Birdsong
(and a little Downton...)
There's been quite a bit of media hype about the new BBC adaptation of Birdsong. I've been hugely excited about it - I read it in my English Lit A-Level, and it became my favourite book.
I absolutely devoured it. There were only two copies in our school library, and I was the last of the class to get one. I remember one of ( Read more... )
There's been quite a bit of media hype about the new BBC adaptation of Birdsong. I've been hugely excited about it - I read it in my English Lit A-Level, and it became my favourite book.
I absolutely devoured it. There were only two copies in our school library, and I was the last of the class to get one. I remember one of ( Read more... )
Comments 9
Good LORD. That's an evocative paragraph. That final sentence. OMG.
I didn't know much about WWI before DA (and all the resulting books I saw because of it). The one thing I wish they'd done is sort of explored what the war would mean to someone like Matthew. That's one of the things that touched me so much about "My Dear..." -- Locke -- a total ass, but that passage always got me) -- when Julia says "He loves art and music and his dog and he's not a soldier." That mild-mannered art student Riley could turn out to be quite a competent officer, and found his calling -- so to speak -- in ( ... )
Reply
Reply
YES. And what did it...mean to him? I mean, how did it change him or did it? Because what I can't wrap my head around still, is the idea that the war was just A Thing That Happened and once it was over...it was done. Matthew's duty, honor, shame, guilt -- NONE of it seemed REMOTELY related to the war. When he was home (after being injured), he didn't seem anxious to get back -- he didn't seem upset (other than the fact that he couldn't have a normal life)...he didn't seem...anything.
I mean...had he taken a nasty, unlucky turn on his bicycle in a world with no war, instead of y'know, FALLING ON A SHELL IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE, I get the feeling he would've reacted the same way! And that's...kind of sad. :(
the men fighting that war were just... men. They were farmers and butchers and lawyers, they were just ordinary people who were thrown into this absolutely horrific environment, and how ( ... )
Reply
Oh, argh, don't even bring this up! It's too painful to even think of the possibilities we missed while having to watch Ethel's baby never age.
I love the CS. I love the shooting party stuff. But it did rub me a bit wrong that Matthew was so blase about the guns. He's surrounded by gunfire, he's shooting at things himself ... and he seems supremely unaffected by any of it. JF certainly does seem to have swept the Great War and its consequences under the table ...
Reply
I've done some research on WWI in the past, wrote a paper on weaponry, read some non-fiction, but the pop-culture take on WWI that I've always enjoyed the most is Blackadder Goes Forth. Love that show. Now, I can add DA to that list, of course. :)
In other news, I was finally able to get a copy of the My Dear I Wanted to Tell You audiobook (which, lamely, isn't available in the U.S. as far as I can tell). So excited to hear DS read it!
Reply
I hope you enjoy My Dear - oh, he reads it so WELL! Gah. It's wonderful. It's.. an interesting one to compare with Birdsong. Birdsong is very very evocative, very powerful, and the war scenes are absolutely compelling. My Dear, I found marginally weaker in that regard, but the fallout - the impact of war on ordinary people, including women left behind - wonderful. Utterly wonderful.
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Birdsong IS gorgeous. Haha well, you can tell I think so from this post :P
The adaptation... I'd say is worth checking out. I'd say it does as well as any adaptation could possibly hope to do! I like the atmosphere it creates, and little moments you recognise so well... But it just can't get the character insight, that makes Birdsong such a beautiful book.
Isabelle seems younger than I imagined her, and more visibly... loose, if that makes any sense. Looser clothes and I imagined, less outwardly 'uptight', or controlled. Stephen's good, but you just can't see what's happening in his head!!
They've changed the structure - the modern section is gone completely (honestly can't say I'd complain), and it begins in the war with flashbacks to 1910. Which works well, actually.
I would check it out, but don't expect it to be nearly so satisying an experience as the book!!
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment