulks' characterization is brilliant and lacks any easy answers from any character involved. Weir, Stephen, Gray, Jeanne, Isabelle, and the rest of the cast are all complex and thoughtful. The brutality that becomes Stephen's life is slow-building. His affair with Isabelle seems dreamlike before her own complications take her away. He survives the war just barely (in fact, this part of the book may have been taken too far as Stephen survives **SPOILER** the battle Somme, being left for dead, shot, another major battle, and being trapped for a week buried underground in a tunnel**END SPOILER**) but the pure unsentimentality of the descriptions of war and the horror that Stephen sees and endures make the story both believable and poignant. As Stephen attempts to survive mental collapse through-out a life of endured brutality, the depression of the novel becomes almost overwhelming and the reader finds his or her small moments of happiness in hope in the same small moments and acts that Stephen does. Only criticism of the book is the character of Elizabeth who ties the book to semi-modern times (still 30 years ago) was a bit irritating at times but she still serves her purpose quite well of giving the author a way to address greater themes of Stephen's life and setting. Simply a great book and modern classic that will make one want to read more of Faulks and of The Great War itself.

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.

I read this book for the first time at its initial publication... cover to cover in one sitting,and have re-read it twice since then. Each time has been as riveting as the first, although I find that with each re-reading my understanding of the characters grows, and I find something new about each one of them every time. In addition, the trenches scenes still have me gripped, horrified and mesmerised no less than 10 years ago. The story begins in Amiens, with the main character Steven Wraysford being drawn into a passionate and steamy love affair with the wife of his landlord. This erotic but doomed relationship gives way to the second part of the novel - Steven in the trenches in WW1 - the Great (or Not So Great)War. The account of war is harrowing and yet mesmerising, and I found myself simultaneously horrified by the gritty and stark imagery,and moved to tears by the spare and lucid prose. The third part of the novel describes Steven's grandaughter, Elizabeth, on her quest to find out more about her grandfather's life. Many reviewers have commented that they found the third part meaningless and irrelevent. I myself cannot agree. I think the very fact that one generation removed, a close family member knew absolutely nothing about the turn of events, is what brought home the truth of the entire novel to me. I had no idea of what went on in WW1 and this book changed my view of history. I knew that people died, but the horror and sheer waste on such a stupendous scale, the unbelievable meaninglessness of it all, and the fact that it did nothing to stop events just 20 years later, still leaves me speechless. I felt every emotion of Elizabeth's as she stood in that field so many years later, and realised how very little the world knew, or remembered. I felt that the way the three sections of the story are juxtaposed is very effective. Each section builds on the previous. Steven,clearly a man of deep and turbulent emotions, never recovers from his initial affair and its failure almost shocks him into numbness against the horrors of war. And as horrifying as the war was, no matter how many lives were wasted and lost miserably, one still feels that love prevailed. To me, I was left with two very profound impressions. One is the huge and meaningless loss of life that war provokes, and how it rips through the fabric of our lives, and the second is how equally powerful love can be - that love too can rip through our human existence and mark us forever. We are left victims by both. This book is not for the faint of heart - despite its almost poteic prose, it is not an easy read. And yet, it is quite quite unforgettable. It will stay with you for a very long time to come.

Birdsong, by Sebastian Faulks, is as good a book as I've ever read. It's imagery is most stunning and so real, I found myself thinking that I had seen the unmade movie some weeks after having finished the book.It begins with an offbeat love story - no mush - that is captivating even for one who doesn't read romance novels. When the war scenes begin, you are initially upset that the romance portion has ended. But this is the heart of the book. To give too many details would be a disservice to potential readers. I can say, however, that the graphic descriptions of bunker life have you wondering just how much the human mind and body can endure.The characters are very real and you certainly feel, while reading, that you are indeed Stephen Wraysford, the central character.You feel pleasure, joy, horror and revolt as surely as if you were within the pages. At one point, I felt the physical sensation of touch, as Stephen was experiencing a particularly wrenching moment.When this book is over, you are upset. You want it to last longer. You never want it to end!This is an important and brilliant novel. Truly a masterpiece. Those to whom I have recommended this book have all started with a skepticism. Surely I was raving. Each has thanked me and echoed my enthusiasm.To sum up the entire book in 2 words I would proclaim loud and strong "READ THIS!"