Book 118: Birdsong and Book Stats.

Title: Birdsong
Author: Sebastian Faulks (1953- )

First Published: 1993

My Edition: Vintage (seen at left)

Pages: 483

Other Works Include: A Trick of the Light (1984), The Girl at the Lion D'or (1989), The Fatal Englishman (1996), Charlotte Gray (1998), Human Traces (2005), A Week in December (2009)

I am always a bit wary of the "modern classics" on my list. I have had mixed reactions to those I have read already (the worst being that Proulx I read back in February 2010).

That being said, there is something about this title that has been calling to me. From what I have learned based on the back cover blurb, and the little research I have done on the internet, this is about the era of World War I. The scenes in the trenches are supposed to be pretty gruesome and gut-wrenching, which intrigues me. Since its debut in 1993, the book has been a bestseller. It is also being adapted by BBC, which should be interesting to watch in the future.

Most of all, I am curious to see what makes this book worthy of being on my list. Besides my draw to the epic war-drama aspect of it, I want to see if the writing is any good and if I'll love it as much as some of the older and tested titles on my list.

Has anyone read this?