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A review by andrew61
Birdy by William Wharton
4.0
It is a long time ago that I saw this movie and bizarrely I've never seen it again on tv or as a dvd so when I picked this up in a charity shop I was pleased that the book was as rewarding as i remember the film had been.
At its heart this is a brilliant evocation of frienship and the appalling destruction that the experience of war has upon the individual.
Al and birdy are polar opposites at school, one a star of the sporting arena, popular with an eye on girls and a good time but with a brutal father whose fists al repeatedly is on the receiving end, whilst birdy is insular, skinny, a brilliant engineering brain, who is obsessed with birds and creates his own aviary. An unlikely frienship which supports and sustains both boys through adolescence.
Both end up enlisting in the war and have different experiences in both the battle in France and in the Pacific.
After their return birdy has reverted due to ptsd to existing as a bird in an army run mental health unit. Al recovering from a physical injury is asked to speak to birdy with a hope to assist his recovery.
The story is sympathetically told with the relationship between the two boys/men being both absorbing and moving. There is a point when al tells of his war experience which was so honest I had to put the book down as it is overwhelming.
This is a brilliant book, and whilst I found the canary breeding at times too much information ultimately I was so glad I had read this very powerful novel. Now of to hunt down the film again.
At its heart this is a brilliant evocation of frienship and the appalling destruction that the experience of war has upon the individual.
Al and birdy are polar opposites at school, one a star of the sporting arena, popular with an eye on girls and a good time but with a brutal father whose fists al repeatedly is on the receiving end, whilst birdy is insular, skinny, a brilliant engineering brain, who is obsessed with birds and creates his own aviary. An unlikely frienship which supports and sustains both boys through adolescence.
Both end up enlisting in the war and have different experiences in both the battle in France and in the Pacific.
After their return birdy has reverted due to ptsd to existing as a bird in an army run mental health unit. Al recovering from a physical injury is asked to speak to birdy with a hope to assist his recovery.
The story is sympathetically told with the relationship between the two boys/men being both absorbing and moving. There is a point when al tells of his war experience which was so honest I had to put the book down as it is overwhelming.
This is a brilliant book, and whilst I found the canary breeding at times too much information ultimately I was so glad I had read this very powerful novel. Now of to hunt down the film again.