There is something odd about the structure of 'Birdsong'. It centres around the experiences of Stephen Wraysford before and during the First World War, yet there is also a sort of framing storyline in the form of his granddaughter researching him. The latter I found rather ineffective, as it was only at the very end that it confirmed some information about Stephen that wasn’t provided by his own narration. On the other hand, Stephen himself was an excellent character and his story was incredibly well told and (as befits WWI stories) traumatically horrible. The trenches and the tunnels beneath them are vividly evoked, in fact the tunnel sequences gave me unpleasant flashbacks to [b:Germinal|28407|Germinal (Les Rougon-Macquart, #13)|Émile Zola|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388208755s/28407.jpg|941651]’s mines. Although it took a little while to become engrossing, I appreciated the initial section set in 1910, as it demonstrated how Victorian life still was then and provided a sharp contrast to the world at war.

I am torn about giving this book three stars or four. I think on balance I must give it four, as the account of trench warfare is so well told. I initially inclined towards three because this account is uncomfortable to read - as it should be! Stephen and others repeatedly state that the situation in which they find themselves is beyond endurance, beyond anything humans have suffered before, and surpasses belief. Thus fiction that can communicate some measure of that horror is important. It isn’t fun to read, though, and I imagine this book is especially unpleasant if you are subject to claustrophobia. I don’t think the 1970s sections were really necessary, but cannot deny that they were well written.

It was also helpful to realise whilst reading ‘Birdsong’ that, if I want to read cheering and distracting books to relax after writing my thesis all day, I would do well to avoid anything to do with the First World War. ( )

Book 204
Birdsong.
Sebastian Faulks.
Recommended by Liz & Martyn Wright loaned to me by Lesley Baldwin .
Thoroughly enjoyed this. It's very erotic (I was laughing with Peter how the pathetically tame 50 Shades of Grey can be so talked about.....), superbly balanced against the details of the mens lives and injuries. The letters home from the trenches made me cry. From the cover...
"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 other novel for many, many years that has so moved me or stimulated in me so much reflection on the human spirit."--Quentin Crewe. ( )

Here's what I wrote in 2015 about this read: "One of the trilogy; haunting, grueling descriptions of the trenches of WWI. Oh the haunting from those experiences. Pity those men." Quotations in the comments section are my exact kindle highlights. ( )

This was a terrific love story, of love unrequited, about war and bravery, about fear and honour, and it is has something of a happy ending. ( )

A long work of historical fiction set in World War I Europe. Highly acclaimed, but a little to much soap opera content for my tastes. Solid images of trench warfare, and of the contrasts between the front lines and life in areas where no fighting was in progress. ( )