birdsong

 

Song, call notes, and certain mechanical sounds constitute the language of birds. Song is produced in the syrinx, whose firm walls are derived from the rings of the trachea, and is modified by the larynx and tongue. The membranes of the syrinx are controlled by slender muscles; in the oscines, or song birds, there may be as many as eight pairs of these muscles, whereas other birds have four or fewer. The greater development permits intricate patternings of sound (rare outside the oscines) that express a wide range of reactions, from pleasure to distress. Recognizable by humans and other animals as well as by other birds, the various calls are classified as flight, feeding, nest, flock, aggressive, alarm, and territorial-defense calls. Song is usually confined to the male and is at its height during the breeding season. Experiments have shown that hormone secretion in the male is directly connected with his propensity to song as well as with his selecting a territory for courtship and breeding. Among the oscines are such superior singers as the southern mockingbird, the hermit and wood thrushes, the purple and house finches, the canyon wren, and the European skylark and nightingale. Natural mimicry is characteristic of the mimic thrushes, the jays and crows, and the starlings, while birds with imitative faculties developed in captivity are canaries, finches, parrots, ravens, crows, and mynas. There is evidence that songs are learned and that certain calls are inherited. Most birds have preferences regarding the place from which they sing, e.g., fence posts, treetops, thickets, the forest floor, or on the wing. Mechanical sounds include the drumming of the grouse, the tattooing of the woodpecker, and the clattering of the stork.

Bibliography

See E. A. Armstrong, A Study of Bird Song (2d. enl. ed. 1973); R. Jesllis, Bird Sounds and Their Meaning (1984).

Birdsong

First UK edition cover
Author	Sebastian Faulks
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	War novel, fiction
Publisher	Hutchinson
Publication date	September 16, 1993 (UK)
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	407 pp
ISBN	ISBN 0091773733

Birdsong is a 1993 war novel by the English author Sebastian Faulks. Faulks' fourth novel, it tells of a man called Stephen Wraysford at different stages of his life both before and during World War I. Birdsong is part of a trilogy of novels by Sebastian Faulks which includes The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Charlotte Gray which are all linked through location, history and several minor characters. ^[1]

The novel came 13th in a 2003 BBC poll called The Big Read which aimed to find Britain's favourite book.^[2]

Plot introduction

While the majority of the novel concentrates on Stephen's life in France before and during the war, the novel also focuses on the life of Stephen's granddaughter, Elizabeth, and her attempts to find out more about her grandfather's experiences in World War I. The story is split into seven sections which cover three different time periods:

Synopsis

Birdsong has an episodic structure which moves between three different periods of time before, during and after the war.

France 1910

The first stage is set before the war in Amiens, France where Stephen Wraysford goes to learn about the manufacturing process at the Azaire's factory. He stays with the Azaire Family (René, Isabelle, Lisette and Gregoire) and spends the early part of the novel visiting René’s place of work.

It is revealed that René is embarrassed by his inability to father a child and beats his wife in anger. Lisette, a 16 year old girl from Azaire’s first marriage, makes suggestive remarks to Stephen throughout the first section of the novel Stephen does not share these feelings. René’s friends Berard, Madame Berard and Aunt Elise come round for dinner on occasion.

Lucien Lebrun, one of Azaire's workers gives food to the families of workers which he gets from Isabelle, this occurs behind René's back.

Stephen and Isabelle conduct a passionate affair. When René finds out he tells Stephen that he will go to hell. Stephen and Isabelle run away together but Isabelle eventually returns to the family after feeling guilty for leaving René and the children. Isabelle is forgiven by the family. She becomes pregnant but does not inform Stephen of the pregnancy and eventually raises the child with a German soldier called Max.

France 1916

We rejoin him some years later as a Lieutenant in the British Army and through his eyes, Faulks tells an incredibly vivid and moving story of the Battle of the Somme and Messines Ridge at Ypres in the following year. The energetic character describes in the first chapter of the novel contrasts this depiction of Stephen hardened by his experiences of war. During his time in the trenches, we learn of Wraysford's mental attitude to the war and the guarded comradeship he feels for his friend Captain Michael Weir and the rest of his men. However, Wraysford is regarded as a cold and distant officer by his men. Stephen refuses all offers of leave so committed is he to fighting on.

His story is paralleled with that of Jack Firebrace, a former miner, employed in the British trenches to listen for the enemy and plant mines under the German trenches. Jack is particularly motivated to fight because of the love he has for his son John back home. Faulks describes how a soldier called Hunt is terrified of going underground as an exploding shell could trap the soldiers underground causing them to suffocate. Stephen is injured in this chapter but survives.

The troops are told to make an attack on the Hawthorne Ridge but the attacks seems doomed to fail with the senior officers being blamed. Gray states that Stephen should not tell his men that the attack will fail but to pray for them instead.

Stephen feels lonely and writes to Isabelle, feeling that he has no one else that he can express his feelings to. He writes about his fears that he will die. This section of the novel ends with a bombardment leaving scores of soldiers in No Man's Land.

England 1978

Alongside the main story, there is the inquisitive narrative of Wraysford's granddaughter, Elizabeth, who unearths the stories of World War I and the remaining links to Wraysford's experiences at Marne, Verdun and the Somme. Elizabeth finds Stephen's journals and gets hope in order to try and uncover them.

France 1917

Weir is on leave and finds it impossible to communicate to his family how bad the war is. Stephen meets up with Isabelle and finds that her face has been disfigured by a shell. Stephen discovers that Isabelle is now in a relationship with the German soldier Max.

Stephen is able to return to England and feels relief at being able to enjoy the Norfolk countryside away from the trenches.

Stephen meets Isabelle's sister Jeanne and tells her how he dreads returning to the front line after leave.

Stephen's closest friend, Michael Weir is eventually killed by a sniper's bullet while in a trench outside of battle.

England 78-79

Elizabeth continues researching the war and talks to war veterans in a retirement home.

France 1918

The novel ends with Wraysford and Firebrace being trapped underground as the war ends and being rescued by Levi, a Jewish German soldier. An ending which is clearly inspired by- and deliberately echoes- Wilfred Owen's 1918 poem "Strange Meeting".The fact that the German soldier is Jewish should be seen as a debunking by the author of the Nazi lie that German Jews did not fight in the war and 'stabbed the Reich in the back'. In fact some 12 thousand died for their "Vaterland".^[3] In the final chapters Jack dies but Stephen survives. Stephen and Jeanne eventually marry and settle in Norfolk.

England 1979

Elizabeth has a baby and names him John, therefore keeping the promise which Stephen made to Jack when they were trapped in the tunnels under No Man's Land.

Characters

France: 1910

• Stephen Wraysford - The protagonist of the novel Stephen Wraysford goes to Amiens in France to learn more about the manufacturing process at René's factory. After an affair with Isabelle they leave Amiens before Isabelle returns.

• René Azaire - Factory owner in Amiens. He states that Stephen will go to hell for his affair with his wife Isabelle. Embarrassed by his inability to have a child with his wife he beats Isabelle making her want to leave her marriage

• Isabelle Azaire (Madame Azaire) née Fourmentier - René's wife. Isabelle has an affair with Stephen Wraysford while stuck in her unhappy marriage to René. However after this brief affair Isabelle agrees to return to René and she is forgiven by the family. She is the mother of Françoise by Stephen, though she raised her daughter originally with a German soldier named Max.

• Lisette - Sixteen years old. Lisette is attracted to Stephen and is nearer his age than Isabelle. She makes suggestive remarks to Stephen throughout his time at the house in Amiens.

• Gregoire - Another child from Rene's first marriage.

• Bérard - A pompous friend of Rene Azaire. He goes with the Azaires on a boat trip and considers it his role to conduct conversation by inviting people to speak.

• Madame Bérard - Bérard's wife.

• Aunt Èlise - Madame Bérard's mother.

• Margeurete - A maid employed by the Azaire household.

• Lucien Lebrun - A man who gives food to dyer's families that he gets from Isabelle.

• Meyraux - A supporter of a strike at René's factory.

France 1916, 1917 and 1918

• Jack Firebrace - A tuneller or "sewer-rat". He survived until 1918 when he became trapped while tunneling and died.

• Margaret - Jack's wife.

• John - Jack's child. He dies during the war.

• Captain Weir - An officer close to Stephen Wraysford killed by a German sniper.

• Jeanne Fourmentier - Isabelle's sister who forms a relationship with Stephen Wraysford.

Other soldiers

• O'lone, Fielding, Shaw, Douglas, Wilkinson, Hunt Evans, Turner, Tyson, Byrne, Cpt Gray.

---

England: 1978 and 1979

• Elizabeth Benson - Granddaughter of Stephen Wraysford. Elizabeth has a job in company which manufactures garments. She wants to find out more about World War I and her grandfather's actions. She does this by phoning elderly servicemen, visiting war memorials and translating Stephen's diary.

• Mark and Lindsay - Friends of Elizabeth.

• Françoise - Elizabeth's mother, the biological daughter of Stephen and Isabelle who was raised by her father and aunt Jeanne.

• Irene - A work colleague of Elizabeth.

• Bob - Irene's husband. He offers to translate Stephen Wraysford's war diaries for Elizabeth.

• Erich - A work colleague of Elizabeth.

• Robert - A man who works in Brussels whom Elizabeth has an affair with. Robert states that he will eventually leave his wife but is reluctant to do so.

• Stuart - A man whom Elizabeth has a brief romance with. This ends after Stuart asks Elizabeth to marry him after only a few encounters between them.

• John - Elizabeth's child and therefore Stephen Wraysford's great-grandson, named after John, Jack Firebrace's dead son.

Film Production

Working Title Films have held the screen rights for many years, but are quoted as saying that "there is something afoot" since Faulks' commission to write the new Bond novel.^[4] The name of screenwriter Andrew Davies has been linked to the film. However, in September 2007 it was announced that Justin Chadwick would direct Birdsong, with a screenplay by Abi Morgan, to be filming in 2008.^[5]

The rumour that Daniel Radcliffe, star of the Harry Potter movies might star as the lead role apparently originates in Faulks' saying in 2004: "The film has been supposed to be happening for ten years now [...] All the original actors are now too old [...] By the time it gets made, the star of Harry Potter could end up being old enough to do it - is he a good actor?" ^[6].

Similar works

Birdsong has often been named Sebastian Faulks' best work of fiction- it received an 'also mentioned' credit in The Observer's 2005 poll of critics and writers to find the Best British book of the last 25 years (1980-2005). His literary retelling of the events and attitudes towards the Battle of the Somme and life in the trenches is highly acclaimed and is often grouped with work from writers such as Erich Maria Remarque and Ernest Hemingway as a modern contrast to World War I literature. ^{[citation needed]}For similar books on the Great War, it is worth referring to Siegfried Sassoon's Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man and Robert Graves' Good-bye to All That.

Other works by Faulks

• The Girl at the Lion D'or
• A Fool's Alphabet
• The Fatal Englishman
• Charlotte Gray
• On Green Dolphin Street
• Human Traces

References

1. ^ http://www.bloomsbury.com/ReadersGroups/ReadersGuides.asp?isbn=9780099387916
2. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
3. ^ http://www.germanjewishsoldiers.com/introduction.php
4. ^ PR-inside.com 26 July 2007
5. ^ BAMIGBOYE, Baz Watch out for..., The Daily Mail (14 September 2007)
6. ^ WENN Movie/TV News, 6 July 2004, from IMDB

External links

• Bloomsbury reading group guide to Birdsong

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