Birds Without Wings

Louis de Bernières

This is set in the early 20th century in an Ottoman Empire village, where there are people of mixed religion and backgrounds. It is a remote, feudal society. The rise of Kemal Ataturk is described in parallel, and later intertwined with the lives of these people. It starts off gently, but gathers pace and violence, giving a strong anti-war message. Interestingly, there is a small connection to Captain Corelli. This is a very long and quite a dark book.
Seán 24/10/04

Set in Turkey. Not very interesting - it reads as though the author had done lots of research and just couldn't stop writing, had to put it all in. Uses many extremely obscure words - why? Doreen felt the author had an axe to grind: 'war is terrible'. Book bears a strong resemblance to Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which Doreen had enjoyed, but differs in that there is no real story, the narrative is too chopped up. Very disappointing.
Doreen 21/11/04

It's about the end of the Ottoman Empire, what happens when Greeks and Turks are forced to swap countries. Very much a history book.
Diana 3/12/06

By the same author

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