Product Description

A magnificent novel about war by one of the finest living British writers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #107225 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

The Economist
`well deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh'

Scotland on Sun
` Day confirms, if confirmation were needed, that Kennedy is a singular,
superlative author. I hope that the judges of this year's Man Booker prize
pay particular attention to it.'

Sunday Times Ecosse, Gillian Bowditch
'bleak...undershot with redeeming humour"

Customer Reviews

Moving, enjoyable but also slow
Unlike one of the other reviewers, I devour books. Like him I found this book very impressive. I did enjoy it and found it very moving indeed - in no way did I regret buying it and reading it. However, unlike him I found it quite slow, not a page turner. Indeed it took me longer to read than any other book I can remember for a long time.

The hero is a complex character and we see his personality develop through the book as he emerges from an abusive childhood and finds a capacity to love. There are two, perhaps three objects of his love. Joyce, his crewmates with whom he fully expects - and wants to - die, and perhaps the Lancaster bomber in which he occupies the rear turret.

I have to say I missed the 'insanity' of which some of the other reviewers write. What I saw was a person reclaiming his memory and his life after shattering experiences during the war which come to life as he participates as an extra in a film about life in a PoW camp similar to the one in which he had been incarcerated.

The dialect he spoke was quite unfamiliar to me and I couldn't place it at all easily. This got in the way a bit at the beginning, but only for a few pages. It only reappears from time to time.

I do recommend this book.

A hypnotic read
One of the most innovative and compelling novels I have read in a long time. An original voice at last, and unputdownable. The reviewer who took the mickey out of the writing style was admittedly quite clever and funny, but I would argue that this novel is far more interesting in its style and content than so much of the dross out there. (You can satirise Dickens, Faulkner, or any of the other greats, too.)

Writing too complex resulting in a poor read
I was looking forward to this book but have found it a great disappointment. The style of the narrative is a big problem. It's a bit like reading some of TS Elliot, you know you are in the presence of greatness, but you still can't understand it. The book is far too wordy and moves between tenses so often that the plot slips away if you don't apply utter concentration. It is trying to be too clever with the writing at the expense of the novel. I found it difficult to read, which for me meant it was too easy to put down, and too difficult to get back into. Not a good read more like an exercise in English Literature. How it won the Costa prize I cannot imagine.