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In the book, whilst in the trenches does he come across as reluctant and abit oafish to the ranks?
It is some time since I read it but I don't think he did - he came across as a victim of circumstance and was just doing what he had to to get through it all. But that could be another book as I have read quite a bit about the two world wars - mainly true life accounts - (but the interest was first stirred after reading Birdsong).
Nothing I have seen so far comes close to communicating the conditions the men really endured that came across so vividly in the book.
MF - any book recommendations?
This is a good read http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nst4PwAACAAJ&sitesec=reviews
MF - any book recommendations?
There are the relatively popular Antony Beevor books (Berlin & Stalingrad) that were pretty good but I really enjoyed 'With The Jocks' (I forget the author) and Primo Levi's books about the Holocaust were very good too.
I currently have a couple more books lined up to read but can't for the life of me remember what either are called. One is about the days around the eventual victory in WWII and the other I cannot remember a thing about (it was a present and I haven't even looked at the sleeve notes yet 🙁
Nothing I have seen so far comes close to communicating the conditions the men really endured that came across so vividly in the book.
I agree, but I'm prepared to conceed that might be down to my imagination being different to that of those who have created this TV drama, and that as I mention above, the sudden change from one life to the other, makes the horror seem even worse in the book.
I agree, but I'm prepared to conceed that might be down to my imagination being different to that of those who have created this TV drama, and that as I mention above, the sudden change from one life to the other, makes the horror seem even worse in the book.
As above, I [b]MAY[/b] be getting my books crossed, but I recall the horror at even the simple things like the comforts of being out of the front line with being thrust back into it, clothes cold and wet in an instant, the lice living in the seams of clothing re-appearing almost straight away, the conditions in the trenches and underground etc.
But it seemed the programme wanted to concentrate on the love affair more (to me that was almost secondary in the book with much longer sequences on the frontline).
But I did have a lump in my throat when he was holding the hand of the dying lad, telling him to think about his girl.
I have never understood why everyone raves about Amelie. She was clearly mental and a stalker, not quite as mental as Betty Blue but on the way. Not to mention the dubious child-like behavior.
The Director has made much better films, try Delicatessen.
If you met her in real life all the advice on here would be to run as she is clearly a bunny boiler, and if not physically underage, definitely can't sign her own legal documents.
Bullets ricochet off bones, a bullet to the shoulder can end up in the chest.
Colonel H Jones.
I take your Colnel H Jones and raise you an Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson.
For those who want more tunnelling try the Poppy Factory by William Fairchild.
Ah! Good point.
I have never understood why everyone raves about Amelie. She was clearly mental and a stalker.
Being stalked by Amelie is pretty much my ideal romance, tbh.
hels I take it you aren't a fan.
Delicatessen - will do..
As to [i]Birdsong[/i] - it was alright. It's been a long time since I read the book, but they looked the part.
The flashbacks-whilst-close-to-death stuff: it did make me think of my great-great uncle, Major Noteeth, listed on the Menin Gate as missing in action in the Ypres Salient. Many years later it emerged that he'd had an affair with a Ugandan woman, whilst working for the British protectorate in East Africa. A son was born, and as well as paying upkeep, he offered to bring him over to England, but the lad chose to stay with his mother's family. It was only recently that we discovered that we have a whole bunch of cousins over there!
If he wasn't killed instantly, I imagine his dying thoughts probably lingered on that love affair, and his far-off son.
It wasn't bad...certainly better cans than the book.
*awaits ban*
Wasn't going to watch it but the missus did plus I was too knackered to move ... A worthwhile improvement on the first episode; still didn't find the 'battle' scenes particularly good, but at least the love story (cough cough) conveyed well. Makes me hate the futility of war even more.
So will there be a third episode with all the bits from the book they couldn't be arsed with?
So was that a mini series based on the book 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulks?