1001 Book Update - Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks is another book I picked up for seventy-five cents at the Mid-Manhattan Library Book Sale. It's one of those books that has been on my list to read for years and years. The first Sebastian Faulks book I read was Charlotte Gray, a story about the French Resistance during World War II, which I definitely recommend. Charlotte Gray was also made into a movie with Cate Blanchett.

The reason I found Birdsong to be intriguing is because it was set during World War I, a period that many people in the United States don't know much about. I guess it's because the U.S. entered the War relatively late and didn't lose as many men compared to the rest. It's such an interesting period of time however, and this book helped me understand why to many in Europe, World War I is still referred to as The Great War.

I didn't realize until I was writing this review, that Birdsong is "A Novel of Love and War" because my copy of the book doesn't have that extra title. Interesting...but that's just what the book is about.

The story starts off with 20 year-old Englishman Stephen Wraysford who comes to France to learn French textile procedures. He is the house guest of M. Azaire, his new young wife, and his two children. While there he become enamored with the wife, Isabelle and they have an affair. Isabelle decides to tell her husband about the affair and start a new life with . Later on she has second guesses and while Stephen is at work, Isabelle leaves him as well. Fast forward a few years and Stephen is in an officer fighting in France during World War I. He has become just a shell of what he once was. Without Isabelle or any other close family, Stephen struggles with humanity and faith.

The book didn't really grip my attention until after Isabelle left Stephen. Fortunately the majority of the book takes place during Stephen's time fighting and surviving the war. I think a person would have to have a pretty hard heart and a strong stomach to not be affected by Faulks description of the events of World War I. Expect a lot of mud, blood, and trench warfare. I completely understand the term "Lost Generation" now that I've read this book. A large majority of that generation in Europe never survived the war and if they did, were never really the same again.

The only part of the book I wasn't too thrilled with was after reading almost half of the book who's chapters go: 1910, 1916....to 1978???? The story flashes forward to Stephen's grandaughter who's going through her own relationship problems and her search for information on her deceased grandfather. While there was some interesting aspects of her story, I felt like it just didn't belong to the book I was reading.

Overall Birdsong is an amazing story and I would recommend it along with Charlotte Gray.

An alternate cover to Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War:

P.S. If you've read the book, do you know why it's called "Birdsong"? If you do, let me know!

Jaunt in Battery Park City

The other day my husband and I decided to take a walk and see some New York City sites. We headed over to Battery Park City which is located in Downtown on the Western tip of the Island. Yes, Battery Park City is a neighborhood in New York City. And...it has a beautiful promenade:
And has a great view of the Statue of Liberty:
Its even got its own little harbor:
We also got to see the Irish Hunger Memorial which is nearby. The memorial is a big landscape of flowers, grass, stones, etc. which replicate the homeland of the Irish immigrants to the United States.
The view of New Jersey from the Irish Hunger Memorial:
Here's a beautiful pond in front of the Memorial:
I love seeing all the flowers and greenery in the city. If you think New York City is all buildings and brownstone, think again:
And I love the cool light poles. Just had to snap a photo:
After our jaunt in Battery Park City, we headed for some beers and appetizers at one of our favorite places, Walkers. If you are in the city, order a beer from Brooklyn Brewery...yum!

Here's just a random street shot:

And I had to snap this because it just made me laugh:

Hope you enjoyed this tour!

Charlie Dog

I'm posting this for a friend...you know who you are...

Happy Birthday Little One

Today is my nephew's fourth birthday. I can't believe he's that old! I remember watching him when he was just a few months old. Here's us going on a pretend trek indoors:

He's gotten so athletic....he's got quite the arm:
And he's so lucky he's got so many cool toys...I'm sort of jealous

It's sad because he lives in Alaska so we don't get to see each other very often. And the last time I hung out with him a lot, he was sooo tiny! But at least I can say "hi" to him on the phone every now and then :)

Happy Fourth!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July. It's been raining here in New York City so we pretty much just stayed in our neighborhood besides a jaunt out shopping on Saturday. Good news...I splurged and bought a new camera!

I've noticed that with graduate school, getting married, moving a bunch, and all those fun things have tended to distract me from some of my past hobbies. Photography is one such hobby. My old SLR is not digital and I have a point and shoot. So I decided to upgrade and here's my new toy:

I'm excited to get back into my passion of taking pictures and capturing moments.

What are your hobbies?

First Anniversary Weekend

Since my husband and I are still saving up to go on our belated honeymoon this fall, we decided to do something fun but very relaxing for our first anniversary. The actual day fell on a Thursday and we had tickets to a Toadies concert at the Bowery Ballroom which was an insanely good show.

Friday we took off for a two day stay at this cute little place we rented near the Catskills in New York. The lady was super nice and the place was so cozy and relaxing.

When we walked in there was a dozen roses from my husband waiting (he never never buys flowers) which just made my day:

Isn't the place beautiful and cozy! Tons of greenery, original artwork everywhere, and at night there were fireflies blinking in the windows...sigh:
The best thing is we got to bring the puppies (here's "little" Charles):
AND there was a grill which made my husband happy...here's the beer bellied chicken he cooked up:
We watched movies, played card and board games, took lots of naps, and did just about nothing which was exactly what we wanted to do. Finally on Sunday after we packed up and left we headed out to Minnewaska State Park Preserve and did a couple small hikes. It was gorgeous, we all got some exercise, and we beat the rain....and I got some good photos.

Here's a view of our hike around Lake Awosting:



Anna was dying to jump into the lake:
And the flowers were gorgeous!!
Here's a great view during the hike:
In between hikes we crashed at the truck and let the puppies rest. I had fun taking photos of Charles sprawled underneath the truck...he's a bit lazy...:
And my husband swore he saw a two foot beaver here...I believe him :)
Our next hike was super short to a water fall. Here's the views from up top where it was sort of scary climbing around on the rocks:
Here's a tree...just because...
And the gorgeous view of the falls from the bottom:

Hope you enjoyed the photos!

Book Update - The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant is one of those "bestselling" books I've been seeing around for the last few years and kept meaning to read it. Finally I found a copy of it at the Mid-Manhattan Book Sale for less than a dollar. It also fits nicely into my historical fiction reading challenge.

The story takes place in 15th century Florence when Italy's decadent ways are starting to become a little too flamboyant for the church. Alessandra Cecchi is the 14-year old daughter of a wealthy cloth merchant who is starting to make that transition from childhood to adulthood. To make things more difficult, she also has a passion for drawing and painting during a time when women weren't particularly allowed to become artists. Into the Cecchi household comes a young painter from the North who's hired to do the frescoes for the household's chapel. Of course Alessandra is fascinated by the new painter. Alessandra is soon faced with the role of womanhood which in that day and age is either marriage or the convent.

I thought this was a good read but it wasn't anything amazing. Maybe because 15th century Italy has been done in so many different ways in many different stories. I do like the interspersion of the Medici family and the fanatical monk Savonarola who tries to clean up the city a little too fervently. I did like Alessandra and loved her spunk. Sometimes some of the characters and their language were, I thought, unnecessarily crude. However, the beginning of the book drew you into the story and while the ending wasn't an impossible happily-ever-after...it did leave you somewhat satisfied.

By the way...I love that Alessandra was an artist because I love love art history. So just for fun, here's the painting The Birth of Venus by Botticelli:





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