Month of October 2022 - Spooky Classics

The Birds by Frank Baker (1936; 2021 Kindle Edition) 186 pages.

Setting: Mid-1930’s London

2.5 stars rounded up. I actually found the story a little confusing. It seemed to have gone in two directions. In the first 1/2 of the book, the author strongly lead you to believe there was something symbolic regarding the birds and an impending war, such as World War II, that was looming over London. He even mentions a small man in Germany, one who was known to prosecute Jews, spewing his propaganda to the masses when suddenly one of “the birds” flew over and pooped on his head. The people wanted to laugh, they lightly started snickering, when the soldiers hollered and warned them to be quiet. The man was too proud to even wipe off the bird poop dripping from his head and just kept rattling on.

The last half of the book read as if God had let loose the birds, along with Satan, upon, practically, the whole world. The storyteller was telling his story from his point-of-view while in London, the "City". There was a bird for every person; therefore, there were millions of birds. Each person had to face their own Demons inside themselves, or else the bird…the demon…would attack and kill them. The second wave of birds actually attacked a filled Cathedral full of people praying inside, killing even the clergies who had demons of their own that they could not face. Only two men, the storyteller, who was a young man at the time, and, presumably, Satan, made it out alive. He had faced his demons a few days earlier, and was free from any bird following him around or attacking him again. Satan even converses with him right outside the church doors as hundreds are dead, dying and fighting off the bird of their demons.

Now, in my opinion, if the author had focused on events that lead up to this second part, instead of just talking, talking, talking about his miserable life as a youth in an unsure world, and leading me astray to believe something else is going on, the story would have been 100% better.

An 89 year old man is telling his granddaughter the story of how London used to be before “the birds” arrived, which seemed very dystopian. But, bits and pieces of this story are, in fact, based on Frank Baker’s real life. His father really was a Marine Insurance Agent, and Frank, himself, did live with his parents as he commuted back and forth to work for five years as a clerk in marine insurance. And he really did write poetry and was into the arts. The Preface to this eBook lets you in on a lot of what is true to Frank’s real life. There's a lot more.

What’s interesting, is the fact that Frank Baker’s rendition of The Birds, although the first to be published, was, apparently, scarcely known. This was his second book to be published. The first one wasn't very successful either. He only sold 300, or 350, copies of The Birds. It depends on which source you read.

Then, Alfred Hitchcock produced the movie “The Birds” based on Daphne du Maurier’s rendition written in 1952. Frank wanted to sue Universal Studios, but was advised against it by his lawyer because he couldn’t really prove it since the stories were quite different. One source claims that Frank confronted Daphne about her story, and she claimed to have never even read his story. But, later did read it and told him that his story ran much deeper than her own. Whether true or not, who can say for sure.

In any case, here are the different publications of “The Birds”:

1936 - Frank Baker, original (published by Peter Davies)

1952 - Daphne Du Maurier (happens to be a cousin to Peter Davies……Hmmm!)

1963 - Alfred Hitchcock’s movie: The Birds (based on Daphne’s novel…which some sources say she literally detested the movie)

1964 - Frank Baker, 2nd publishing (Panther), was SUPPOSE to include all his corrections and changes and was labeled “revised edition”, but the publishers did not include any of the revisions.

2021 - Frank Baker, 3rd publishing (Little, Brown & Co), with all corrections and changes*. This eBook contains all the changes that were made, which were provided digitally from Frank Baker’s grandson, Gabriel Hughes.

*NOTE: These changes did not change the story. They were basic changes, eliminating repetitive sentences and grammatical errors, resulting in just a little shorter story.

Frank’s story was alright. I think I found it more interesting to read when I found out that some of this was based on his real life, probably more than we suspect, but pawned off as fiction...especially some of the inner turmoils inside of his own mind.

Next, I’ll read Daphne’s short story to see which one I like better, and to see if there are any similarities. Then, I’ll watch Alfred Hitchcock’s movie. ( )

“Face downwards . . . face downwards. Always I have a picture of people lying on the ground with their faces buried away from the terror above them. Yes, the world was going mad.”

Somehow this novel from 1936 feels far more modern and American than it is. Which is to say, that it could’ve been written today. By an American. Which it isn’t. Not one micron. It’s Brits all the way: from the original to the Daphne du Maurier novella to the classic film directed by Hitchcock. In Baker’s autobiography, he cites Machen’s “The Terror” as an influence. Another goddamn Brit! Which I can totally see, even if that story was wet with Welsh fog and pungent with Butternut Burley smoke. What blend is this?! Exactly. Pick one punctuation, please. All the while the controversy of du Maurier pilfering from Baker’s novel playing second violin behind the folding screen. Has this been proved? Of course not. But the power of a story with supernatural agents acting upon mundane citizens in a very real world is just as undeniable in 1917 as it was in 1936 as it was in 1963 as it will continue to be so beyond 2017. The animals will rise! Mankind’s basest natures will be exposed by “all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild”. We are not as dominant as we would believe. Or, at least not indefinitely. “The birds of the heavens . . .”

Baker’s novel flew ahead of its time on winds jetting just along the earth’s surface: bisexuality, homosexuality. The number of pages devoted to these personal subjects, and to the growing pains of a young man and an impending disaster, was quite unexpected. Not so much subtextual as intertextual; at least when considering the typical suppression of sexuality in its era. Those subcutaneous desires impossible to cover once nature’s true beast has shed its skin. They will rise!

The climactic scene in St. Paul’s Cathedral reminded me of a similar church scene in 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘯: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦—well, with birds of course, and without Samuel L. Jackson (then it would’ve felt uncannily American). Was the Devil involved? The devils within ourselves? Were those birds just sick of getting force-fed corn and decided to shit all over humanity? Now I don’t want to take anything away from Mrs. du Maurier’s nuanced prose, and I haven’t read her own avian thriller (yet), but I would be terrifically surprised if she would’ve stuffed social commentary and sexual repression between such grisly scenes with such ease.

“I do not know. But I am glad he lived so long, to enjoy all those blessings of life which we hold here, unclouded by the miseries which engulfed the old world, in the days before the Birds came.” ( )