A Long, Long Way written by Sebastian Barry allows the readers to experience the atmosphere of the war, particularly of soldiers experiencing the front line.
It exploits the physical and mental endurance that these soldiers had to experience throughout WW1. However, this particular book shows a young man of about 18 years heading into the war; leaving his family life behind him and his young love which is the only reason for him to keep going throughout the tragic war. Unfortunately his young love eventually fades into a memory, and hopes that his lasting memory of her will be worth it all in the end .
Nevertheless, despite this "Hollywood-esque" basis towards the book it truly allows the reader to learn (and therefore think) of the treachorous living conditions, sights, 'ups and downs' and the general life-style of what these brave men had to drive through during the Great War.
I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is studying WW1 or even just for a good read. It's emotional, compelling and a very hard book to put down.
This book, 'A long long way' sounds in many ways to embody many of the same themes as 'Birdsong'. Just as in 'Birdsong', it would appear that the reader in this instance gets emotionally attached to the prose as they embark on a journey with the chracters in the book along the dark and grim reality of the horrors of war. Just as 'A long long way' has a certain "Hollywood-esque" about it, 'Birdsong' is, to an extent, a cliche in that Stephen falls in love with Jeanne and the cycle of life goes on. Despite this, 'Birdsong' has a very tender side to it as we also get an insight into the lives of not only some of the privates', but also into the lives of the miners whom very little attention is given to through other texts from the period. It would seem that this side of 'Bridsong' is very much like as Steph says is in 'A long long way'.
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