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Birds in Fall
One fall night off the coast of a remote island in Nova Scotia, an airplane plummets to the sea as an innkeeper watches from the shore. Miles away in New York City, ornithologist Ana Gathreaux works in a darkened room full of sparrows, testing their migratory instincts. Soon, Ana will be bound for Trachis Island, along with other relatives of victims who converge on the site of the tragedy.
As the search for survivors envelops the island, the mourning families gather at the inn, waiting for news of those they have lost. Here among strangers, and watched over by innkeeper Kevin Gearns, they form an unusual community, struggling for comfort and consolation. A Taiwanese couple sets out fruit for their daughter's ghost. A Bulgarian man plays piano in the dark, sending the music to his lost wife, a cellist. Two Dutch teenagers, a brother and sister, rage against their parents' death. An Iranian exile, mourning his niece, recites the Persian tales that carry the wisdom of centuries.
At the center of Birds in Fall lies Ana Gathreaux, whose story Brad Kessler tells with deep compassion: from her days in the field with her husband, observing and banding migratory birds, to her enduring grief and gradual reengagement with life.
Kessler's knowledge of the natural world, music, and myth enriches every page of this hauntingly beautiful and moving novel about solitude, love, losing your way, and finding something like home.
256 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2006
40 people are currently reading
937 people want to read
About the author
Brad Kessler
18 books73 followersBrad Kessler’s novel Birds in Fall won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. His other books include Goat Song, Lick Creek, and The Woodcutter’s Christmas. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, The Kenyon Review, and BOMB, as well as other publications. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 243 reviews
September 19, 2018
When a catastrophic tragedy occurs, we tend to think of the victims, and the agony they must have endured. But, their suffering is mercifully quick, then ended. Their loved ones suffer the rest of their lives. Even witnesses to the event may be profoundly affected by what they've seen.
Years afterword, Kevin wished he'd gone somewhere else, to the bluff or the parking lot, or out Peninsular Road -- anywhere but inside the garden. For whenever he opened the gate in autumn again, whenever he caught the scent of ripe salt hay or dill or the ginny odor of juniper berries, he'd remember what he saw that night, two, three miles offshore: the bottom of a fuselage lit up in a ghostly red glow, enormous groaning, something not to be there, that low, in that place. To have seen it, by himself, alone, a single witness, and then see it no longer -- all from inside the garden gate (and hear the terrifying explosion moments later) -- seemed almost a personal failure, monumental in scope. The garden of all places, where he'd always felt protected, enclosed, engirded among his Brussels sprouts and cabbages, his moonflowers; where the world could never enter . . .
A plane goes into the sea just off an island in Nova Scotia. Kevin, a local innkeeper, finds himself caring for members of the victims' families who are being housed with him as authorities comb the coastline in search of survivors. The grieving spouses, parents, and siblings slowly begin to form a small community, a family almost, while Kevin, in his attempts to comfort them with food and drink, barely notices his own partner slipping away.
There are so many moving moments in this book, so many heart-rending vignettes beautifully unfolded by Kessler. Most memorable for me is an emotional trip to an airplane hangar, where the characters sift through flotsam recovered from the sea, all in the hopes that items belonging to a loved one might be found among the detritus. The group encounters tables covered with white cloths, and laden with articles arrayed like a church basement rummage sale - purses, shoes, jewelry, and eyeglasses. Oh, the quiet desperation as each character longs to find something, anything to cling to, something owned by the person they've lost.
I know this must sound like a real downer of a book, but, trust me - it's not. Though the subject matter is devastating, it's also strangely uplifting. This is probably explained best by one of the characters, an older woman struggling to understand her oddly mixed emotions, the moments of inexplicable joy she has felt since her sister's death in the crash.
She grieved for her and all the others, for the last terrifying moments of their lives, and for those they'd left behind. But there was something else that accompanied the tragedy, a certain quickening of life she felt with the proximity of so much death. She'd observed this before: how -- ironically -- it took death to make one feel momentarily alive, truly present, minute to minute.
If you're looking for a compelling, character-driven novel, I highly recommend this, one of my favorite books.
Years afterword, Kevin wished he'd gone somewhere else, to the bluff or the parking lot, or out Peninsular Road -- anywhere but inside the garden. For whenever he opened the gate in autumn again, whenever he caught the scent of ripe salt hay or dill or the ginny odor of juniper berries, he'd remember what he saw that night, two, three miles offshore: the bottom of a fuselage lit up in a ghostly red glow, enormous groaning, something not to be there, that low, in that place. To have seen it, by himself, alone, a single witness, and then see it no longer -- all from inside the garden gate (and hear the terrifying explosion moments later) -- seemed almost a personal failure, monumental in scope. The garden of all places, where he'd always felt protected, enclosed, engirded among his Brussels sprouts and cabbages, his moonflowers; where the world could never enter . . .
A plane goes into the sea just off an island in Nova Scotia. Kevin, a local innkeeper, finds himself caring for members of the victims' families who are being housed with him as authorities comb the coastline in search of survivors. The grieving spouses, parents, and siblings slowly begin to form a small community, a family almost, while Kevin, in his attempts to comfort them with food and drink, barely notices his own partner slipping away.
There are so many moving moments in this book, so many heart-rending vignettes beautifully unfolded by Kessler. Most memorable for me is an emotional trip to an airplane hangar, where the characters sift through flotsam recovered from the sea, all in the hopes that items belonging to a loved one might be found among the detritus. The group encounters tables covered with white cloths, and laden with articles arrayed like a church basement rummage sale - purses, shoes, jewelry, and eyeglasses. Oh, the quiet desperation as each character longs to find something, anything to cling to, something owned by the person they've lost.
I know this must sound like a real downer of a book, but, trust me - it's not. Though the subject matter is devastating, it's also strangely uplifting. This is probably explained best by one of the characters, an older woman struggling to understand her oddly mixed emotions, the moments of inexplicable joy she has felt since her sister's death in the crash.
She grieved for her and all the others, for the last terrifying moments of their lives, and for those they'd left behind. But there was something else that accompanied the tragedy, a certain quickening of life she felt with the proximity of so much death. She'd observed this before: how -- ironically -- it took death to make one feel momentarily alive, truly present, minute to minute.
If you're looking for a compelling, character-driven novel, I highly recommend this, one of my favorite books.
March 13, 2009
This is an original, unsentimental way of dealing with the subject of loss and grief. I ended up really liking it. I generally avoid books about grieving because they're so fraught with weeping and wailing and heaviness and drama. I don't even have a shelf here for that topic because I just don't gravitate to those books.
Sneaky Brad Kessler. He made me want to read it by making it about birds---one of my most loved topics. He weaves in bits about birds, nature, music, poetry, and myth as tools the various characters use while coming to terms with the loss of loved ones in a plane crash off a small island in Nova Scotia. This was hard to pull off and very well done. He leaves you to draw your own conclusions about certain things, but there's a feeling of completeness even if you choose to draw no conclusions at all.
I love the cover of this book. It has postage stamps of exotic birds from all over the world.
Sneaky Brad Kessler. He made me want to read it by making it about birds---one of my most loved topics. He weaves in bits about birds, nature, music, poetry, and myth as tools the various characters use while coming to terms with the loss of loved ones in a plane crash off a small island in Nova Scotia. This was hard to pull off and very well done. He leaves you to draw your own conclusions about certain things, but there's a feeling of completeness even if you choose to draw no conclusions at all.
I love the cover of this book. It has postage stamps of exotic birds from all over the world.
December 24, 2022
“She grieved for her and all the others, for the last terrifying moments of their lives, and for those they’d left behind” (pp. 68-69).
An airplane with an ornithologist (bird expert) on board crashes into the sea. In the aftermath, his wife, who is also an ornithologist, along with the other passengers’ family members, check into, and remain for weeks at, a nearby Island Inn, owned by a gay couple (Kevin and Douglas), to await news about their loved ones.
“She’d lost individual birds for days on end, the signals disappearing until, one day, she heard the blips on the radio once more. Couldn’t that happen as well to her husband, just when she thought he was gone for good?” (p. 47).
The family members, like the passengers, are from diverse backgrounds: “The Brooklyn family came aboard … The Italians. The Hasidic boy. The Chinese couple” (p. 73). Mostly what the book is about is how collective grieving and social support can bring together people from different walks of life, bind them, and provide relief, even if only temporarily.
“Land birds traveling over the ocean got all mixed up with pelagic birds … The birds who find themselves inside the eye of the story are in a kind of sanctuary … where the winds can be calm and the sun might be out; but it’s an illusion, a vacuum” (pp. 100-101).
“As long as she stayed on Trachis Island, her life remained suspended in a kind of solution, where there seemed to her an illogical glimmer of hope—for what or whom, she wasn’t quite sure” (p. 136).
Unfortunately, the book was never particularly inspiring or engaging. None of the characters were endearing, save possibly for one minor character (the piano-playing Bulgarian widower). The repeated, overstated connections of the interpersonal happenings with birds and ornithology felt forced. The various strands of the story (e.g., Kevin and Douglas’s relationship difficulties) never came together in a way that was satisfactory or meaningful. In short, the novel never lived up to the ideas it explored. Additionally, some of what occurs later in the novel feels inconsistent both with the characters' personalities and with the sentiment expressed in earlier pages.
“Why all this fuss for people who’d died so publicly—so spectacularly—in a flash, when there was nothing for the thousands who’d died agonizingly slow, alone, shunned inside their rooms?” (p. 136)
1) Story (2/5)
2) Writing (3/5)
3) Originality (4/5)
4) Characters (2/5)
5) Set pieces (3/5)
6) Suspense (2/5)
7) Ending (3/5)
8) Relationships (romantic or otherwise) (3/5)
9) Dialogue (4/5)
An airplane with an ornithologist (bird expert) on board crashes into the sea. In the aftermath, his wife, who is also an ornithologist, along with the other passengers’ family members, check into, and remain for weeks at, a nearby Island Inn, owned by a gay couple (Kevin and Douglas), to await news about their loved ones.
“She’d lost individual birds for days on end, the signals disappearing until, one day, she heard the blips on the radio once more. Couldn’t that happen as well to her husband, just when she thought he was gone for good?” (p. 47).
The family members, like the passengers, are from diverse backgrounds: “The Brooklyn family came aboard … The Italians. The Hasidic boy. The Chinese couple” (p. 73). Mostly what the book is about is how collective grieving and social support can bring together people from different walks of life, bind them, and provide relief, even if only temporarily.
“Land birds traveling over the ocean got all mixed up with pelagic birds … The birds who find themselves inside the eye of the story are in a kind of sanctuary … where the winds can be calm and the sun might be out; but it’s an illusion, a vacuum” (pp. 100-101).
“As long as she stayed on Trachis Island, her life remained suspended in a kind of solution, where there seemed to her an illogical glimmer of hope—for what or whom, she wasn’t quite sure” (p. 136).
Unfortunately, the book was never particularly inspiring or engaging. None of the characters were endearing, save possibly for one minor character (the piano-playing Bulgarian widower). The repeated, overstated connections of the interpersonal happenings with birds and ornithology felt forced. The various strands of the story (e.g., Kevin and Douglas’s relationship difficulties) never came together in a way that was satisfactory or meaningful. In short, the novel never lived up to the ideas it explored. Additionally, some of what occurs later in the novel feels inconsistent both with the characters' personalities and with the sentiment expressed in earlier pages.
“Why all this fuss for people who’d died so publicly—so spectacularly—in a flash, when there was nothing for the thousands who’d died agonizingly slow, alone, shunned inside their rooms?” (p. 136)
1) Story (2/5)
2) Writing (3/5)
3) Originality (4/5)
4) Characters (2/5)
5) Set pieces (3/5)
6) Suspense (2/5)
7) Ending (3/5)
8) Relationships (romantic or otherwise) (3/5)
9) Dialogue (4/5)
September 12, 2019
سوگواری، سوگواری. «یک بار به آنا چه گفتهبود، گفتهبود یهودیها با گناه منطقی برخورد میکنند، کاتولیکها هم با معصیت؟— اما ایرانیها خبرهی اندوه هستند؟ گفتهبود در ایران اصطلاحی وجود دارد: غصه خوردن، «خوردنِ غصه». آیا هردوی آنها غصهای خام نخوردهبودند؟»
کتاب دردناک و درخشانی بود. یادم میموندش.
کتاب دردناک و درخشانی بود. یادم میموندش.
September 29, 2012
کسلر با دیدی هوشمندانه سعی دارد از دگردیسی در دنیای ما سخن بگوید. همانطور که در ابتدای کتاب از اووید نقل میکند «اکنون آمادهام بگویم چهگونه اجسام بهصورت اجسام دیگری درمیآیند.» کسلر آمده تا از دگردیسی انسانها، روابط، جایگاهها و اتفاقات نه بهشکل متافیزیکی، که دگردیسیهای کاملا ملموس سخن بگوید. مهاجرت انسانها، عشق، تغییر رفتار و رویه زندگی افراد، مرگ و... چیزهایی هستند که برای کسلر نوعی دگردیسی محسوب میشوند و او با زبانی بسیار زیبا ایدهی نیچهای همهچیز همواره درحال شدن است را در سرتاسر کتاب برای ما به تصویر درمیآورد. در این بین کسلر از نقد جامعه مدرن ما و بهخصوص جامعهی نوین آمریکا و دگردیسیاش از شکل انسانی به شکل یک ماشین سخن میگوید. مرگ چندصد نفر مسافر بر اثر سقوط هواپیما، زنی که همسرش را از دست داده، همان زن که حالا میخواهد رابطهی جدیدی داشته باشد اما نمیتواند، مرد ایرانی مهاجر، مردی که در روابطش با دوستپسرش به مشکل برخورده، دختر چینی که فرهنگش تغییر کرده و جرات گفتنش به خانواده را ندارد، غم مردی که به شکل نُتهای موسیقی از پیانو تبدیل میشود و... همه بازگو کنندهی تغییر شکلند، تغییر شکل با بالاترین سرعت ممکن، تغییر شکلی که نه میتوان گفت خوب است نه بد و صرفا باید پذیرفتش، شدن وهمواره شدن بهمثابهی یک اصل! بسیار این رمان را دوست داشتم با ترجمه خوب شمیم هدایتی که متاسفانه دیگر در بین ما نیست.
March 15, 2016
At one point in the novel, Ana Gathreaux, an ornithologist whose husband recently died in a plane crash, describes the kingfisher’s migration: Unlike the other bird species that begin migrating earlier in the fall, the kingfisher lingers for as long as it can. The rivers begin to freeze, and then finally, it too must go.
Birds of Fall is a powerful yet subtle story about grief. About a group of mourning strangers who gather at a remote inn after the plane carrying their loved ones crashes into the nearby sea. Together, they form a unique and impenetrable bond, united by their sorrow. They grieve for as long as they can until, like the kingfisher, the time comes for them to move on.
Appropriately melancholy without feeling melodramatic or twee, this is a moving story about people helping each other through grief and piecing their lives back together in the wake of tragedy.
Birds of Fall is a powerful yet subtle story about grief. About a group of mourning strangers who gather at a remote inn after the plane carrying their loved ones crashes into the nearby sea. Together, they form a unique and impenetrable bond, united by their sorrow. They grieve for as long as they can until, like the kingfisher, the time comes for them to move on.
Appropriately melancholy without feeling melodramatic or twee, this is a moving story about people helping each other through grief and piecing their lives back together in the wake of tragedy.
December 9, 2013
Almost 5 stars -- I really mostly enjoyed this book very much. Heartbreaking, yes, but an interesting study of dealing with tragedy & grief. The author portrayed the characters very well.
February 29, 2012
شاید خیلی موقعیتهای کتاب آشنا و حتا تکراری باشند و مشابه آنها را پیشتر، بهخصوص در فیلمها، دیده باشیم، اما کتاب لحظهها و حال-و-هوای خوب کم ندارد. بعضی لایههای فرعی و اسطورهای هم در طول رمان پیوند و تنیدگی خیل خوبی با خط اصلی داستان پیدا میکنند. درنهایت کتابی است که فکر میکنم در روایت و تقطیعها خیلی وامدار سینماست و اتفاقن نه سینمای خیلی هنری اروپا، بلکه بهنوعی سینمای خوب امریکایی.
March 24, 2021
Birds in Fall opens with a plane crash, and then follows several of the victims' family members. As a Dayton Literary Peace Prize winner, I thought we'd get a lot more understanding between people and cultures, but the author hardly names most of the characters, and so this story felt far more centered on Ana, the ornithologist wife of of the victims. Which is fine! But it felt weird to reduce people to their nationalities and only give them names for brief vignettes after which we never see them again. This is a book that deals with grief, but not in a way that invoked it (much) in me. I enjoyed it but wasn't in love with it.
I read this as part of my personal project to read Dayton Literary Peace Prize winners. This book was the 2007 Fiction Winner.
I read this as part of my personal project to read Dayton Literary Peace Prize winners. This book was the 2007 Fiction Winner.
March 27, 2022
این کتاب اینقدر برای من لذتبخش بود که بعد از گذشت ۲ سال، دوباره برای خواندن انتخابش کردم. و از نظر من قطعن ۵ ستاره حق این اثر هست.
خیلی عجیبه که خیلیها این اثر رو نمیشناسند، در صورتیکه در این رمان که با سقوط هواپیما آغاز میشه، یک دختر ایرانی_شیرازی حضور داره و همین باعث میشه در کتاب غزلی از حافظ، ماجراهای حزبی قبل انقلاب و بسیار مسائلی که برای ما آشناست، مطرح شود.
خیلی عجیبه که خیلیها این اثر رو نمیشناسند، در صورتیکه در این رمان که با سقوط هواپیما آغاز میشه، یک دختر ایرانی_شیرازی حضور داره و همین باعث میشه در کتاب غزلی از حافظ، ماجراهای حزبی قبل انقلاب و بسیار مسائلی که برای ما آشناست، مطرح شود.
October 24, 2009
This is a wonderful book about how people react when faced with unspeakable tragedy. Some join together to help while some hinder the effort. Others remain unflappable while some fall totally apart and cannot cope. Sadness, anger, disbelief, withdrawal, all are parts of the grief process.
This book is about an air disaster. It takes you into the lives of several of the lost passengers and shows how their survivors interact with and influence each other. Each deals with the tragedy in his own way, influenced by background and constitution.
The search for survivors and the discovery of their belongings has a unique effect on each of them. Some find a greater purpose in their lives and some lose it. Their exploration and development make them truly human rather than mere descriptive words on paper.
I would not have chosen this book if it was not on my book club's reading list, because of the subject matter, but I thought it was really good and I am glad I read it. Because I do not like flying, I was very leary about reading the book but it did not inhibit me further nor did it encourage me to go running off on a trip.
This book is about an air disaster. It takes you into the lives of several of the lost passengers and shows how their survivors interact with and influence each other. Each deals with the tragedy in his own way, influenced by background and constitution.
The search for survivors and the discovery of their belongings has a unique effect on each of them. Some find a greater purpose in their lives and some lose it. Their exploration and development make them truly human rather than mere descriptive words on paper.
I would not have chosen this book if it was not on my book club's reading list, because of the subject matter, but I thought it was really good and I am glad I read it. Because I do not like flying, I was very leary about reading the book but it did not inhibit me further nor did it encourage me to go running off on a trip.
January 1, 2016
This novel is undeniably well-written. The description in the opening chapter of the airplane crash, the event that rests at the center of the book, is stunning. Funny, but I feel I got to know Russell better in that one chapter than some of the other characters who stuck around a lot longer. I can't say I disliked any of the characters, except perhaps Pars just a little, but except for Kevin, I wasn't particularly moved by any of them either. If any of the other characters had been featured in the lead role, I might not have finished the book.
This is a literary novel. Instead of trotting out an official definition, which vary wildly, I will say that to me, a literary novel cares more about how people and events are described than about what happens. You will hear reviewers use words like poetic, lyrical or elegant. I am not being critical - I wish I could write a literary novel! In my books I tend to drop my characters into a plot and let them go. One reviewer pointed out stuff I didn't see: that the book had x number of chapters to match the number of movements in a piece of classical music, that it is a modern retelling of a specific myth (which is told in the book - see, I caught that!). That is cool, though obviously it didn't increase my enjoyment. Maybe it is like the weird stuff the Beatles started inserting into their songs - imaginative, but not why I love their music.
So anyway, I felt a little separated from the characters. Even the dialogue was presented without quotation marks, which gives it - to me - a more passive quality. I use a lot of dialogue in my books, and I think it might be fun to rewrite some of the dialogue to see what I could make of it. I'm not saying it would be better, just different, closer to how I would see them grieving.
There is some interesting information about birds and migration to be found here, running as it does through the story, due to the occupation of one of the main narrators of the book. Sometimes fiction is a cool way to learn stuff you might not have the patience to pick up in a dry non-fiction book.
So I thought the book was okay. The descriptions at time are vibrant and beautiful, even if I felt the interactions between characters, or even their interactions with their own feelings, could have been more vibrant. Too subtle, maybe?
This is a literary novel. Instead of trotting out an official definition, which vary wildly, I will say that to me, a literary novel cares more about how people and events are described than about what happens. You will hear reviewers use words like poetic, lyrical or elegant. I am not being critical - I wish I could write a literary novel! In my books I tend to drop my characters into a plot and let them go. One reviewer pointed out stuff I didn't see: that the book had x number of chapters to match the number of movements in a piece of classical music, that it is a modern retelling of a specific myth (which is told in the book - see, I caught that!). That is cool, though obviously it didn't increase my enjoyment. Maybe it is like the weird stuff the Beatles started inserting into their songs - imaginative, but not why I love their music.
So anyway, I felt a little separated from the characters. Even the dialogue was presented without quotation marks, which gives it - to me - a more passive quality. I use a lot of dialogue in my books, and I think it might be fun to rewrite some of the dialogue to see what I could make of it. I'm not saying it would be better, just different, closer to how I would see them grieving.
There is some interesting information about birds and migration to be found here, running as it does through the story, due to the occupation of one of the main narrators of the book. Sometimes fiction is a cool way to learn stuff you might not have the patience to pick up in a dry non-fiction book.
So I thought the book was okay. The descriptions at time are vibrant and beautiful, even if I felt the interactions between characters, or even their interactions with their own feelings, could have been more vibrant. Too subtle, maybe?
Read
September 5, 2016A book club friend handed me this book as our last meeting ended. She said I'd like it. I'd never heard of it.
I started it early this morning, a quiet Sunday, and finished it before sunset. To say I couldn't put it down is an understatement. The writing is superb. The story itself keeps softly and steadily encouraging the reader to come along. The characters, every single one of them, are good people. An airline crash is tastefully done and doesn't need a whole lot of intricate and distressing detail to be the reason why all these people are drawn to a tiny island in Nova Scotia. The story encompasses a five-year period.
As it heads toward the end, I was so glad the author avoided a trite wrap-up; instead it was beautifully done. And on the way to the ending he writes: "Diane Olmstead sat nearby in her chair and observed them all lying on the lawn, staring at the sky. She fingered her prayer beads in the dark and gazed up as the moon as well. She needed no binoculars. She felt no need to actually to see the birds. She knew they were there. Just because you couldn't see something didn't mean it wasn't there. She fingered each bead between her thumb and forefinger. The night smelled of jasmine, of musk roses. She looked up at the platinum moon and knew they were out there -- all of them -- between the sea and the earth and the sky."
I found it a beautifully written book and a lovely story. I am so glad someone brought it to my attention.
I started it early this morning, a quiet Sunday, and finished it before sunset. To say I couldn't put it down is an understatement. The writing is superb. The story itself keeps softly and steadily encouraging the reader to come along. The characters, every single one of them, are good people. An airline crash is tastefully done and doesn't need a whole lot of intricate and distressing detail to be the reason why all these people are drawn to a tiny island in Nova Scotia. The story encompasses a five-year period.
As it heads toward the end, I was so glad the author avoided a trite wrap-up; instead it was beautifully done. And on the way to the ending he writes: "Diane Olmstead sat nearby in her chair and observed them all lying on the lawn, staring at the sky. She fingered her prayer beads in the dark and gazed up as the moon as well. She needed no binoculars. She felt no need to actually to see the birds. She knew they were there. Just because you couldn't see something didn't mean it wasn't there. She fingered each bead between her thumb and forefinger. The night smelled of jasmine, of musk roses. She looked up at the platinum moon and knew they were out there -- all of them -- between the sea and the earth and the sky."
I found it a beautifully written book and a lovely story. I am so glad someone brought it to my attention.
December 29, 2022
Grief. Longing. Emptiness.
I read this book about 9 years ago, and I think of it often.
A place crash off the coast of Nova Scotia brings together a collection of people from around the world to a small inn, in hopes of news about their loved ones passing.
This book was my first real experience with grief. At that time, I had not experienced it myself. However, this book was so beautifully written that I, too, felt consumed with it as the characters had.
What I think about most is the very end of the book when the pelvis washed on shore. That was such a shocking, disturbing scene that really contrasted from the rest of the book. Honestly, I don't think it would have been as good without it.
This was an amazing read, and I often recommend it to people to this day.
I read this book about 9 years ago, and I think of it often.
A place crash off the coast of Nova Scotia brings together a collection of people from around the world to a small inn, in hopes of news about their loved ones passing.
This book was my first real experience with grief. At that time, I had not experienced it myself. However, this book was so beautifully written that I, too, felt consumed with it as the characters had.
What I think about most is the very end of the book when the pelvis washed on shore. That was such a shocking, disturbing scene that really contrasted from the rest of the book. Honestly, I don't think it would have been as good without it.
This was an amazing read, and I often recommend it to people to this day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2018
Birds in Fall is a quiet and unassuming book. The title is a clever double entendre - Birds (as in airplane) in fall (crash) or Birds (the animal) in fall (the season). It’s a story about both, really - the plane crash taking center stage the way that tragedies tend to, and a post-crash survivor who by trade is an ornithologist, specializing in the study of migration.
This is a book to read if you prefer depth and symbolism. The pacing and characterization are uneven, but there’s enough interesting tidbits about bird migration and philosophy to make up for it. A good, if unsentimental story. 3 stars.
This is a book to read if you prefer depth and symbolism. The pacing and characterization are uneven, but there’s enough interesting tidbits about bird migration and philosophy to make up for it. A good, if unsentimental story. 3 stars.
June 1, 2007
This is a beautiful, well-written book. The author floats about from character to character just like the birds that are so significant to making the point of the novel. But it isn't in a confusing, maddening, stream-of-consciousness kind of way. It is easy to follow and a pretty fast read. There isn't a lot of time spent on heavy character development, which normally bothers me in a novel, but it's written in a way that managed to hold my interest in the characters and hope for the best for all of them.
October 21, 2011
Beautiful story. Handled emotional storyline without getting overly sentimental, and had wonderful, real characters. I always love stories where people forge bonds or create "families" from disjointed groups of people or unlikely circumstances. Interesting imagery and themes around metamorphasis, although sometimes the bird references got a bit strained ("Russell. His name was the sound birds make in the night...")
October 25, 2010
One of my all time favorite books. Beautifully written.
August 6, 2011
Various characters come together on an island off the coast of Nove Scotia after losing loved ones in a plane crash. Beautiful written and not as sad as you might expect.
July 15, 2017
Disclaimer...I really liked this book therefore the rating of 4 however the beginning was hard to read. The rest was well worth it.
May 10, 2020
دیماه۹۹.
در روزهای پس از سقوط PS-752خواندمش. همراه شدن با بازماندگان بعد از سقوط التیام بخش بود.
در روزهای پس از سقوط PS-752خواندمش. همراه شدن با بازماندگان بعد از سقوط التیام بخش بود.
July 9, 2025
The Persian translator of this book, Shamim Hedayati, and her husband—who also helped with the translation—tragically died in a car accident before the book was published in Iran. Considering that Birds in Fall is centered on sudden, accidental death and the long, quiet process of grief, and that one of the main characters is Persian (Parviz—you are amazing), I deeply wish Brad Kessler knew about Shamim and the beautiful work she did. Her translation truly honored the spirit of the novel.
The story starts slowly, but as it unfolds, the pace picks up and the emotional weight deepens. I especially loved how Parviz’s character reflects his cultural roots—our roots—as Iranians. his dignity and his rituals resonated deeply with me. The symbolism of the birds throughout the novel was also moving and well-done.
The story starts slowly, but as it unfolds, the pace picks up and the emotional weight deepens. I especially loved how Parviz’s character reflects his cultural roots—our roots—as Iranians. his dignity and his rituals resonated deeply with me. The symbolism of the birds throughout the novel was also moving and well-done.
January 11, 2024
I picked this book because it said birds in the title, and had birds on the cover, which should come as a surprise to no one. Set in Nova Scotia the story begins with those on the fated airplane. The title had many meanings within the story, two of the characters are ornithologists and one was on the plane to attend a speaking engagement and his wife was in the lab, her focus is migration. The story is also set in the fall when migration season begins, and of course, I also take it that since the plane crashed, that’s also a bird in fall. Some of the families come to Trachis Island and are put up in hotels one of them being Kevin and Douglas’ inn. It takes us through the grieving process of the families and the different rituals that the different nationalities follow. It ends with a 5 year reunion of the crash as the families return to the inn. They are coming through their grief, and slowly moving on with their lives.
July 23, 2017
Birds in Fall is a short novel rounding out at 238 pages, shifting point of view from one cast member to next every chapter or so. With the majority laying on Ana, the ornithologist. However, by no means would I say her character is any more important than the next. It through her however, that supplies the bird references, stories, and analogies which so aptly create the reason for the title of this novel and it also creates a plethora of metaphors for life.
What can I say plot wise about this novel though that won’t give everything away and that isn’t just a reiteration of the synopsis? Well, first off, do not read this book if you are about to board a plane. The very first chapter is the destruction and crash of a commercial jet. Following that, the rest of this novel will probably make you cry. It is extremely sad. It’s all about death, and the grieving processes that comes with it. It highlights how no matter what our backgrounds are, we are all human. We all grieve. Yet, no two process are the same. That tragedy can afflict us all and some may take different path to recovery. Kessler’s unique cast of characters from all over the globe, showcase not only the cultural and religious differences of people in grief, but the grief that people of all ages, genders and relationships experience. Shifting point of view between all the characters each time rips another hole in your heart as you learn about the lives of the lost ones; what those who are dead truly meant to those who survive in their stead.
Yet as the novel continues, glimmers of hope do appear. New relationships are formed and slowly the loves ones learn how live without their wives, husbands, daughters, sons, nieces, nephews and more. Not to say that each day is not a struggle, but the authors tries to emphasis how there are still beautiful things left in the word that are worth living for.
Each character we get to be inside is a great reflection of how different we all are. Yet again, how similar we are. Brad Kessler, expertly researched the appropriate avenues to make each character as authentic to their roots and their fabricated history as possible. When we are in Ana’s mind, the book is replete with bird references. The Bulgarian man is filled with knowledge about music. Our Iranian exile tells about the nature of his culture, in a way that is very accurate and could be any person from that regions upbringing. And so forth follows for the the rest of the cast.
My only complaint about the end of the novel, was that it ended. See the last few chapters of the book include a time big time jump from when the event happened to five years later. I wish we would have been able to see more into the lives of the family members who were left behind, during the ending time jump. For its only the last few chapters, you get to truly see the spark of life in these beings again.
Now, I cannot lie to you guys, my initial recreation to said book, was “meh.” The summary and recommendation did captivated me. Yet as I read, something seemed amiss. I realized, I wasn’t connected to the characters. I didn’t share their sense of forlorn. Now at first, I thought it might be because I haven’t experienced much death in my life, but when I was about halfway through the book, at a particular scene, that’s where it [the connection, the sadness] hit me.
It was up to that point - I wasn’t really jiving with the writing style. It wasn’t what I was typically used to. It was free, like prose. Everything swirling together. (Which makes perfect sense considering what the characters are facing at this point.) On top of that I wasn’t connected to any character because we were still learning about all of them and their connections to those on the plane.
Once we got past this point however, when the characters really started interacting with each other because of a terrible storm on the island. That’s when I began to see how powerful of novel this can be. How sharing your grief, and life experiences with people from all walks of life can change you. For its only when you meet people that are different than you, can you really grow. It was then I began to truly feel connected to each character in the book.
Finally, only paragraphs later there would be a scene where the Bulgarian man is playing piano in the dead of night; slowly and quietly the others would slip into the room and that’s where my heart burst into pieces. From that point on I was connected. I felt their pain. Their loss. Their hope that that their loved ones might somehow be alive. I felt it all. It was beautiful. Birds in Fall, is masterpiece, in which Brad Kessler’s cast of diverse characters will stay with you many years from now.
What can I say plot wise about this novel though that won’t give everything away and that isn’t just a reiteration of the synopsis? Well, first off, do not read this book if you are about to board a plane. The very first chapter is the destruction and crash of a commercial jet. Following that, the rest of this novel will probably make you cry. It is extremely sad. It’s all about death, and the grieving processes that comes with it. It highlights how no matter what our backgrounds are, we are all human. We all grieve. Yet, no two process are the same. That tragedy can afflict us all and some may take different path to recovery. Kessler’s unique cast of characters from all over the globe, showcase not only the cultural and religious differences of people in grief, but the grief that people of all ages, genders and relationships experience. Shifting point of view between all the characters each time rips another hole in your heart as you learn about the lives of the lost ones; what those who are dead truly meant to those who survive in their stead.
Yet as the novel continues, glimmers of hope do appear. New relationships are formed and slowly the loves ones learn how live without their wives, husbands, daughters, sons, nieces, nephews and more. Not to say that each day is not a struggle, but the authors tries to emphasis how there are still beautiful things left in the word that are worth living for.
Each character we get to be inside is a great reflection of how different we all are. Yet again, how similar we are. Brad Kessler, expertly researched the appropriate avenues to make each character as authentic to their roots and their fabricated history as possible. When we are in Ana’s mind, the book is replete with bird references. The Bulgarian man is filled with knowledge about music. Our Iranian exile tells about the nature of his culture, in a way that is very accurate and could be any person from that regions upbringing. And so forth follows for the the rest of the cast.
My only complaint about the end of the novel, was that it ended. See the last few chapters of the book include a time big time jump from when the event happened to five years later. I wish we would have been able to see more into the lives of the family members who were left behind, during the ending time jump. For its only the last few chapters, you get to truly see the spark of life in these beings again.
Now, I cannot lie to you guys, my initial recreation to said book, was “meh.” The summary and recommendation did captivated me. Yet as I read, something seemed amiss. I realized, I wasn’t connected to the characters. I didn’t share their sense of forlorn. Now at first, I thought it might be because I haven’t experienced much death in my life, but when I was about halfway through the book, at a particular scene, that’s where it [the connection, the sadness] hit me.
It was up to that point - I wasn’t really jiving with the writing style. It wasn’t what I was typically used to. It was free, like prose. Everything swirling together. (Which makes perfect sense considering what the characters are facing at this point.) On top of that I wasn’t connected to any character because we were still learning about all of them and their connections to those on the plane.
Once we got past this point however, when the characters really started interacting with each other because of a terrible storm on the island. That’s when I began to see how powerful of novel this can be. How sharing your grief, and life experiences with people from all walks of life can change you. For its only when you meet people that are different than you, can you really grow. It was then I began to truly feel connected to each character in the book.
Finally, only paragraphs later there would be a scene where the Bulgarian man is playing piano in the dead of night; slowly and quietly the others would slip into the room and that’s where my heart burst into pieces. From that point on I was connected. I felt their pain. Their loss. Their hope that that their loved ones might somehow be alive. I felt it all. It was beautiful. Birds in Fall, is masterpiece, in which Brad Kessler’s cast of diverse characters will stay with you many years from now.
March 7, 2019
It's probably not a good idea to read a book about a plane crash right before going on a trip, but read it I did. Getting on a plane means giving up control, and death, the impetus of this novel, is something we have little control over-- whether we are the ones dying or surviving. Brad Kessler isn't as interested in death as he is in exploring how one moves on after one's loved one dies. In this beautifully written book, he uses ornithology and bird migration and Icarus as a metaphor for life and death and survival. While the plane crash into the Atlantic is not like Breughel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, where life goes on as Icarus plonks in the water, the highly publicized crash throws the deaths of others, who die quietly and without fanfare, into sharp relief. Why is one death more important than others? Don't people die tragic deaths everyday? One distinct feature is that there is not a main character as those who are impacted by the crash are given their own spotlights to see how people respond to grief; the main character is the tragedy itself. It brings together strangers and alters their lives, and one could think that death is the main character in our lives-- we're all bit players, with our own stories, living in a response or a reaction to eventual death. But before we all get depressed (but the fact that we will die someday should enliven us-- Carpe Diem!), Kessler uses the tragedy to show our inherent humanity-- that we can care, for, cope with, and carry on with others.
November 3, 2019
I wanted to read this book because I happened to be living in Nova Scotia on September 2, 1998 and I still vividly remember listening to the CBC radio coverage of the plane crash while sitting in the kitchen with my grandfather. It was heartbreaking to hear the accounts from the local fishermen and others who rushed out onto the water to help with the recovery, only to find there were no survivors. This book, while a fictional account of that very real crash, paints a lyrical picture of how people deal with grief and loss...and how hope can eventually emerge with the passage of time. The stories of migratory birds are artfully woven in as allegories for the family members as they each deal with their tragic loss.
May 21, 2019
"Why all this fuss for people who'd died so publicly-so spectacularly-in a flash, when there was nothing for the thousands who'd died agonizingly slow, alone, shunned inside their rooms?"
Brad Kessler's Birds in Fall is a beautiful glimpse into the grieving period after tragic loss, both acting as a therapeutic vessel and depressing reality. I loved the novel's diverse set of characters and their respective grappling with tragedy (such as Ana, Pars, and Claartjia), as well as Kessler's expert sense of prose and detailing. I recommend the book for anyone looking for a relatively quick yet emotional and thought-provoking read.
Brad Kessler's Birds in Fall is a beautiful glimpse into the grieving period after tragic loss, both acting as a therapeutic vessel and depressing reality. I loved the novel's diverse set of characters and their respective grappling with tragedy (such as Ana, Pars, and Claartjia), as well as Kessler's expert sense of prose and detailing. I recommend the book for anyone looking for a relatively quick yet emotional and thought-provoking read.
January 11, 2021
I grabbed this book from the little free library on Chestnut Street back in March. The only reason it caught my attention was because it had birds on the cover (I’m nothing if not predictable). But sometimes the best books are unexpected. They sneak up on you. I had no idea what this book was until I started reading it. It’s a fantastic story of loss, of grief and of love. It draws parallels to the natural world that are quite moving. Kessler has a fantastic voice and mastery of language. This will definitely remain in my library to be shared (don’t worry I’ll donate another one to the little free library!)
September 26, 2017
Beautifully written novel about grief and community forged through tragedy. Bird migration is a metaphor and motif that weaves in and out throughout the book, and the science writing is nicely lyrical.
I also loved the food and place writing. This was a perfect novel to read (by coincidence) late September, as that's when much of the action takes place, and it added to the ambience.
My only small complaint is that I wish it had ended with either the 3rd chapter from last, or kept the ending but skipped the penultimate chapter.
Definitely recommend!
I also loved the food and place writing. This was a perfect novel to read (by coincidence) late September, as that's when much of the action takes place, and it added to the ambience.
My only small complaint is that I wish it had ended with either the 3rd chapter from last, or kept the ending but skipped the penultimate chapter.
Definitely recommend!
November 11, 2018
This novel is Centered around a plane crash off the coast of Nova Scotia with an eclectic group of people who cross paths in the aftermath. I’m not sure how I would describe this book as there isn’t really a plot and the characters are not necessarily fully developed. Yet, I still found it incredibly satisfying as it explores grief in a quiet, contemplative way without getting overly sentimental. I appreciated the author’s use of nature, ornithology, and music to symbolize how people mourn differently. A very quick read for me-I read it in one day.
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