Birdsong didn't appeal to me at first when I read the blurb. But as I started reading the first chapter I couldn't put it down! Stephen has a chance encounter with Jeanne, Isabelle's sister, while on leave in Amiens. During this encounter, Stephen persuades her to allow him to meet with Isabelle. He meets her but finds her face disfigured by a shell with scarring from the injury. Stephen discovers that Isabelle is now in a relationship with Max, a German soldier. a b c d e Wheeler, Pat (2002). "The Novel's Performance". Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong. New York: Continuum International Publishing. pp.76–79. ISBN 0-8264-5323-6. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021 . Retrieved 31 July 2021.

Birdsong by Julie Flett | Goodreads Birdsong by Julie Flett | Goodreads

This is a joyous and profound meditation on birdsong and what it means to us, a book that brings to life an essential part of the natural world that most of us take so much for granted that we scarcely notice it. If I could quote this entire book I would. It was powerfully affecting, emotional and profound. 4.5 stars.This is literature at its very best: a book with the power to reveal the unimagined, so that one’s life is set in a changed context. I urge you to read it.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks | Books | The Guardian Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks | Books | The Guardian

a mainstream movie like manipulation of the reader to underline the little regard for life that war has, where key supporting characters' deaths are almost just footnotes, but a footnote with a sniper's bullet or machine gun fire. The final section is two generations later, Elizabeth is researching her family history, looking into her ancestors, in particular her grandfather, who left behind notebooks of his experiences. Birdsong is a powerful novel, spanning generations and taking us through the horrors of World War 1. Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong is a kind of Harlequin romance with a literary slant. All the elements for pulp romance are there: "romantic" hero: soldier, refined gentleman; unhappy married woman; "romantic" locale: French suburbs, countryside; numerous, gratuitous sex scenes (I remember, horrifically, an excess of pulsating "members" and curtains of "flesh"). At the same time, Faulks strives to give it some literary taste, which I believe he largely fails to do. The time-jumping between pre-war, at-war, and present-day seems haphazard, and the present-day revelation of Elizabeth Benson has the dull patina of a celluloid ending (I think of present-day Rose in Titanic, the end of Saving Private Ryan, etc: the cinematic cheat of closing a tragedy by removing it from its era, neglecting the interceding lives of its characters: what I hate about epilogues).

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From lovelorn soldiers, knee-deep in French mud, to privileged ladies taking tea in Blighty, Birdsong is a war story that appeals to both sexes. Class war/ real war; there are so many dimensions to this thunderous epic. Katherina moves from her home by the sea, she misses her old home and finds her new life very different. She starts to explore her new surroundings and gets to know her elderly neighbour, Agnes. Soon they become friends, despite the difference in age they share a love of art and nature. When Agnes becomes unwell, Katherina thinks of a lovely way she can show her friend things she has seen outdoors. Overall, this is a lovely look at an intergenerational friendship. I'd recommend it to fans of Flett's work, as well as to those who are searching for books about friendships between children and seniors.