Wild Birds Nest: Poems from the Irish

Amazon.com Reviews

In a 1938 letter to a literary agent, Flann O'Brien described his first novel as "a very queer affair, unbearably queer perhaps." The book in question was At Swim-Two-Birds--and if we take queer to mean diabolically eccentric, then truer words were never spoken. The author, whose real name was Brian O'Nolan, had successfully stirred Gaelic legend, pulp fiction, and grimy Dublin realism into a hilarious cocktail. His mastery of modernist collage would have been an ample accomplishment itself. But O'Brien was also blessed with the writer's equivalent of perfect pitch, and in At Swim-Two-Birds he squeezes the maximum beauty and banality out of the English language. All he lacks is a tragic register, but he makes up for this deficit with a sense of comedy so acute that even James Joyce couldn't resist blurbing his fellow Dubliner's creation: "A really funny book."

O'Brien labored mightily to make At Swim-Two-Birds summary-proof. But here, anyway, are the bare bones: the narrator, a university student, is writing a novel, which keeps morphing from mock-heroics to middlebrow naturalism. Meanwhile, one of his characters, Dermot Trellis, is himself writing a Western--an Irish Western--whose cowpunching protagonists will eventually throw off their fictional shackles and attempt to murder their creator. (Talk about the death of the author!) There's enough structural shenanigans here to keep an entire industry of critics afloat. Still, what matters most is the pungency of O'Brien's prose. His dialogue is agreeably grungy, his parodies delicious, and the narrator speaks in the sort of Jesuitical dialect that we associate with Samuel Beckett:

That same afternoon I was sitting on a stool in an intoxicated condition in Grogan's licensed premises. Adjacent stools bore the forms of Brinsley and Kelly, my two true friends. The three of us were occupied in putting glasses of stout into the interior of our bodies and expressing by fine disputation the resulting sense of physical and mental well-being. In my thigh pocket I had eleven and eightpence in a weighty pendulum of mixed coins.

Snippets, alas, do little justice to At Swim-Two-Birds, which relies heavily on cumulative chaos for its effect. Graham Greene, an early fan, compared its comic charge to "the kind of glee one experiences when people smash china on the stage." A half century after its initial appearance, O'Brien's masterpiece remains a gleeful read--a marvelous, inventive, and (last but not least) really funny book. --James Marcus

Book Description

Along with one or two books by James Joyce, Flann O'Brien's At Swim-Two-Birds is the most famous (and infamous) of Irish novels published in the twentieth century. Or to put it as Dylan Thomas did: "It establishes Mr. O'Brien in the forefront of contemporary writing. . . . This is just the book to give your sister if she's a loud, dirty, boozy girl!"

The story of an Irish college student whohalf to amuse himself and half to avoid workwrites an irreverent novel about the figures of Irish myth and legend in which characters come to life and riot against their author, At Swim is a wildly comic send-up of Irish literature and culture which had a major influence on writers coming after O'Brien, including Anthony Burgess, Gilbert Sorrentino, and William H. Gass (who has written an introduction for this edition).

O'Brien opened up a whole new world of possibilities for fiction as subsequent novelists have played with his zany ideas, chief among them being the idea that characters in fiction have earned the right to be "recycled"after all, they've proven their reliability as characters!not put out to pasture once their stories are finished.

Customer Reviews:

A good cure for insomnia.......2007-09-13

My friends thought it would be a great idea to start a book club. Our first assignment: At Swim-Two-Birds. Not knowing what to expect, we all found it quite odd that the book was so hard to come by. It was not readily available in any library or book store. After having ordered this book of the 100 All-Time Best Novels, we each set out to read the book with some difficulty.

I enjoy reading as a hobby, however, unless forced or tricked as the case may be, I would never have read this book after the first 20 or so pages. There is something to a manner of textbooks and technical manuals that causes me to suddenly fall into a deep slumber when attempting to read them with intent. This book falls into this category. I cannot read more than a few pages without suddenly feeling drugged to the point where my brain ceases all function and I collapse in a drooling heap.

I would not be so pretentious as to wax on about the literary genious of this book, as it seems so many others have done. While there have been some interesting points and even some chuckles to be had, for the most part this text is loathsome to read. I also have to point out that being Irish by birth, this review saddens me to write, but it is all true. I feel that I must warn others who may be deceived by the great reviews regarding this book.

Modernist Fantasy Psychedelia Novel.......2007-04-15

Out of all the novels I read in my modernist college course, I found this one among the two most enjoyable. Though I'm of Irish decent myself, I'm far enough removed from the mother country that many of Joyce's themes, motiffs, and dialogues were completely lost on me. Plus, Joyce is extremely difficult to read in my opinion, and sometimes pages took hours. I barely survived the sermon and kicked and screamed the whole way through.
Not so with Flann O'Brien. Though the style shifting was somewhat hard to follow, I found "At Swim-Two-Birds" much more accessible than the other great modernists, even easier to digest than Faulkner (I believe I grasped Faulkner easily because being a southerner myself, I understand his accent). I also enjoyed the book because I entered a career in literature through a love of mythology and the fantasy books that I grew up with, and Finn McCool and the Pooka were welcome characters. Also, I was in college and the psychedelic dreams-to-reality theme sparked my interest as well. Plus, O'brien's sentences are riotously funny and his rebellious parody is a blast. I think this might be better as a first book in an English 301, rather than a last, because if I had read it first I might have been more able to digest Joyce, and wouldn't be so afraid of him now.

Well timed, perfectly ridiculous........2006-07-08

ASTB is a story in a story in a story, starring a host of unlikeables and woven together by a surly, drunken master narrator.

If comedy is timing, then perhaps the meter of Mr. Nolan's prose is the key to his particular genius. A native speaker of Irish, he constructs sentences in ways that have the poetry of that language, and asserts such abrupt,hilarious, and logical sub-clauses that you sometimes find yourself laughing wildly and unexpectedly.

O'Brien's chief narrator, a drunk, lazy student, is the easiest character to understand and keep track of (his "biographical references" are the book's highlights). He has a rigorous jesuit brain, and a lazy, teenage body. He also has a fondness for consuming a great many "Pints of Plain", and observing the effects of these in himself and his acquantices with scientific curiosity.

I may be missing something, but in the final analysis I suspect that this book is not the masterpiece it could have been. That it was slashed by 1/3 by the author and one of his friends before publication may have rendered some of it more confusing than necessary. It's a pity he didn't take time to craft it tighter instead of just chopping out swathes of story. Maybe then I'd get what was going on a little better. Then again, maybe I wouldn't.

Should you buy it? Yes. It is an extremely clever postmodern piece of literature, and it will make you laugh. But don't try and read the whole thing in one sitting, or you'll find yourself irately meandering through some of the more surreal and apparently pointless dialogue. This stuff is best read slowly, as the point is not the plot, it's the scene and the poetry. If not for that, read it slowly for the simple reason that a story in a story in a story is just as confusing as it sounds.

Just read it aloud.......2006-07-03

If you are lucky enough to ever go to Dublin and have time to linger over a few pints you'll hear the same cadences , superbly illogical statements, bizarre juxtapositions and general love of life that O'Brien listened to and included in ASTB. Buy it and read it out loud with as much of an Irish brogue as you can manage.This book will have you laughing out loud at the sparkling wit and playful inventiveness of one of Ireland's greatest writers.

t'a gr'a agam dhuit! Irish Storyteller.......2006-04-06

Mary Whipple has a knack for recommending experimental and unusual stories and At Swim-Two-Birds is of them.

Czech this one out. I implore you. Mary has a tribal mind and so do I ;-) Do you?

Birds of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Where to Find Them

Average customer rating:

Not what I thought it would be
WHAT AN AWESOME AND USEFUL GUIDE!

Birds of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Where to Find Them
John H. Rappole
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0801870755

Book Description

With its dramatic range of habitats, from the beaches of the Atlantic to the wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay and the alpine forests of the Appalachians, the Mid-Atlantic region is home to 346 species of birds. For amateur and experienced birders alike, few areas offer so many opportunities to see such a rich variety of avian life. Four of America's top fifteen birding sites--Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania; Brigantine and Cape May, both in New Jersey; and Chincoteague, Virginia--can be found here, as can numerous other premier bird-watching destinations, including Assateague Island National Seashore, Shenandoah National Park, and the Great Dismal Swamp. A day's drive takes birders from West Virginia's cranberry bogs to Maryland's Swallow Falls or from Pennsylvania's Presque Isle to Delaware's Bombay Hook to see, for example, Bald Eagles, Hermit Thrushes, Northern Saw-whet Owls, and Chuck-will-widows.

Birds of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Where to Find Them is the only comprehensive field guide to bird life in the area that also directs readers to public sites where each species can be found. Noted ornithologist John H. Rappole provides extensive information about every species: description, identification details for distinguishing similar species, habitat preference, vocalization, range, and Mid-Atlantic seasonal occurrence, abundance, and distribution. Each entry is accompanied by a color photograph, making identification easy for amateur bird watchers, and by a range of maps. A helpful guide to sites lists the best places to spot specific birds, from common species to rarities, and how to reach the sites by car. Birds of the Mid-Atlantic Region and Where to Find Them will appeal to dedicated bird watchers and curious commuters, lifelong residents and seasonal visitors alike, offering all a deeper understanding of the region's natural wonders.

Customer Reviews:

Not what I thought it would be.......2006-04-21

I was disappointed in this book. Most of it is a field guide to the birds that isn't necessary if you own a good field guide already, such as Sibley. I expected more detailed descriptions of the birding sites listed, as I have seen in other guides. The descriptions about birding sites in this book were very basic. This might be helpful for a new birder.

WHAT AN AWESOME AND USEFUL GUIDE!.......2003-11-19

You won't find another guide with ALL of this information so nicely organized and explained. The guidance on where to find the individual species you may have been longing to see but didn't know where to find is wonderful and most welcome. We also like to peruse all the excellent birding sites that the author describes to get ideas of promising bird outings to take. The photos are excellent and show the many species of the region to good advantage. A great guide for birders of all levels!

Average customer rating:

Ruffled my feathers
The Bird has flown the coop.
"She made me what I am."
This Deep Tale Take Flight
poignant character study

The Bird Woman: A Novel
Kerry Hardie
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Irish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0316076236

Book Description

Ellen McKinnon, a fiercely independent Northern Irish Presbyterian, finds her marriage threatened by a shattering clairvoyant experience that damages her health both mentally and physically. Escape comes in the form of Liam, a sculptor from the South, whom she meets by chance when he visits Belfast. Ellen leaves her husband and goes to live with Liam in Southern Ireland, where she struggles to suppress her clairvoyance and create a normal life for herself and her family. This is not so easily achieved. Her Seeings mutate into a power to heal, and though she does her utmost to keep her gift a secret, rumors spread and she is soon sought out by the sick in search of comfort and cure. She finds unexpected support in the friendship of a feisty ex-nun called Catherine, but this in turn creates tensions with Liam and adds to her own turmoil. When her estranged mothers final illness forces her to revisit her native city, the homecoming proves momentous. Ellen has to face and assimilate an unwanted but unavoidable family secret and in so doing she experiences a revelation that turns her life around.

Customer Reviews:

Ruffled my feathers.......2006-09-23

I'm torn. I enjoyed the book, even if I found it a tad too wordy at times, not to mention a tad too abstract. The main character of Ellen, left me baffled and frustrated from beginning to end. Her emotional distress was deep as the lakes of Killarny. Unlike those crystal lakes, the root of her distress was NOT crystal clear. Her problems went far beyond the inability to accept her healing hands; in fact, it seemed to begin in the womb, or at least at her mother's knee. Granted her mother was not the most nurturing or loving of women, but there were no concrete instances penned by the author to make you say...."AH! There's the problem!". Kerry Hardie seems to have a penchant for authoring disturbed and disturbing main characters...check out her previous novel. Ellen's angst notwithstanding, I don't think you'll regret reading this novel.

The Bird has flown the coop........2006-09-18

Kerry Hardie's, The Bird Woman is a touching tale of love and pain. Ellen's abilities, while remarkable, have caused insurmountable strains on all her relationships in her marriage and her family. She tries to fight the impossible powers she wields, the harder she struggles the more intense they become.

Psychic visions have now turned into the ability to heal. If only her abilities could help her heal and heal the relationships in her life... Ellen has to learn how to live with the gifts she was given and juggle her family and her own wellbeing at the same time.

At times the language was a bit difficult to understand as Kerry Hardie portrayed the various dialects spoken in Ireland. This being said, The Bird Woman takes a few chapters to get the flow going. Once you have gotten into the rhythm it will keep you reading to find out what Ellen is going to do next.

Ellen runs the gamut of emotions ranging from anger and depression to faith and, at times, joy. Her inner battle is more complex than most characters and it is easy to find yourself sharing in her struggles. Kerry Hardie shows her ability to reach through and make a reader help share the feelings of her main character with The Bird Woman. That is an amazing talent to behold.

Reviewed by Joyce
Courtesy of C2K's Kwips and Kritiques

"She made me what I am.".......2006-09-03

From the time she runs off to marry bad boy Robbie, Ellen is filled with a divisiveness that will define the direction of her life. Seeking to escape the cold judgmentalism of her widowed mother, Ellen flees her demons by flying precipitously into relationships with men. A solitary, taciturn child with flaming red hair, Ellen has never cultivated friends, trapped on the barren islands in an isolation so pervasive that she is held captive by her own dark nature. She has the rare gift of seeing, to Ellen a burden and an unwelcome intrusion, yet another mark of her difference from others, her unbelonging: "If you do not bring forward that which is in you, that which is in you will destroy you."

When Ellen meets Liam in the North of Ireland, she is still married to the wild, sometimes savage Robbie and flees from him to the south with Liam, who is Catholic in name only, but still steeped in the culture of his upbringing. Once settled in her new home, the otherness is more pronounced, the familiar trappings of her Protestant youth replaced by the Catholic south and the mores of this new environment: "Peace it may be on paper, but it's an armed and arm's-length peace."

Clinging to Liam, Ellen is forever at war with her nature, waging a pitched battle at what Liam calls "the Healing", for fear that it will destroy her: "I'm all twisted up inside... I'm doing the best I can." Over time and with the steady support of a friend, Catherine, Ellen accepts her gift and begins to use it for the good of others, all the while conscious of the isolation inherent in her circumstances. Marriage, children, the years pass, her union with Liam settling into the soothing routines of duty, but run aground by Liam's personal crisis, which tests the very foundations of their marriage and their love for one another.

This beautifully wrought tale is a novel of contrasts and revelations, Ellen's lifelong struggle to marry the disparate elements of her inner torment, the centuries-old divisions of north and south Ireland, a country split apart by hatred, and the challenges of a marriage that requires more than Ellen is prepared to give. In stunning prose that evokes the beauty of the country and the profound contradictions of the spirit, the author suffuses her protagonist with the passion of dispossession and a yearning for completeness. The past illuminated by the death of her mother and the present fully realized, Ellen survives her dark night of the soul: "I'm thinking that maybe when you reach that point you can't be anyone but yourself." Luan Gaines/2006.

This Deep Tale Take Flight.......2006-08-28

Ellen McKinnon has a talent that some would consider a gift; but for her, it's a curse. It started with a terrifying premonition that nearly destroyed her. Her unsupportive husband preferred to have her committed to an institution than deal with the fears that surrounded her vision of a bombing.

When Ellen meets a Southern Irish sculptor in Belfast, her world begins to shift in another direction. Where Ellen's husband is brash and unsympathetic, Liam is gentle and understanding. He accepts her differences in a way she is unused to between the Northern and Southern Irish. She's a Presbyterian, and he's a Catholic. Even though they are largely non-practicing in their religions, the long-running strife makes it difficult to get beyond their bias, yet Ellen feels drawn to Liam.

In Southern Ireland with Liam, Ellen comes into the power of healing, despite her unwillingness to embrace it. As word of her talent spreads, she is beset by people wishing to have her healing touch. Eventually, it becomes part of her, Liam's, and their children's lives. As she comes to terms with her roles as wife, mother, and healer, Ellen learns to accept who she is. But the journey is not complete. A sudden call from her long-estranged family will open doors she prefers to keep locked. If she hopes to find her own healing, she will have to return to Northern Ireland--the home she left far behind.

Hardie weaves Ellen's tale in a lyrical voice true to the Irish people. Sometimes poetic, sometimes harsh, the narrative is reminiscent of an old friend sharing a difficult story over a pot of tea. With her characteristically direct tongue, Ellen shares her memories as though the reader is sitting with her at a table--from the beginning, but with the perspective and awareness she possesses today.

Hardie embodies not only the clash of Northern and Southern Irish beliefs and cultures, but also the changing atmosphere from the economically depressed people of the late eighties and early nineties, to the blooming economy of today. New ideas and trends struggle for definition beside the old. Ellen's healing abilities fly in the face of medical science, yet there remains a place for her talents.

Ultimately, though, the story is undoubtedly Ellen's. The rest, while fascinating, is the backdrop to her experience in the many roles of a woman who moved into a new setting that, while only a few hours away from where she was born, is worlds away from what she knows. This is a rich tale of love, loss, fear, anger, betrayal, and hope. It will not be forgotten.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
8/27/2006

4½-BOOKS for WUAT; 5-STARS for Amazon

poignant character study .......2006-08-24

Residing in Ireland, thirty-six years old Ellen McKinnon begins her trek home to Derry, North Ireland to say her goodbyes to her dying mother. She thinks back to her past when her first late husband physically and mentally abused her; she dreams of her stillborn child; her time in a Belfast mental asylum because she foolishly mentioned her clairvoyance visions; and finally when she first met Liam, her current spouse, who has encouraged her to be all that she can be.

A sculptor Liam and their friend the former nun Catherine coaxed Ellen to share her gift with those ailing. She began to become involved in her community. Before long as her reputation grew, Ellen tried to tear down the mental loathing that divides Northerners from Southerners as she sought a sense of belonging to her spouse, her birth nation, her adopted country, and her heritage.

THE BIRD WOMAN is a poignant character study focusing on a woman searching for a sense of purpose and place that she can call home. The story line is somewhat passive as Kerry Hardie concentrates on insuring the audience understands what makes Ellen tick. The support cast augments the full understanding of a somewhat reticent outsider with divided loyalties trying to find where she fits in.

Harriet Klausner

Thomas Hardy A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work (Literary a to Z)

Average customer rating:

Thomas Hardy A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work (Literary a to Z)
Sarah Bird Wright
Manufacturer: Checkmark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literature | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0816050678

The Parliament of Birds (Hesperus Poetry)

Average customer rating:

The Parliament of Birds (Hesperus Poetry)
Geoffrey Chaucer
Manufacturer: Hesperus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Ancient, Classical & Medieval | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1843911019

Book Description

In this collection of poems, among his very best, Chaucer showcases his lyrical skills to perfection. Verging from tragic to comic, the overriding theme of the poetry is love, in its many guises. Chaucer tells of his passion for reading, which allows him to eavesdrop on a "parliament of birds" on St Valentine’s Day; he tells how he, as an inveterate reader, forsakes his books on the first of May to wander into the fields; he complains of being short of money; and he complains to his scribe for copying his verses badly. All in all, in the course of the poetry he reveals a lot about himself, and does so throughout in an engaging and civilized manner.

Average customer rating:

D H Lawrence is a masterful poet!

Birds, Beasts and Flowers
D. H. Lawrence
Manufacturer: Black Sparrow Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0876858663

Product Description

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) made a contribution to poetry that, in the words of Lousie Bogan, "can now be recognized as one of the most important, in any language, of our time." Birds, Beasts, and Flowers!, his first great experiment in free verse, was published when he was thirty-eight. This Black Sparrow edition re-sets the text in the format of the first edition (New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1923) and restores several "indecent" lines suppressed by the original publisher. Lawrence's original jacket artwork is reproduced on the jacket in full color.

Many of these individual poems are popular in anthologies - they are best read, however, in the context and continuum of the whole book. In preparing the original collection for publication, Lawrence grouped the poems in a purposeful sequence and prefaced many of the subsections with brief quotations from the third edition of John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy, which particularly interested him at the time.

Customer Reviews:

D H Lawrence is a masterful poet!.......1999-05-04

His use of descriptive words allows the reader to experience his emotions as he reads the poems to himself. This is a must read book...really.

A SEPARATE LITTLE WAR: The Banff Coastal Command Strike Wing Versus the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe 1944-1945

Average customer rating:

Companion Product.
Impressive
A very detailled historical research

A SEPARATE LITTLE WAR: The Banff Coastal Command Strike Wing Versus the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe 1944-1945
Andrew Bird
Manufacturer: Grub Street
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Norway | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Scotland | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Every day for nine months from September 1944 to the end of the war, young British, Commonwealth and Norwegian airmen flew from Banff aerodrome in northern Scotland in their Mosquitoes and Beaufighters to target the German U-Boats, merchantmen and freighters plying along the coast and in the fjords and leads of southwest Norway, encountering the Luftwaffe and flakships every step of the way.

This Scottish strike wing fought in some of the bitterest and bloodiest attacks of the war, all at very low level and at close quarters. Their contribution to winning the war was crucial and while the cost in precious lives and equipment was in the same proportion as Bomber Command, they inflicted far greater damage to the enemy in relation to their losses.

With Group Captain The Hon. Max Aitken, DSO DFC as station commander, Banff was eventually to become the base for a total of six Mosquito squadrons (including 235, 248 and 143), together with B Flight of the elite 333 Norwegian Squadron, and would team up on missions with the nearby Dallachy Beaufighter strike wing (404 RCAF, 455 RAAF, 489 RNZAF and 144 Squadrons).

A Separate Little War, then, is a well researched and detailed history of a microcosm of Coastal Command. Supported by many photographs, maps and charts, the vast majority never published before, the author has drawn on the personal accounts of, amongst others, British and Norwegian pilots, ground crew and civilians which augment the official sources, to give a compelling, accurate and fascinating depiction of an aerodrome at war.

It is a subject which will be of great interest and value to the general reader and to those students of the Luftwaffe, Kriegsmarine, RAF and former Commonwealth Air Forces, the Polish Air Force and of maritime air operations during World War Two.?

Customer Reviews:

Companion Product........2004-09-23

A video produced by the Royal Air Force Museum "The Mosquito" may be of interest to readers of "A Separate Little War". The final 8 or so minutes of the film features a shipping strike by one or more units from a northern base attacking targets obviously in the fijords of Norway.
The entire video is 45 minutes long and in black and white.
Check this site for availability; I got mine from a supplier in Canada (where over 1,000 Mossies were made).

Impressive.......2004-03-08

This book is the culmination of a great deal of research by the author and the results of his work are very evident.

Another reviewer has suggested that the narrative is not very exciting and I am inclined to agree but the purpose of the book is not necessarily to entertain but rather to present a record of an important adjunct to the main and much more widely documented military activity towards the end of the war.

Presenting the amount of material contained within these pages in the concise manner adopted by the author does exclude much of the literary "padding" which might otherwise have been used to make a more engaging read but I found the book at once interesting, compelling and poignant with the contributions from survivors of both sides of the conflict to be very human.

I enjoyed it and recommend it.

A very detailled historical research.......2003-11-15

The book is an excellent and very detailled history of the operations flown by the Banff and Dallachy wings from 09/44 to the end of WWII.
The amount of research made is quite impressive, with a lot of first hand accounts.

But the way its written doesn't make it very exciting.

Average customer rating:
Remember the Birds (Salmon Poetry)
Louise C. Callaghan
Manufacturer: Salmon Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
British & Irish | Single Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1903392519

Average customer rating:
Hanif Kureishi Plays One: King and Me, Outskirts, Borderline, and Birds of Passage (Contemporary Classics (Faber & Faber))
Hanif Kureishi
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | British & Irish | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Sarah Kane: Complete Plays

Mark Ravenhill Plays: One: Shopping and F***ing; Faust; Handbag; Some Explicit Polaroids (Methuen Contemporary Dramatists)

Doctor Faustus (The Revels Plays)

American Indian Stories, Legends, and Other Writings (Penguin Classics)

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Sir Orfeo

ASIN: 0571197744

Book Description

In 1981 Hanif Kureishi was voted most promising playwright of the year by the London theater critics for his plays Borderline and Outskirts. Since then he has gone on to write acclaimed screenplays, including the script for My Beautiful Laundrette, which received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay, and prize-winning works of fiction. This selection of plays shows his development as a writer finding his own territory within the diverse ethnic and cultural milieus of 1990s England and illuminating the conflicts he finds with his characteristically powerful and humorous style.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books