Birds Without Wings is a very ambitious effort to create an epic, depicting and following the lives of the inhabitants of a village in what is now Turkey, Muslims and Christians, during the dying years of the Ottoman Empire and the outbreak of the First World War, and following in parallel the rise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to become the ruler of modern Turkey. A massive, well-researched work that enjoyed good writing style with a sarcastic tone, and had some interesting parts despite some flaws.

The opening chapters did not feel very promising, with the writer trying hard to persuade the reader to carry on till the end, promising an epic unthinkable tragedy. And even with understanding that, because of the book genre/style and ambition, the beginning had to be slow-paced with the diversity of side stories and characters taking priority over pushing the narrative forward, the first 300 pages were so redundant and repetitive that it could have been easily cut-off by a third without impacting any of the details or side stories, which is not a sign of great writing I'm afraid. A cliched spine around which the narrative and side-stories evolved didn't help much; an all-too-familiar ill-fated inter-faith love story. Patience was somewhat rewarded in the second half of the book which was a lot better with the faster pace and the vivid descriptions of life during wartime both in the trenches on the front and back in the village.

On a personal level, being familiar with the backdrop of Muslim-Christian co-existence and the role of traditions and superstition in peoples' lives probably took away from the fascination that an outsider reader would probably feel (and hence the wide critical acclaim). The writer did a lot to balance the narrative and show an equal account of atrocities committed by each group of people at that crazy era of sectarianism, nationalism and utopianism, and emphasised through his characters that each party would blame another on violence going back further and further till the start of time, but this did not deter him from pointing the finger quite clearly at the Greek prime minister at the time of the Great war, Eleftherios Venizelos, as well as the Birtish prime minister Lloyd George, sympathising with a particular view of the Ottoman empire that regards its system as a truly cosmopolitan and just one. I found taking sides here, in addition to contradicting the writer's own ideas in the book, unnecessary in the least.

Generally speaking, the shear volume of the book reflected redundancy and repetition rather than richness. The multiple narrators added some life to the events but they didn't offer enough diversity as their accounts were almost identical. An example of which were a similar description of the village by two strangers seeing it for the first time (a mistress of the Aga of the village, and a merchant from Smyrna/Izmir). The chapters dedicated to the main story, the doomed inter-faith love, were low points as they reeked of repetition and had a contrived ending. On the positive side, The chapters following the story of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's rise to power and the Great War were quite enjoyable, with short, concise and effective sentences, and they always came in the right time to plot a contrasting view of plans and decisions of big political powers against the lives of normal people and poor soldiers. Positive points include as well the realistic depiction of some primitive and brutal sides of most characters. The calm and peaceful side was shown side-to-side with the violent barbarism and tribalism, like the extreme beauty co-existing side-to-side with the extreme ugliness.

Overall it had very interesting parts scattered in between, and some truly humorous and reflexive writing. A Good reading experience (since even average writing can help us appreciate the masterpieces a bit more), and a recommended read for those interested in this historic period both from political and humanistic perspectives.

Birds without Wings is well researched, accurate historical fiction!
Set in Asia Minor at the end of the Ottoman Empire which coincided with WW1, there were ethnic Greeks living in Asia Minor who spoke Turkish better than Greek or even no Greek at all.
There were ethnic Turks living in Greece who spoke Greek better than Turkish or even no Turkish at all.
There were Greeks living in Russia, Turks living in the Balkans and all around this time some people started saying " Greece for the Greeks, Turks and Jews out", "Turkey for the Turks, Greeks and Armenians out" and in the meantime the Russians were invading the Caucasus and had plans for expansion all over Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The Western Europeans all had their own personal agendas as well. All this lead to endless massacres and repopulating that uprooted millions of people.
The story is told by multiple P.O.V.s of villagers in the fictional town of Eskibahçe in southwest Turkey, alternating with accounts of the life of Mustafa Kemal, aka Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who became the first leader of modern Turkey.
My favourite characters were the villagers, but I appreciated the timeline of Mustafa Kemel Ataturk as well. At a certain point, there were even more characters and more details, in particular about the various battles in particular the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign, and it started to feel tedious.
Were it about 200 pages shorter, this would be a perfect novel!
That being said, this book written in 2004 is very relevant in 2018 with the election of nationalist and populist leaders all over the world.
Although it's not conveyed in a heavy handed way, Louis de Bernieres message is pretty clear, multi ethnic and multicultural societies are rich and wanting to only be around own own ethnic group leads only to violence and suffering.




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It’s too hard to review! There’s some beautiful writing, believable characters and plenty of history to learn, but, the scope of the book is so vast that it’s easy to lose the storyline.

The story is told from the point of view of many different characters from a village in Turkey where Christians, Jews and Muslims, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, and others, had lived peacefully for generations. As the region descends into one war after another leading to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of modern Turkey, these characters’ lives are ripped apart, leaving them as powerless as birds without wings.

It’s an epic story; and one that’s especially hard to read knowing what’s happening in the world right now.

The scenes set in the trenches in Gallipoli and the chapters from the point of view of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk were too long for me; and it made me feel like I was reading a history textbook rather than a novel set in the region. Some background was necessary, but not so much. I needed more from the individual characters

This novel lacks the narrative drive of Captain Corelli's Mandolin (the one that was made into that awful movie starring Nicolas Cage), but it has the same extraordinarily beautiful turn of phrase that makes Bernieres' books such wonderful reading. Birds Without Wings is the story of a Turkish town through the first part of the 20th C and the wars that gradually dismembered the Ottoman Empire. The history is enlightening and the fiction heartbreaking as the endless cycle of revenge killings gradually destroys the town (and most of what is modern Turkey). Ironies abound -- Greek Turks are displaced for "real" Turks -- who speak only Greek. The Muslims suffer economically when the Christians are forced out because with them go the doctors, accountants, and most of the skilled labor. Bernieres clearly doesn't think much of the great powers' games of conquest, and all sides equally come in for satire and criticism. The nicest occupiers? The Italians, because they can't be bothered to do much of anything except play backgammon and drink raki. The worst? The Turks themselves, justifying their actions by saying that the Greeks did the same things. By the time you've finished reading Birds Without Wings, you want to give the whole region a wide berth.

Po pár stránkách jsem si uvědomil, že jsem Ptáky bez křídel před (hodně) lety už četl, a vzpomněl jsem si, jak mě to tenkrát donutilo otevřít a důkladně přečíst Dějiny Řecka abych se líp vyznal v tom galimatyáši řecko-tureckých vztahů. A tahle knížka je vlastně o tomhle - jak vznikalo z Osmanské říše Řecko a Turecko, a jak lidé s překvapením zjistili, že jsou Řekové či Turci. A jakmile to zjistili, začali si přičinlivě vzájemně podřezávat krky.
Většinou budete číst o osudech obyvatel malého pobřežního městečka, kde žijí vedle sebe křesťané a muslimové už tak dlouho, že i ty dvě víry začaly pomalu splývat. Mluví turecky, píší řeckou alfabetou, berou se mezi sebou a vesměs se považují za Osmany. Několik z nich potkáte i v dalším parádním kousku Louise de Bernières, Mandolína kapitána Corelliho.
Druhou linku tvoří první světová válka, která tuhle idylu dost zásadně nabourá. S tím je úzce spojená strmá kariéra Mustafy Kemala Atatürka a vůbec vznik moderního Turecka. Hrůzostrašné jsou pasáže o etnických čistkách (Kurdové vs. Arméni, Řekové vs. Turci, Turci vs. Řekové i Arméni atd.).
Je to velký příběh a výborná kniha, skvěle napsaná i přeložená, chytí vás to za srdce.

That such a place existed and the way it was lost, is heartbreaking. This is a story of the complicated and complex cultural bag called the Ottoman Empire and its emergence as Turkey. What a revealing story beautifully told by Mr. Bernieres. I bogged down midway through during the war scenes, but once past that point it was a race to the end. On to an easy and mindless read after this epic story.

This was a book I read without any previous knowledge of the story, other than what my friend Marieke told me which was just her impression of the book. I agree with much of what she said, except I rarely cry while I read, and this was no exception; though the story did touch me immensely in parts. In addition to knowing little of the actual story before reading it, I admit to knowing little of the events within the story - the Battle of Gallipoli, for example. I must have missed those days that story was taught in my history classes. (Though I have an inkling this was an event that never quite made it into my history classes.)



The story is broken up into many different view points which at times became a bit tedious for me to read, but also offered a fresh eye to the same story. As usual with these types of books I find myself more interested in one or two of the storylines than I am in some of the others, so I feel my reading was disjointed - I take full fault for that.

But look, here's the thing - I've forever put off reading this Louis de Bernieres guy because having worked in bookstores I got really burned out on people asking for that other book by this guy, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, or having people tell me I haven't lived until I've read it, and then there was that movie that came out with Nicolas Cage and I couldn't even take it seriously. I worried that this book would be similar, but Marieke is cool so I gave it a shot. And I was not disappointed. It just made me realize how not smart I am about this area in the world's history.

So for those of you who are looking for some borderline chick-lit, you can still read this. There's a love story here too, a very lovely one at times, but not always happy. Because it's also a war story, and war stories are rarely happy.

On a personal note I might just give this author another try, and maybe (OMG) I might just read that book about the mandolin. We'll see. But I probably still will refuse to watch the movie.

4.5 stars. An interesting, humorous, sad, tragic, memorable, engaging historical fiction novel set mostly in a small town in Turkey in the early 1900s. There are many interesting characters, like Islander the potter who makes unique bird whistles, Leyla, the mistress of the town’s richest man, Rustem Bey, Philothei, the beautiful Greek Ottoman and Mustafa Kemal, the Turkish military leader. The account of the Allied failed invasion of Turkey from the Turkish perspective is well told. Excellent storytelling. Highly recommended. Readers who enjoyed reading ‘Corelli’s Mandolin’ should find this novel an equally satisfying reading experience.

I loved this book. It's now on my list of all-time favorites.

The writing is lush and gorgeous and witty and empathetic. The many characters come alive and are very compelling. The setting is a little village in southwest Turkey, not too distant from Symrna (Izmir), and the time is the WW I period. The story is mostly told from the point of view of the various villagers and occasionally from the view of Mustafa Kemal (on his way to becoming Ataturk).

We get a fascinating view of Turkish village life during this period, a period when Turks (then called Ottomans), Armenians, and Greeks mingled together mostly peacefully and respectfully. Muslims and Christians (infidels) sometimes bet on the odds by having their neighbors of opposite faith say a prayer for them in their difficulty. The women especially made these requests of their friends of opposite faith and the Islamic men didn't really mind because everyone knew that God didn't care much about what women did.

WW I changed all. Not only was the Great War horrible and brutal but the reasons for it were not comprehended by most of the villagers. It touched them nonetheless. Their sons were killed or maimed or scarred for life, friends and neighbors were lost forever as populations were evacuated (Armenians) or exchanged (Turkish Greeks and Greek Turks). If you have ever traveled in Turkey and seen and heard about the Greek influence left in Turkey by way of the architecture, this book will make all of that a felt reality.

I think this book is a masterpiece.

Goed verhaal/vertekende geschiedenisles

Dit boek illustreert de tendens van veel intellectuelen om de geschiedenis te vervormen. De Bernières vaardigheden als schrijver overtuigen, maar hij gaat ervan uit dat de lezer geen enkele historische achtergrond heeft en laat het verhaal primeren op de historische feiten.

In ‘Birds without Wings’ worden we vergast op een idyllische dorpsgemeenschap in Anatolië in het begin van de 20ste eeuw waar Grieken, Turken en Armeniërs vreedzaam samenleven. Maar de harmonie hiervan wordt ongedaan gemaakt, althans volgens de Bernières, door de barbaarse en ontaarde (vooral Griekse) nationalistische bewegingen van het eerste decennium van de 20ste eeuw. Nergens schenkt de Bernières ook maar enige aandacht aan de brutaliteiten van de Ottomaanse overheersing en het gerechtvaardigde verlangen naar nationale zelfbeschikking van de volkeren die eraan onderworpen waren. Om nog maar te zwijgen van het voorbijgaan aan de manipulaties van de ‘geallieerde strijdmachten’ na Wereldoorlog I, die de echte oorzaak vormden van het drama dat zich in 1923 zou afspelen.

Helemaal schokkend wordt het als De Bernières ook nog eens de Armeense genocide van 1915 wil witwassen. Vastbesloten om de Ottomaanse staat in ere te herstellen, stelt hij ‘that the government didn't intend to massacre the Armenians at all. It only wanted to "relocate" them, and was prepared to guarantee their safety and property!’ Het was dus allemaal de fout van Koerdische onbetrouwbare elementen in het nationale veiligheidsapparaat die de Armeniërs haatten, en daarom verder gingen dan hun orders hen toelieten. Zo zie je maar … en trouwens, de Armeniërs vroegen erom omdat sommigen van hen overliepen naar de Russen tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog.

Verfoeilijke nonsens betreft het hier, in diskrediet gebracht door goed gedocumenteerd historisch bewijsmateriaal, en lezers van dit boek mogen niet in de verleiding komen om de historische feiten te negeren omdat ze in de ban zijn van De Bernières niet te ontkennen literaire kwaliteiten.

Veel beter om Nobelprijswinnaar Orhan Pamuk te lezen die de echte geschiedenis en de waarheid verdedigt dan ondergedompeld te worden in De Bernières reactionaire fantasieën.

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This took me one heck of a long time to read and there were many a moment where I thought I might have to give up (gets very detailed about Mustafa Kemal’s rise to power and let me tell you, he had a complicated journey). But I’m very glad I persevered because it’s really quite a brilliant book.

It talks mainly of the rural towns and peoples who are at the front line of a conflict instigated by distant, grandiose acts of nationalism. It is heartbreakingly sad.

I like this quote about planning for the future:
‘The present is confounded by the future, the future is confounded by the future beyond it, the memories bubble up in disorder, and the heart is unpredictable’