i don't understand why it has so much critical acclaim, i don't understand why i'm studying it at A Level, and i don't understand why it's one of the nation's favourite novels. i don't understand. Before the car accident, Annie was a talented musician with her flute almost an extension of her own arm. But now her fingers don't work like they used to, and the music that used to effortlessly flow from her seems to have dried up completely.

Escaped from extermination, Stephen feared nothing any more. In the existence he had rejoined, so strange and so removed from what seemed natural, there was only violent death or life to choose between; finer distinctions, such as love, preference or kindness, were redundant.” Singh, Anita (24 May 2014). "Sebastian Faulks on Birdsong: why TV adaptations go wrong". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016 . Retrieved 4 September 2016.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. a b c Nikkhah, Roya (23 May 2010). "Sebastian Faulks novel Birdsong to be made into West End play". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016 . Retrieved 30 August 2016.

It is a shame that it is not possible to award six stars to any book that I review, for Birdsong would surely deserve such an award. This one definitely makes it into my lifetime favourite five. Birdsong has an episodic structure, and is split into seven sections which move between three different periods of time before, during and after the war in the Stephen Wraysford plot, and three different windows of time in the 1970s Benson plot. Gorra described the novel's split into parallel narratives as the critical fault in the reading experience of the novel. [9] For de Groot, however, the split structure provides one of the most sophisticated elements of the novel. [8] De Groot writes that Benson's investigation of personal history allows Faulks to examine the difference between the two perspectives on the memory, highlighting the "unknowability of the horror of war" and of history more generally. [8] Trauma [ edit ] Death surrounded British soldiers on the front line, often to the point of breaking their psychological endurance. Faulks explores this historical trauma, throughout the novel. Painting by C. R. W. Nevinson, 1917. Overall, this was a really wonderful and emotional read. I really enjoyed so many themes within in this book and just reading from Annie’s perspective was such a nice treat. Again, this is a short read and would be perfect for reading challenges or something to read if you’re looking for those fast reads (for all your traveling adventures too).Birdsong opens in 1910 as Englishman Stephen Wrasyford arrives in the French city of Amiens to study textile manufacturing on behalf of his British employer. Stephen is tasked with observing the daily operations of factory owner René Azaire, and he boards in René’s home with René wife, Madame Azaire, and their two children, Lisette and Grégoire. Stephen soon learns that the local textile dyers have begun to strike on account of poor wages and working conditions, and while René does not employ any dyers, his own workers are disgruntled over the prospect of new technology eliminating their jobs. René fears a widespread workers’ strike, and he pays little attention to his life at home.

The gruesome, gut wrenching realities for soldiers fighting this war are told in phrases so descriptive that you almost wish you hadn't read them - about the smell of blood, wounds and body parts, the claustrophobic, horrific conditions in the tunnels and ultimately what the men lose of themselves .There are friendships and brotherhoods that grow making for some moving and very sad scenes.My thanks to Barrington Stoke and NetGalley for the DRC of “Birdsong”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Several episodes depict a downtrodden Stephen whose only respite is his friendship with Captain Michael Weir and his men. Stephen gains the reputation of a cold and distant officer. He refuses all offers of leave, because he is committed to fighting the war. This ‘review’ might sound like a huge cliché, and for that I apologise. What I don’t apologise for is the sentiments behind it because I mean every word. Bloomsbury Publishing". Bloomsbury.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008 . Retrieved 12 December 2010.

It is not just a matter of realism, it is also a manipulation of the reader's sympathies. At the front, anyone can die at any moment. In one battle, Stephen finds himself fighting desperately alongside a fellow officer called Ellis, and trying to talk him out of despair. Reinforcements arrive just in time, and Stephen retires with his men to their own trench. "Ellis had been killed by machine gun fire." We heard him speaking a few lines earlier, but his death is noted in passing. Caring about a character will not save him. One of the other characters into whose thoughts we are taken is Michael Weir, whom Stephen befriends. In one chapter we accompany Weir on home leave, and painfully witness his faltering attempts to describe his experiences to his father, who wants to hear nothing about his son's ordeal. The novel carefully acquaints you with this nervous, intelligent, fearful man, but then it kills him almost casually. As Weir walks towards him one day, Stephen notices that some parapet sandbags have become misplaced and is about to warn him. "Weir climbed on to the firestep to let a ration party go past and a sniper's bullet entered his head above the eye, causing trails of his brain to loop out on to the sandbags of the parados behind him." The force that drove through him could not be stopped. The part of his mind that remained calm accepted this; if the necessity could not be denied, then the question was only whether it could be achieved with her consent." A new friendship without expectation or judgement along with Nature as a balm, is the perfect way to begin a healing process much needed for the character to move on.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.