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A review by bookthia
Birds without Wings by Louis de Bernières
4.0
This novel is set during the birth of what is now the country of Turkey. The story encompasses the last of the Ottoman Empire, WW1, and the Turkish War of Independence, followed by the exchange of Turkish Greeks and Greek Turks.
It is set in a fictional Anatolian town of Eskibahce. The town is made up of Muslim Turks, Christians of Greek origin, and Armenians who live harmoniously until the "great world" interferes and tells them there is reason to hate. Each Chapter advances the story through the eyes of a different character and a number of them do so through the eyes of Mustafa Kamel (later known as Ataturk) the only non-fictional character in the story.
This is my second novel by Louis de Berniere's, having read Captain Corelli's Mandolin earlier this year. He is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, his prose is beautifully captivating, his characters are alive and fully human, his setting becomes a visually vital part of the story, his stories are filled with gems of wisdom.
This particular novel is very large and it took me over six weeks to read it. Part of that is due to the fact that it is Christmas and my spare time is spent doing other things. But the novel is almost 700 pages and is intense in some places, particularly during the battle of Gallipoli. This is not a light book, but it is an enlightening one. And, I would argue, an important one.
It is set in a fictional Anatolian town of Eskibahce. The town is made up of Muslim Turks, Christians of Greek origin, and Armenians who live harmoniously until the "great world" interferes and tells them there is reason to hate. Each Chapter advances the story through the eyes of a different character and a number of them do so through the eyes of Mustafa Kamel (later known as Ataturk) the only non-fictional character in the story.
This is my second novel by Louis de Berniere's, having read Captain Corelli's Mandolin earlier this year. He is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, his prose is beautifully captivating, his characters are alive and fully human, his setting becomes a visually vital part of the story, his stories are filled with gems of wisdom.
This particular novel is very large and it took me over six weeks to read it. Part of that is due to the fact that it is Christmas and my spare time is spent doing other things. But the novel is almost 700 pages and is intense in some places, particularly during the battle of Gallipoli. This is not a light book, but it is an enlightening one. And, I would argue, an important one.