Birdsong

It's slow to get going, and I wasn't a huge fan of the contemporary sections of the novel (they felt rather tacked on and a little too consciously framing, if that makes sense), but it's beautifully written. The passages which deal most directly with the horrors of the Great War are certainly the most powerful in the book, Faulks' lucid prose calm and clear over the horrified surge of feeling that carries the narrative along. This is not a nice book--the subject matter is often horrifying, and the main characters frequently unlikeable--but it's an immensely readable one.

***SPOILERS***

The writing is very good, if occasionally slow, but I enjoyed the style very much. I had researched this novel beforehand and was prepared for the differing time segments, which irritated some other readers.

France 1910: we are introduced to 20 yr old Stephen Wraysford and Isabelle Azaire, his mistress and their steamy romance. This section captures French society of the day very well. The erotic sexuality may be off putting to some readers, but is totally in context of the story. It did take me mildly by surprise.

The characterizations are well done throughout, especially so for the main character, Stephen. He remains enigmatic as his background story is slowly revealed. Stephen is a complex personality and at times I show more couldn't understand his motivations. A bit of a cold fish and selfish, he can be passionate and almost noble as well.

Faulks writes an excellent and heart rending description of the battle of the Somme. The emotional texture is rich. Stephen is still hard to penetrate but survives very damaged by his experiences.

In the England of 1978, we are introduced to 38 yr old Elizabeth. I found her a relatable character for the most part as she researches her family history.

The chapters on Stephen's final entrapment in the tunnel are fine and intense. This is for me, the best part of the entire book. The reader can imagine in detail exactly what horror Stephen endures until his recovery by the Germans (who are handled extremely well too).

The author does a good job of tying the various storylines together. The book does go on a little at the end, but overall, the novel made quite an impression on me and I highly recommend it. show less

Every book I read about World War I fills me with horror but this one is in a class by itself. And yet there is a redeeming quality about the story in that it describes beautifully the comradeship that developed between men under fire. I thought it was a brilliant evocation of the time.
Stephen Wraysford spent time in Amiens France before World War I started. He was there on behalf of his employer to learn all he could about the fabric trade. M. Azaire (a textile manufacturer in Amiens) hosted Wraysford allowing him full access to his business and his home. Mme Azaire was quite a bit younger than her husband being his second wife. As the weeks pass Stephen and Mme Azaire (Isabelle) develop a passion for each other and consummate it with show more wild scenes of lovemaking. They announce their love to Azaire one evening and immediately leave the house. They live together for some time with Stephen earning a living as a woodworker. When Isabelle discovers she is pregnant she decides not to tell Stephen and leaves him to return to her parents’ home. When the war breaks out Stephen joins an infantry unit which takes part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Amazingly Stephen survives although he is seriously wounded twice. Once the medical staff disposed of his body with dead men but he was found by someone who knew him. Jack Firebrace was one of the tunnellers who would dig under German lines to listen and to lay explosives. His unit was stationed next to Stephen’s and his commanding officer (Weir) was a good friend of Stephen’s. Almost all of the company who started out with Stephen are killed as time goes along so Firebrace and Weir are some of the few who Stephen knew from the beginning. They have strong ties to each other. This is rare for Stephen as he has no relatives (he was orphaned as a young child) and no friends to speak of since he had severed ties with England to be with Isabelle but when that fell apart he stayed in France getting jobs here and there. Almost all the other men get letters and parcels from home but Stephen never receives anything until a leave spent in Amiens. In a small bar he sees a woman who resembles Isabelle and who Stephen knows is Isabelle’s sister Jeanne. He stops her and learns that Isabelle had returned to Azaire before the war. When the Germans occupied Amiens they required hostages from the able-bodied men and Azaire went to Germany. Shelling damaged their house and then damaged the apartment Isabelle had moved to and injured Isabelle. Jeanne came to look after her. Stephen says he wants to see her and Jeanne agrees to ask Isabelle. The meeting occurs but Isabelle is now in love with a German soldier and plans to live with him as soon as it can be arranged. Isabelle does not tell him of the child. Stephen accepts that his passion for Isabelle is over. However Jeanne starts a correspondence with him and he is glad to have someone to write to and visit. As he continues to lose friends and companions he treasures having a connection with someone outside of the war.
The details Faulks gives of life in the trenches are extremely specific. Like how the lice infest all their clothing and how the trenches are constructed and the different brands of cigarettes the soldiers get. He must have read reams of recollections from soldiers who fought the war as a book published in 1993 could hardly have used much in the way of first-hand accounts. Any veterans still alive then seventy-five years after the war ended would have been ancient and they would be unlikely to talk about such specifics as how their clothing was fumigated or what was in their packages from home (one account that still boggles my mind is that some of them received hand knitted socks almost every week). Yet it is those specific details that make this work so impactful. Truly a masterpiece. show less

Birdsong is brilliant, and harrowing, and for once I felt a book with a modern character looking for a connection to her past really did a decent job with that element (although I see many reviewers disagree, and find that part of the novel distracting and dissatisfying). The action takes place in three time periods...1910, 1916-1918, and 1978. Most of the time, the reader is in the trenches, and more significantly under the trenches, of WWI battlefields with Stephen Wraysford, one of the young men for whom Hemingway and Stein created the concept of une génération perdue. Faulks has filled in for me what I always found missing in Hemingway...the hideous reality that took away those young men's understanding of "normal life", and show more replaced it with a sense of bewilderment and disorientation that could not be shaken off by a return to the world they left behind in 1914.

Review written in June, 2014
Read in conjunction with the WWI centenary show less

Birdsong is one of those few books that haunt you even after you have read the last word. A quote from the first part of the book truly describes its writings. "The function of music is to liberate in the soul those feelings that normally we keep locked up in the heart". This book does the same. It opens up a plethora of emotions experienced by the reader with every passage in the book.
This book focuses on the life of Stephen Wraysford, a World War I veteran, while channeling into the life of his granddaughter Elizabeth Benson, who tries to know more about her grandfather and his war experiences. Faulks sections the novel into seven parts starting with the introduction of a young Stephen Wraysford and his unfulfilled love with Isabella show more Azaire and concludes with Elizabeth fulfilling her grandfather’s promise made to a certain comrade. Faulks crystal clear writings run smoothly over pages engrossing the reader to feel the heart wrenching emotions of an incomplete love, the psychological effects that a war had on the soldiers and its aftermath. A certain section that touched my heart was the part of the letter writings between the soldiers on the war front and their kin. Makes you wonder how we easily forget those who fight on the brink of death to keep us safe and alive.
It is a truly brave and passionate read. Stephen Wraysford, Isabella Azaire, Jack Firebrace and Michael Weir simply do not seem to leave my memory. I may just revisit them soon. show less

Beautifully written novel about life, love, friendship, and war. It begins with Englishman Stephen Wraysford’s life prior to the start of World War I. He is sent to work in Amiens, France, where he falls in love with the factory owner’s wife. It then moves forward to France in 1916. Stephen is a lieutenant in the British Army, which is engaged in trench warfare. The last part is based in the 1970s. Stephen’s granddaughter, Elizabeth, is attempting to track down what happened to her grandfather after discovering several journals he wrote during the war.

Faulks’s elegant writing is filled with vivid imagery. We follow Stephen to the battlefield, experiencing the sights, sounds, and horrors of war. There is a scene in which Stephen show more and another soldier are trapped in an underground tunnel. I experienced a sense of claustrophobia that was almost palpable. We also accompany Elizabeth as she visits a veteran in an asylum many years later, showing him the tenderness and compassion that he has missed in his isolated environment.

This book contains seven sections and three time periods. It explores a wide variety of themes, including love, heartbreak, loneliness, fear, and courage. It also takes a look at the psychological effects of war and the attempt to maintain some semblance of humanity under excruciating conditions. It is a difficult read in many places, but also feels authentic. The book examines the futility of war and the deep wounds it leaves on society. It also includes a hopeful note about remembrance and the circle of life. The characters seem so genuine that I missed them when I finished the book. I simply loved it and am adding it to my list of favorites. show less

This book has appeared on so many 'important books' lists that I felt compelled to finally read it. And I am so glad I did. It is a romance but much more importantly than that it is a novel about the horrors of WWI. Powerful, moving and beautiful while at the same time horrifying and sad this book had me in tears and made me contemplate yet again the enormous sacrifice made by so many. The modern day story inserted into the WWI tale was disconcerting and offputting and I felt it somewhat unnecessary to the storyline but this would be my only criticism. As an Australian I wished I was reading about an Australian soldier or at least that there were references to the Australian contribution to the war effort but this is hardly a criticism show more of the book. I do agree with other reviewers that 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is probably the greatest WWI novel but Birdsong is also a must-read for anyone interested in what WWI was like for the men in the trenches. show less