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kris_mccracken 's review for:
Birdsong
by Sebastian Faulks
This seems to me a broken novel. Ambitious, and at times extraordinarily good, the thematic focus is how trauma shapes life and history. There is a breadth of narrative that explores pre-WWI France, the war itself, and then shoots forward to the 1970s.
For mine, the best parts of Birdsong are set beneath the trenches of the Western Front. The visceral descriptions of life (or perhaps more appropriately) death are taut, tense, brutal and draw the reader in convincingly.
The earlier scenes are set in pre-war Amiens, where we see our protagonist slip into an illicit love affair with a married women. While the two lovers never quite convince, the writing is lush and engaging.
The third piece is the broken part referred to above. The protagonist's granddaughter emerges (against the author's efforts), as utterly unbelievable. This left me in doubt of anything we're told in the modern section.
It would be fair to say that my rating of four stars are testament to the quality of the writing of the second section, because parts of this book are terrible. Indeed, it's hard to believe that they authored by the same man.
For mine, the best parts of Birdsong are set beneath the trenches of the Western Front. The visceral descriptions of life (or perhaps more appropriately) death are taut, tense, brutal and draw the reader in convincingly.
The earlier scenes are set in pre-war Amiens, where we see our protagonist slip into an illicit love affair with a married women. While the two lovers never quite convince, the writing is lush and engaging.
The third piece is the broken part referred to above. The protagonist's granddaughter emerges (against the author's efforts), as utterly unbelievable. This left me in doubt of anything we're told in the modern section.
It would be fair to say that my rating of four stars are testament to the quality of the writing of the second section, because parts of this book are terrible. Indeed, it's hard to believe that they authored by the same man.