
The Yellow Birds
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Narrated by:
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Holter Graham
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By:
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Kevin Powers
About this listen
An unforgettable depiction of the psychological impact of war by a young Iraq veteran and poet, The Yellow Birds is already being hailed as a modern classic.
Everywhere John looks, he sees Murph. He flinches when cars drive past. His fingers clasp around the rifle he hasn't held for months. Wide-eyed strangers praise him as a hero, but he can feel himself disappearing. Back home after a year in Iraq, memories swarm around him: bodies burning in the crisp morning air. Sunlight falling through branches; bullets kicking up dust; ripples on a pond wavering like plucked strings. The promise he made, to a young man's mother, that her son would be brought home safely....
©2012 Kevin Powers (P)2012 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
What listeners say about The Yellow Birds
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Overall
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- mariaan
- 11-15-12
Excellence all round
If you prefer your books action-driven, fast-paced, more linear, chronological, this is probably not for you, although the war action is there in all its devastating detail. The story alternates between events in Iraq in 2004-2005 and alienation and repercussions back home in the US afterwards. The narrator did a very good job of portraying the internal voice of the young soldier. The story, as it is pieced together, is heart-breaking. What takes this book way beyond the usual war novel is the exquisite writing. One of my favourite books this year.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Rabid Reader
- 10-08-12
Compelling story but disjointed and often too slow
Whilst the beginning was gripping, the story lost momentum a few chapters in, and the non-linear narrative was often very confusing; a chapter set in late 2005 would precede a chapter set in spring 2004 and so on. Perhaps that would have been easier to follow in print, but it was difficult to understand what was going on. Too much introspection and not enough action made for a slow "read" despite Holter Graham's best efforts to bring life to the story.
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