Birdsong

[Hawkman]

The BBC has taken it upon itself to dramatize Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, and last night aired part one on BBC1 at 9pm. Although this book was lauded on its release, when I eventually got round to reading it, I found it disappointing and overrated.

For me the book tries to appeal to too many audiences. There’s a bit of Mills and Boon love story, WW1, and a research project. Personally I found the WW1 episodes the most engaging, but the device used to reveal the story, a woman researching her grandfather, threw the overall narrative into three separate timeframes.

Quite frankly I just didn’t believe the degree of historical ignorance displayed by this woman. I grew up in the period she was supposed to have done, and at the age of 6 I knew more about WW1 than she did! I just found it inconceivable, that when so many veterans were still around, she was unable to glean any knowledge of it. Admittedly, her grandfather was not around for her, but I didn’t see much of mine either, but my parents knew enough to tell me something of their history.

The TV adaptation seem to have dispensed with the tedious digression of the Granddaughter’s research, which is a good thing, but apart from featuring a very pretty girl for the love interest and a suitably bewildered and soulful looking young man for the hero (neither of whom seem capable of delivering intelligible dialogue) it’s still the WW1scenes which are most interesting. This is especially so for me as my Grandfather was a Royal Engineer who was involved in mining operations on the Western Front, both at Ypres and on the Somme. As a soldier, he was put in charge of professional miners, whom, he claimed, knew a great deal more about digging than he did.

It remains to be seen how this story will develop on screen and I will force myself to watch the concluding part next Sunday.

I don’t know if any forum members have either read the book or caught the BBC programme, but I’d be interested to hear what others think.

[Emil Miller]

The BBC has taken it upon itself to dramatize Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, and last night aired part one on BBC1 at 9pm. Although this book was lauded on its release, when I eventually got round to reading it, I found it disappointing and overrated.

For me the book tries to appeal to too many audiences. There’s a bit of Mills and Boon love story, WW1, and a research project. Personally I found the WW1 episodes the most engaging, but the device used to reveal the story, a woman researching her grandfather, threw the overall narrative into three separate timeframes.

Quite frankly I just didn’t believe the degree of historical ignorance displayed by this woman. I grew up in the period she was supposed to have done, and at the age of 6 I knew more about WW1 than she did! I just found it inconceivable, that when so many veterans were still around, she was unable to glean any knowledge of it. Admittedly, her grandfather was not around for her, but I didn't see much of mine either, but my parents knew enough to tell me something of their history.

The TV adaptation seem to have dispensed with the tedious digression of the Granddaughter’s research, which is a good thing, but apart from featuring a very pretty girl for the love interest and a suitably bewildered and soulful looking young man for the hero (neither of whom seem capable of delivering intelligible dialogue) it’s still the WW1scenes which are most interesting. This is especially so for me as my Grandfather was a Royal Engineer who was involved in mining operations on the Western Front, both at Ypres and on the Somme. As a soldier, he was put in charge of professional miners, whom, he claimed, knew a great deal more about digging than he did.

It remains to be seen how this story will develop on screen and I will force myself to watch the concluding part next Sunday.

I don’t know if any forum members have either read the book or caught the BBC programme, but I’d be interested to hear what others think.

I have neither read the book nor seen the TV adaptation but I do remember the praise it received on publication. I think the BBC have also serialised it for radio. Faulks has received somewhat muted praise since and has been described rather disparagingly as the The Balzac of Holland Park. Having read A Week in December, it is difficult to believe in the critics' assessment of Birdsong as representing a major writing talent. The fact that he has also written Devil May Care, a James Bond novel, may say more about his seriousness as a writer than what was said on Birdsong's publication.

[billl]

Kingsley Amis also wrote a Bond novel. Faulks's though, wasn't so well-received among Bond afficianados, I don't think.

[Emil Miller]

Kingsley Amis also wrote a Bond novel. Faulks's though, wasn't so well-received among Bond afficianados, I don't think.

I had forgotten about the K.Amis novel but I don't personally think that he was much better than Faulks as a writer, so the James Bond commission was pretty much par for the course. I first read Ian Fleming in a book of spy stories when I was young and less selective than experience taught me to be. Of the various authors included I thought Fleming's was childish and it was later turned into a full blown novel called From Russia with Love. Basic ally James Bond is a sort of Dick Barton, of the children's secret agent radio serial, with sex. So with this view in mind, anyone who writes that kind of stuff is obviously only interested in the money rather than the writing as far as I'm concerned.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Although this book was lauded on its release, when I eventually got round to reading it, I found it disappointing and overrated.

Yes I have read this, it what must be getting on for 10 years ago and came to the same conclusion as you. Even then I thought it was second rate at best. So I have not bothered to watch the TV adaptation. I saw the adverts for it and thought they looked equally drab. Even Mrs Neely has given it a miss, so that perhaps says something in itself.


It remains to be seen how this story will develop on screen and I will force myself to watch the concluding part next Sunday.

A better move might be to forgo that and instead watch the recent Sherlock episodes, if they are still on i-player and you haven't seen them already, I though they were pretty good.