Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks is set around the First World War and tells the story of a young man, Stephen Wraysford. The story begins in France prior to the start of the war and finds Stephen living with the family of a French man who is in the textile business. Stephen has been sent there by his British company to learn their business model and pick up a few tips. However, while he is living with the family he falls in love with the young wife and they embark on a love affair that leads to an elopement. Their affair ends suddenly and the story moves to the trenches of France during the war but the strands of this affair are picked up, in part, later in the story.
The book is interspersed with passages in which Stephen's granddaughter, Elizabeth is investigating his background in 1978 and the book passes back and forth in time.
This is an amazing story and gives you and sense of the horror that the soldiers had to face every day. The horror is not restricted to the attacks ("going over the top") although this is where the most horrific passages are described but the author paints a very grim picture of general life in the trenches in between pushes forward.
Some of the narrative takes place underground as Stephen's soldiers are sent to protect the miners who are digging tunnels under the German front lines in order to detonate massive bombs and here the story takes on a more claustrophobic angle.
This is a definite read.
Just catching up with your bloggs today Pete. You've gone blogging crazy the last couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteI read Birdsong a few years ago and it was a terrific book. His others have disapointed in comparison.
Ok Ok, not sure if this qualifies as ''reading ''the book, but I have now listened to it, via the wonders of Audio Books, on my iPod.
ReplyDeleteDownloaded it having read your review.
It jumps about across the timeline, but I think it was a good book all the same.
Just wouldn't have been able to got the time to read it, so Audio Book was the way to go, since I did about 5 hours on the road yesterday.Finished it off the morning.