"...Day, by AL Kennedy, read by Dan Stevens. 6hrs, abridged (Random House, £16.99)
Patrick Bishop gave us the facts about the unsung heroes of Britain's second world war bomber squadrons flying dangerous night missions over Germany in his bestseller, Bomber Boys. Kennedy's novel, beginning in 1944, tells the story of Alfred Day, the tail gunner on a Lancaster bomber whose relationship with his fellow crew members - especially his charismatic skipper - make up for the murderous relationship he has with his father. Five years on, sole survivor of his crew and a misfit in civvy street, he signs up as an extra in a war film on location in his old German POW camp. An explosive book, with Dan Stevens not so much reading it as giving an Oscar-winning performance. The great thing about Kennedy is her originality; not just her plot, but the way she writes. How old is he and is he married? Day's interviewer asks.
'You weren't married and had touched only yourself and then fretted about it and you were almost infinitely younger than you thought. Infinitely: a word you'd learn soon - once infinity started to drive up and breathe against you. Infinity is fond of wars, they give it a way to come in.' Not, alas, available in my library. It only accommodates unabridged texts..."
Tags: Dan+Stevens, audiobook, audio+book, Day, AL+Kennedy, Random+House, Alfred+Day
No comments:
Post a Comment