War

by Sebastian Faulks

A soldier falls asleep on duty and is threatened with being court-martialled. An officer lies in mud, fighting for his life and the life of his men. A young man walks across Waterloo Bridge, explosives in his rucksack, heart pounding. In this powerfully moving book, Faulks shows us the true face of war. These are stories of death and survival, of hope and despair, and of ordinary people whose lives will never be the same again.

Selected from the books Birdsong, A Possible Life and A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.

A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

Also in the Vintage Minis series:
Home by Salman Rushdie
Fatherhood by Karl Ove Knausgaard
Work by Joseph Heller
Dreams by Sigmund Freud

Genres: Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Sebastian Faulks is a British novelist, journalist, and broadcaster best known for his acclaimed historical novels set in France, including The Girl at the Lion d'Or, Birdsong, and Charlotte Gray. Alongside these, he has written contemporary fiction, a James Bond continuation novel (Devil May Care), and a Jeeves homage (Jeeves and the Wedding Bells). A former literary editor and journalist, Faulks gained widespread recognition with Birdsong, which solidified his literary reputation. He has also appeared regularly on British media, notably as a team captain on BBC Radio 4's The Write Stuff, and authored the TV tie-in Faulks on Fiction. Honored as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and appointed CBE for his services to literature, Faulks continues to publish widely, with The Seventh Son released in 2023.

Reviews

[lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Three small excerpts from Faulks’ novels ‘Birdsong’, ‘Where my Heart Used to Beat’ and ‘A Week in December’. 🕊🖤

“This is not a war, this is an exploration of how far men can be degraded.” 💣

Spanning the trecherous trenches of World War One, Dunkirk and Allied landings in Italy during the Second World War as well as the terrorist attacks on London in 2007, we follow the different experinces and emotions war evokes among those it’s lecherous grasp encircles - no matter what they are fighting for, whether it be religious motivations or even whether they find no purpose in the seemingly endless warfare - there remains a weaving thread of fear throughout each man’s experiences. A fear to make a man sick, to make him shiver and tremble, to make him selfish.

“he prayed, shamefully: let them die, but please God let me live.” 🙏

Faulks captures human emotion beautifully and by doing so immerses the reader in the minds of a soon-to-be terrorist, a young officer who feels he lacks what it takes to lead and an over-worked soldier who finds himself trapped in a completely unnatural inhuman reality which calls itself war.

“We had no giddy patriotism or hopes of a swift ending; we were angry with the politicians and the diplomats who had once more failed us, worried that Europe would now be at war forever.”

“No child is born a soldier.” 👶👶🏼👶🏽👶🏾👶🏿

[Nadirah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5

[vi]

pabaigiau skaityti lektuve ir tada ispyliau ant jos kava

[Zac · Rating 4 out of 5]

great little 120 page snippets of three of Faulks novels, all really engaging but hard to do a real assessment of the whole story from 40ish pages each. As a stand alone collection, great train read

[Sevinj Huseynova · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I bought this tiny book, I didn’t realize it contained excerpts from three different works by Sebastian Faulks. It's my first time reading his writing, and I’m immensely impressed. The way he captures human emotions during battle, the experience of losing a comrade, and the thought process of a wannabe jihadist is remarkably successful. I think I’ll need to read more of Faulks' work.

[Lukas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great excerpts of three of Faulks books giving a vivid insight into the personal experience of war. Highly recommended reading.

[A_Chirping_Aquarian · Rating 1 out of 5]

It so good

[Jamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at the library a week or so ago. Read it over the weekend…given the current state of play it was a tough read.

[Istiningdyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrap-Up review

[Bookworm with Kids · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is three excerpts from Faulk's books around the theme of war. Here is the dirt and the gore of war from World War I to the present day terrorist with a bomb in his backpack. It is powerfully written.