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Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Apr. 23rd, 2006 05:14 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
There is no descriptive Blurb on the Back, instead we get the following quotes:
Ambitious, outrageous, poignant, sleep-disturbing, Birdsong is not a perfect novel - just a great one.
SIMON SCHAMA, New Yorker
An amazing book - among the most stirringly erotic I have read for years ... I have read it and re-read it and can think of no othe rnovel for many, many years that has so moved me or stimulated in me so much reflection on the human spirit.
QUENTIN CREWE, Daily Mail
This book is so powerful that as I finished it I turned to the front to start again.
ANDREW JAMES, Sunday Express
One of the finest novels of the last 40 years.
BRIAN MASTERS, Mail on Sunday
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.
NIGEL WATTS, Time Out
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
This book wasn't for me and it was a chore to read. However, I'm well aware that I am in a minority on this and I suspect that my failure to enjoy it is more to do with my failure to empathise with the female characters than the author's overall ability as a writer. If you're interested in World War I fiction, then I think there's a lot in there for you in terms of the daily experiences. If you're interested in well-rounded female characters, then there's not so much.
There is no descriptive Blurb on the Back, instead we get the following quotes:
Ambitious, outrageous, poignant, sleep-disturbing, Birdsong is not a perfect novel - just a great one.
An amazing book - among the most stirringly erotic I have read for years ... I have read it and re-read it and can think of no othe rnovel for many, many years that has so moved me or stimulated in me so much reflection on the human spirit.
This book is so powerful that as I finished it I turned to the front to start again.
One of the finest novels of the last 40 years.
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.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
This book wasn't for me and it was a chore to read. However, I'm well aware that I am in a minority on this and I suspect that my failure to enjoy it is more to do with my failure to empathise with the female characters than the author's overall ability as a writer. If you're interested in World War I fiction, then I think there's a lot in there for you in terms of the daily experiences. If you're interested in well-rounded female characters, then there's not so much.
