Birdy - William Wharton

His shattered face swathed in bandages from a series of reconstructive surgeries, Al Columbato leaves one military hospital for another, this time not for treatment, but to help a childhood friend. When he arrives even Al, well used to Birdy's strangeness, is shocked at his condition. Birdy is in a secure mental unit in a catatonic state, crouched upon the floor unmoving, unable even to feed himself. It is Al's task, given to him by the hospital psychiatrist Dr Weiss, to talk to Birdy, to try to rouse him from his stupor. The two boys have been friends for years, the closest friends imaginable. But war separated them and now that it is over they are together ...  Read the complete review