Birdsong
Author
Discussion

baldy1926

Original Poster:

2,153 posts

231 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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Hi did anyone else watch this. I thought it was pretty good looking forward to next weeks now.

Paul Dishman

5,423 posts

268 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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I thought it was excellent and did the book justice

RESSE

6,165 posts

252 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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Paul Dishman said:
I thought it was excellent and did the book justice
Agreed.

Very much looking forward to next Sunday's conclusion.

pacman1

7,324 posts

224 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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Have the book, not read it yet, but a fan of SF. Can I get this on catch up or i-player?

cazzer

8,883 posts

279 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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Really? I thought the book was excellent but I wasn't very impressed by this.

Justin Cyder

12,624 posts

180 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
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I didn't rate the book much. Any novel that resorts to to explicit sex within a few chapters is usually masking a defiicency in the writing and yet Birdsong was a cracking story, so that coloured it for me.

davepoth

29,395 posts

230 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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pacman1 said:
Have the book, not read it yet, but a fan of SF. Can I get this on catch up or i-player?
You can indeed, as I just did. Very good.

CooperD

3,201 posts

208 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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Very good. Looking forward to next week's conclusion.

gmk666

1,679 posts

256 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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CooperD said:
Very good. Looking forward to seeing more of the Clemence Poesy.

Mr GrimNasty

8,172 posts

201 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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I found the collection of moles on her chest most off putting.

Elderly

3,742 posts

269 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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I found it so VERY slow.

Twincam16

27,647 posts

289 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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Very good adaptation - I particularly like the way they dealt with the perennial Faulks 'conundrum' (in mass-market TV terms) of having a protagonist who it's possible to empathise with, but at the same time is a bit of a st (I'm thinking the way he dealt with the men under his command).

Faulks is probably my favourite contemporary writer. I understand there's a Channel 4 adaptation of A Week In December in the pipeline, but what I'd really like to see is a TV or film version of Engleby. I read that a few years ago and I can't recall a book I've found more moving in ages - plus, done right, it could be just as much a whodunnit as a drama.

I missed the opportunity to talk to him once. I was working on Oxford Road in Manchester a few years ago andused to pop into Blackwell's on my lunchbreak. He was in the cafe there in animated conversation with someone. I wish I'd waited around and spoken to him now, but I had to get back to work.

miss10penceshort

4,423 posts

218 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
I also enjoyed Engleby but couldn't get into A Week in December for some reason - still got it on the shelf though so might give it another go at some point - also got Human Traces on the long long list to read.

I gave this a miss last night after a few minutes of thinking about it as I still haven't read the book.

fat80b

3,255 posts

252 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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miss10penceshort said:
but couldn't get into A Week in December for some reason - still got it on the shelf though so might give it another go at some point
I wouldn't bother - I have previously enjoyed most of SF's books but this one was extremely weak imho.
I forced myself through to the end expecting some big come together of the various plot lines and it seems to just flop to a close extremely disappointingly. (Perhaps I just missed the point though).....

(Haven't yet watched the birdsong pt 1 - looking forward to it for tonight)

Bob

Twincam16

27,647 posts

289 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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fat80b said:
miss10penceshort said:
but couldn't get into A Week in December for some reason - still got it on the shelf though so might give it another go at some point
I wouldn't bother - I have previously enjoyed most of SF's books but this one was extremely weak imho.
I forced myself through to the end expecting some big come together of the various plot lines and it seems to just flop to a close extremely disappointingly. (Perhaps I just missed the point though).....

(Haven't yet watched the birdsong pt 1 - looking forward to it for tonight)

Bob
It wasn't structured quite in the way I expected. I think what he aimed to do was take the pulse of Britain circa 2009. However, I found the whole sub-plot about the suicide bomber distracting. The most important character in that book was John Veals, the effect he has on those around him, and the sense of 'carry on as usual' right at the end of the book. I can't help but think that he could have taken the suicide bomber out of the story completely and it would have been stronger as a result.

However, there's no avoiding that it's a brilliant book.