Birdsong

A Novel of Love and War

by Sebastian Faulks

Paperback, 496 pages

English language

Published June 1, 1997 by Vintage.

ISBN:: 978-0-679-77681-9

(10 reviews)

Published to international critical and popular acclaim, this intensely romantic yet stunningly realistic novel spans three generations and the unimaginable gulf between the First World War and the present. As the young Englishman Stephen Wraysford passes through a tempestuous love affair with Isabelle Azaire in France and enters the dark, surreal world beneath the trenches of No Man's Land, Sebastian Faulks creates a world of fiction that is as tragic as A Farewell to Arms and as sensuous as The English Patient. Crafted from the ruins of war and the indestructibility of love, Birdsong is a novel that will be read and marveled at for years to come.

7 editions

t o d d w a r n e r reviewed Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Wow. Powerful.

4 stars

In a word: Wow!

The first 50 pages or so didn't grab me. A lesser reader would probably have DNFed it at that point or even sooner, or would have seen it for something else entirely. I plowed on, of course, but I am so glad I did. The rest of the novel gave the beginning the context it needed, and that context was better served to be delayed.

The book follows several timelines before and during WWI and in the late 1970s. It's ultimately a soldier's story and exploration of the human condition and what is truly valuable in this world.

The characters are complex, very well fleshed out, and extremely varied. This is a book for a more mature audience, an audience who has experienced complex relationships and perhaps even horrifying trauma in their lives. A younger less experience reader probably will not understand the relationships and the …

In a word: Wow!

The book follows several timelines before and during WWI and in the late 1970s. It's ultimately a soldier's story and exploration of the human condition and what is truly valuable in this world.

A tremendous novel. A tremendously moving novel. Recommend.

NightDrake reviewed Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Review of 'Birdsong' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This was a pretty hard book for me to read. I'm not a fan of war stories, but the person that suggested this book knows good stories, so I figured I'd try it. There were a lot of details having to do with World War 1, and that was kind of boring. I did however enjoy the whole Isabelle and Stephen Love Story, and the parts having to do with Elizabeth, and finding her family...

Juliane reviewed Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Review of 'Birdsong' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This books was disappointing. I expected something similar to "Atonement" but it wasn't at all. Until the end I could not connect to the main character Stephen or even feel any sympathy. Of course, the story shows a clear picture of the World War I and probably because of this is became a "modern classic". But honestly, without suffering with the protagonist you cannot feel the story. It is depressing. Melancholic. Cheerless. But the tragedy was missing. I didn't like Isabelle, the love interest from Stephen. The only person I think was likable was Jeanne and the reader got to read too less about her that she could save me from not liking the book.
Ir took me over two weeks to finish this 500 pages book - which means a lot. Hopefully my next books in 2014 are better. In meanwhile I will watch "Atonement" :)