Day: A novel by Knopf

	Title: Day: A novel Purchase Item Manufacturer: Knopf List Price: $24.00 Our Price: $12.00
Customer Reviews:
Day: A novel by Knopf War Novel
This book is particularly interesting because it takes on history in novel form in the second person. It strikes a chord in readers who often read about war as history, and instead forces them to put themselves in the shoes of the characters. Certainly a worthwhile read for those on any side of the war's justification.
Day: A novel by Knopf "Infinity is fond of wars, they give it a way to come in."
It's 1947 and Alfred Day, former WWII RAF gunner (and book shop worker), has signed on along with a bunch of other guys to work as an actor in a film about which he has firsthand knowledge: a POW camp. The details of his experiences with the other actors (many of whom were also in the war, some on the opposing side) are shared alternately with that of his life as a gunner and eventually prisoner. We learn about the formation of the crew (of which he played a part), his seven crewmates, a bit about some of the missions, his relationship with a woman he encounters in a bomb shelter, his love for his mother, hatred for his father, three significant deaths and the event leading to his capture. The diminutive (5' 4") Day, a man of few words but many thoughts, claims (p 8), "I've murdered and I stole and used big words, but I never smoked and I was a good boy." Most of the time, however, it seems like everything is kept intentionally vague. Little is learned about his crewmembers (save Pluckrose) beyond their names, and not much more about his mock-POW campmates, especially the creepy, secretive Vasyl. Same goes for his father, his mother, and Joyce, the object of his affections. Even with some great glimpses into the mind and life of Day, the underlying feeling is that the reader is being left too much in the dark. Better: Flyboys by James Bradley.
Day: A novel by Knopf Not what one would expect
The book is mainly an exploration of the character of the protagonist, Alfie Day. It moves around from pre to mid to post WW II. Book contains a fair amount of stream of consciousness, mixed freely and expertly with plot. As a result of its construction, the book requires slow, thorough reading, which led to its not being what I expected. A wonderful, really thought-provoking read that I highly recommend.
Day: A novel by Knopf Discomforting yet intoxicating read
The one and only negative thing I can write about "Day" is that it took me over 30 pages to get fully "oriented"; and while perhaps this device was likely deployed purposefully by the author to communicate the very-same disorientation on the part of the lead character (for him too, time and space have blurred), it was overdone and prevented me from getting pulled in more quickly. Yet, once I knew where I was in time and space, the book was impossible to put down. I have nothing in common with the leading man, a WWII veteran and RAF gunner. Yet I felt I got into his head; no, more to the point, he got into mine. The result was a combination of discomfort and exhilaration. The story is not one that's easy to swallow and some of the elements are disturbing and visually (for those like me who visualize the story) gory yet appropriate for the war and the period. The Economist in its review, noted no one would ever tell the author is a woman. I agree. What makes this spell binding is that the man through whose eyes we see the war and understand its emotional aftermath (and largely futile nature) is both insane and aware of his insanity, he examines the loss of his humanity yet is still very human, in love and angry. The writing touched me like very few books have, and I read voraciously so I can speak with some confidence on this. Anyone with a faint interest in the WWII period, or the human psyche, would want to read this book.
Day: A novel by Knopf Good, not great -- surprising prizewinner
There is so much territory in this book plotwise that has already been explored and by authors closer to the subject matter. I am curious why Kennedy chose to set her novel during World War II, alternating with events three years following the war. By writing a historical novel, she can experiment with style rather than content, which seems to be the case. The book changes repeatedly -- time-wise (the war years, post-war years) and points of view (it is told in first, second and in third person, which despite changes in font, can be confusing). Many of the characters seem believable, but the central character is somewhat hollow. Yes, it is a memory piece, the memories being those of Alfie Day. But they are not completely realized and sometimes the rhythm of the prose gets interrupted for a baffled reader. I've enjoyed everything else by Kennedy, most particularly EVERYTHING YOU NEED. But this time, the usually reliable Costa or Whitbread Award let me down. A quibble: it is curious why Kennedy chose Jane Russell and Jayne Mansfield as representative female icons of the day. Russell wasn't that well known during the war, and Mansfield didn't appear in movies until almost a decade later.
Day: A novel by Knopf Product Description
The New York Times has called her “a world-class fiction writer.” One of Britain’s most iconoclastic and highly acclaimed young writers (“If you are at all interested in contemporary fiction, this is work you must not miss”—Richard Ford)—twice selected as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, the Encore Award and the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award—A. L. Kennedy now gives us a brilliant new novel about war for which she is receiving the strongest reviews of her career. Alfie Day, RAF airman and former World War II POW, never expected to survive the war. He may not have even wanted to—choosing to be a tail gunner—exposed, alone and watchful for his skipper and his crew through night after night of bombing missions. Now, five years after the end of the war and more alone than ever, Alfie finds himself drawn to unearth those intense, strangely passionate days by working as an extra on a POW film. What he will discover on the set about himself, his loves and the world around him will make the war itself look simple. Day is a superbly realized, emotionally charged, deeply affecting drama about the violence of modern life, and the intensity and courage to be found in the closeness of death. Blazing with Kennedy’s characteristic virtuosity, wit and narrative invention, Day is funny and moving, wise and sad, a dazzlingly original performance from one of the most gifted writers of our time.