I have just read Sebastian Faulks novel "Birdsong". There are remarkable parallels with Harry's experiences.
The book has clearly been extensively and meticulously researched.
Harry was involved, in real life, in some of the events used in Faulks' novel. The experiences described by Harry sit very comfortably within the frame work of "Birdsong".
If you're interested in the period, read the book. It's a very good read and fits in well with this blog. As a personal view, I enjoyed the book but was less than convinced by the last few chapters.
The book has clearly been extensively and meticulously researched.
Harry was involved, in real life, in some of the events used in Faulks' novel. The experiences described by Harry sit very comfortably within the frame work of "Birdsong".
If you're interested in the period, read the book. It's a very good read and fits in well with this blog. As a personal view, I enjoyed the book but was less than convinced by the last few chapters.
4 comments:
I just heard about this blog from the BBC on NPR in the U.S., and I cannot wait to get into it and follow it. I was a child during the Second World War, but I have always been more interested in the First World War. Another book I would like to recommend is non-fiction: "The Great War and Modern Memory" by Paul Fussell, which, I think, helps to explain why that war holds such an important place in many people's imaginations and understanding of war and history.
I too have only just found your blog and I am realy glad that I have. When my little girls come home from school we are going to read through the posts together. I also read the Birdsong, it's one of my top books of all time.
I have only just found out about this blog through an article in the Dutch newspaper 'De Volkskrant'. I think this is a very original and creative way of reviving the past. I browsed it fairly quickly but already it seems most fascinating and moving. I'm looking forward to having a lot of enjoyable reading. My interest in WW1 goes back a number of years when I started digging in my family's past. My grandmother's elder brother was killed at the front in Flanders, not more than 30miles from home. One thing led to another and this 'War that was supposed to end all wars' has held my attention ever since. I try to read a lot about it - I'm especially interested in diaries and literature (poetry) of the period - and welcome any suggestions for further reading.
I learned of this blog on the NBC Nightly News here in the US. As another reader posted, WWI gets somewhat short shrift in history classes in the US. I never could "feel" WWI until I visited Brugge and toured the battlefields of Flanders with an excellent guide. Another book for evocative background that I recommend is "A Storm in Flanders, the Ypres Salient 1914-1918". Today's soldiers correspond by e-mail. I hope someone is saving them.
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