A review by jobatkin
Birdy by William Wharton

4.0

Really interesting story of a boyhood friendship in 1920s America between the more 'normal' Alfonso, a hotheaded Italian who likes girls and sports, and Birdy, an unusual boy who fixates first on pigeons, then canaries and the idea of flying like a bird. His passion turns into an obsession where he dreams of being one of his canaries and struggles to live properly in the real world. Their childhood together consists of some great adventures and money-making schemes, and is mainly told through flashbacks from a mental hospital after the war, to which both boys are drafted. The war has serious effects on the sanity and identity of both boys - more obviously Birdy but perhaps more deeply Al, who becomes deeply afraid and loses all sense of purpose or meaning. He regains some of it in attempting to rescue Birdy from the delusions he has retreated into of being a bird himself. The story itself is interesting, unusual and well-told, but the questions it raises of identity, sanity, purpose and what is 'normal' make it profound and give it a real depth.