BBC - THE BIG READ

[Martin Hornby]

I have just been looking at the BBC's Big Read webpages and see that Sebastian Faulk's book - Birdsong is in the final 100 Books.

It would be great to get it listed in the final 21 books for the programme to be chaired by Clive Anderson.

In order to do this it needs votes.

To vote you need to click on this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

Voting starts on - 18th October voting for Top 21 books.

Martin Hornby

[Gary Samson]

Martin,

I think the top 21 books have already been determined based on the earlier vote. At the end of tonight's programme we get a chance to vote again, this time for our favourite book from this selection. What we have to hope for is that Birdsong has made the cut.

Gary

[stevew]

Definetly one of my favourites, although I know it's not everybodies cup of tea!!!

[armourersergeant]

Birdsong is in the top twenty one but i can't help wondering if there were better tributes to WW1 than this it is a shame we can not educate the whole population!!!!!!!!

Arm.

[Mark Hone]

William Hague is the 'celebrity champion' of 'Birdsong'. Unfortunately his film will be on next week's programme when I shall be abroad.

[dah]

I'm with SteveW on this one....Birdsong is one of my all-time favourites and is the book which originally sparked my interest (and now passion) in WW1.

It can't be expected to win against the legions of Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings supporters (and other worthy contenders) - but am delighted that it has achieved recognition by making the top 21.

And, unfortunately, having William Hague as its celebrity spokesman may not be a great asset....although full marks to him for stepping forward. (Having said that, I thought Mo Mowlem's programme in support of Winston Churchill as 'Most important/popular Briton' was rather poor...but it still won)

I know from experience of encouraging others to read Birdsong - that it is not everyone's cup of tea. The first half seems too much of a struggle for many people and they tend to give up before reaching (IMO) the real power of the book in the trenches (or underneath them).

I had previously read one or two WW1 histories (eg AJP Taylor) before.....trying to raise the motivation to understand how & why it came about.......but it was BIRDSONG that slapped me in the face with the 'reality'(?) of what it could have been like for the individual to endure - physically and, in particular, mentally.

I shall watch William Hague's endorsement with interest.....and will definitely vote.

David

[MartinWills]

Birdsong is in the top twenty one but i can't help wondering if there were better tributes to WW1 than this it is a shame we can not educate the whole population!!!!!!!!

I think we have to remember that we are talking fiction when we talk of great novels. As such things go Birdsong is a good contemporary novel which uses the events of the great war as a background setting and does not abuse that background. I am sure that there are other great novels (in english) we could nominate - so how about a pals "top 21" great war novels (remember fiction, nominally, rather than factual memoirs).

For starters you might want to consider:

Tell England by Ernest Raymond

The Spanish Farm Trilogy by R H Mottram

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Regeneration Trilogy - Pat Barker (remember it is fiction)

Graves - Goodbye to all that

Hemingway - A Farewell to Arms

Blunden - Undertones of War

Sassoon - Memoirs of an Infantry Officer

Manning - Her Privates We

McGill - The Great Push

Volumes like Au Feu - Barbusse and All Quiet ... and War (Ludwig Renn) I have omitted as not being "English".