I've given your book six stars. I'm finding it original, funny, atmospheric - great characters, really unusual idea and style and unlike anything I've ever read. view book

I really like the style of your book. It's immediately intriguing and mysterious. I'm not usually keen on first-person narratives, but it's so chatty and humorous and you talk about your 'self' so casually that it's got none of the introversion that often puts me off. I think it's great. Is it finished? view book

Although The Red Bird is a mystery/adventure story in its own right, the underlying themes are more complex. They involve the way it is possible to create a reality, a whole world for oneself without realising it, to the extent of becoming absorbed into it. This theme dictates the entire structure and the various styles of the book; it is also referred to directly in the stories told by Orlando and Rosa, the Red Bird – for instance in the tragic tale Rosa narrates about Congreve and his friend Adome.

There are three stories running concurrently in the novel: mine, Orlando’s and Rosa’s. In all these stories a different narrative style is employed. Orlando’s stories, with which the book begins, are told in Orlando’s style – simple, slow, staccato and childlike – reflecting Orlando’s view of life. Rosa’s stories are much more involved and so is her style – more racy, with long, complicated sentences that often go off at a tangent, frequent digressions from the main storyline in order to make a philosophical point, a reckless disregard for narrative structure, indicating a much wilder imagination, and a casual overview of human problems and relationships which reflects her disinterested view of human affairs resulting from the fact of being a bird. By the climactic end of Part I, the three narratives have become completely intertwined, with Rosa’s story dominant. In Part II, Rosa’s story takes on a life of its own, and the style changes again. From now on the action develops at an ever-increasing pace, moving from continent to continent, from jungle to desert, from mountains to prairies, taking wild twists and turns that only Rosa herself could have imagined. The book is thus not only a story but also an allegory: of how reality is constructed and also of the art of storytelling itself.

I decided to write the above exposée in response to several comments on the slow start to the book, in order to encourage readers to go further than the first chapter. You could, for instance, have a look at Chapter 11 for an example of the way the book develops.

In writing the book, I often read it aloud, since I wanted to produce a work that would sound good orally. This technique also helped with style and rhythm, and I’ve produced an audio version read by myself which sounds very good.

The Red Bird was not intended to be a book for children; what I hoped was that it would appeal to people of any age.
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Dear Su Dan,
Thank you for your comments on The Red Bird. I've started reading Seasons. The first chapter is enough for me to put it on my shelf. It's got humour, intrigue and pathos and I'll definitely carry on reading.
Best wishes,
Finn view book

Dear Su Dan,
Thank you for your comments on The Red Bird. I've started reading Seasons. The first chapter is enough for me to put it on my shelf. It's got humour, intrigue and pathos and I'll definitely carry on reading.
Best wishes,
Finn view book

Dear Brian,
Thanks very much for your comment. I hope you will read more of the book, despite being put off by the introductory passages. After I'd finished the book, I realised I would have to insert something along these lines at the beginning, to help readers understand what happens. If you ever read the whole thing, you may see what I mean. I actually spent a long time thinking about this very issue. When you see it in book form, it's different, as these paragraphs don't take up much room, then there's an illustration (the book itself is illustrated), and it moves quickly on to the narrative. There are no other bits like it and the rest of the book just reads like a story, but on different levels.
Anyway, I really appreciate your interest and hope you'll read on.
Best wishes,
Finn

The pitch suggests that this tale has an unusual structure and I found the first few paragraphs a barrier to the story itself. I suspect many authonomists have opened the first page and moved on. I would start this on the first line of chapter one and try and simplify the pitch down to Rosa and Orlando. There is a poetic heart to the narrative of these two and I suspect some delight in following them through the ingenious structure of the story you are telling.On my W/L for a return look

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