Brooke+Marlow+Birdy

//"What is love? As far as I can tell, it is passion, admiration, and respect. If you have two, you have enough. If you have all three, you dont have to die to go to heaven." - William Wharton//



//**Author Biography: William Wharton** //

//William Wharton was the pen name of Albert Du Aime born on November 7th 1925. Wharton was born in Philidelphia, Pensilvania graduated// //from Upper Darby School// //in 1943. He was inducted into the school's Wall of Fame in 1997. His first// //novel birdy// //as published in 1978 when he was more than 50 years old. Birdy was a critical and popular success, and// //Alan Parker// //directed a// //film version// //starring// //Nicolas Cage// //and// //Matthew Modine////. After the publication of Birdy and through the early 1990s, Du Aime published eight novels, including// //__DAD and__// //Midnight Clear////, both of which were also filmed, the former starring// //Jack Lemmon////. He served in France and Germany in World War 11. He was an artist and a writer and raised several children. He died on October 29th 2008, and hadn't written a book since 2003. He was 82.

__Birdy__ is a story about a childhood friendship, war and a mental illness. Wharton's story won the National Book Award and later became a movie starring Nicolas Cage. This story takes place in Philidelphia during World War II. Al is an italian boy who becomes best friends with "Birdy" ,what everyone around town calls him, because he is obsessed with canaries and learning how to fly. The entire story is flashbacks of the twos childhood, puberty and adulthood together. The boys enlist in the army, during the vietnam war and see horrible tragic things, and Birdy gets sent home for a mental illness, he starts to act like a bird, not eating like a human, walking around like a bird. It is a wonder if it is a real mental illness or it is just an ellaborate plan so he doesnt have to go back to war. It is up to Al to get him back to normal, telling Birdy stories of there past and all of there adventures, in hope that Birdy will react and go back to being a human. But only Al knows that Birdy is living life the way he has always wanted too, as a bird.
 * Wharton's** **__Birdy__** [[image:http://www.impawards.com/1984/posters/birdy_ver1.jpg width="274" height="325"]] [[image:http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41D2YMXZE5L._SL500_AA240_.jpg width="289" height="321"]]

Birdy's entire childhood was canaries. He studied them, watched them, sketched them and mimicked them 24/7. His dream was to be a bird and to soar through the skys as the birds do. His childhood dream soon became a growing obsession. He started to make a suit of feathers so he could be identical to the birds. Birdy was shy and withdrawn and Al was a very unlikely friend. Al was a big, buff aggresive jock in his teens and was very social and popular. Birdy hid a lot from Al, and Al was very distant from birdy, but they were still heald together by a strong bond, all there childhood memories and that they always understood eachother without words. Birdy is a poetic person as all is a more strong, never feel pain kind, who spends his time in this book trying to get Birdy to react, but at the same time wonders if maybe Birdy has it made, maybe he is just best cacooned from the harsh world we all live in. Al understands that harsh world, his father beat him, and he was never a fan of authority, so the war was a horrible place for him and he didnt want to return, exspecially not without his best friend. War showed both these boys a fear they never could have imaginaed and now they need to help eachother to overcome there demons and try to move on with their lives.

Eventually Birdy does respond and Al begins to look deep inside himself and try to move on with his life, to the best ability he can, trying to forget the memories of the war. There friendship still holds strong and there memories never fade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfGwJGrLz2w
 * Trailer to Birdy the movie:**

This book is the furthest thing from a page turner, but it hits you. When you read it you leave the world, you go into your own little world where you are there, watching all of it happen, which is very difficult for authors to do in there books. You couldnt tap me on the shoulder or hit me with a shovel, I was that into it. It has deeps thoughts, it isn't pointless words that are nothing to you. Some parts really will get to you, and there things you won't forget.
 * What worked:**

It was confusing, a lot was going on, and sometimes the flashbacks clashed with the present so you couldn't figure out which was which.
 * What didn't work:**

Birdy was outstanding because it wasn't relatable, but the way it was written, you could understand. It didn't use complicated words or anything that would make you have to go look it up. Birdy was a story that had a lot of depth but was understandable for a teen. It had aspects of life we could relate too, and really pulled you into the book. You didn't just read it, you saw it in your mind being played out like a movie. The book by far was better than the movie.
 * What makes this book outstanding:**

Friendship Love War Illness The human mind Individual vs. Society
 * Themes:**

Genre : Fiction Setting : Philidelphia Point of View: Switches between Al and Birdy, mainly Al.
 * Literary information:**


 * Other books by Wharton:**//

> > **Works Cited Page:**
 * 1978 • //Birdy//
 * 1981 • //Dad//
 * 1982 • //A Midnight Clear//
 * 1984 • //Scumbler//
 * 1985 • //Pride//
 * 1987 • //Tidings//
 * 1989 • //Franky Furbo//
 * 1991 • //Last Lovers//
 * 1994 • //Wrongful Deaths// (memoir)
 * 1996 • //Houseboat on Seine// (memoir)
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wharton_(author)**
 * http://findquotations.com/quote/by/William_Wharton
 * Youtube for the video clips from the movie Birdy
 * Google image search for photos