The Birds

Written by Daphne du Maurier and BBC

Narrated by Full Cast

Here is a BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Daphne du Maurier's classic tale of horror. The idea for this famous story came to du Maurier one day when she was walking across to a farm from her house. She saw a farmer busily ploughing a field while above him the seagulls were diving and wheeling. She developed an idea about the birds becoming hostile and attacking him.In her story, the birds become hostile after a harsh winter with little food. First the seagulls, then birds of prey, and finally even small birds all turn against mankind. The nightmarish vision appealed to Alfred Hitchcock, who turned it into the celebrated film.
©2014 Audible, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BBC Digital Audio
• Release date: Jun 4, 2007
• ISBN: 9781405667609

Daphne du Maurier

Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) was an English writer, biographer, and playwright born in London. Her debut novel, The Loving Spirit was published in 1931. Her fifth novel, Rebecca, published in 1938, solidified her as one of the most popular writers of the 20th century. Many of her works were adapted for the screen, including the novels Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, My Cousin Rachel, and the short stories, “Don’t Look Now” and “The Birds.” Du Maurier grew up and spent much of her life in Cornwall, the setting for many of her books and stories. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1969.

Reviews for The Birds

[darrenelliott_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A famous film, directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock, was based on this short story. It's a very simple idea - for some reason, birds begin to attack humans. Very little is explained, which is something I liked about it - I was still thinking about the book long after I finished reading it.
It is scary, and in places quite gory, so if you don't like horror stories avoid this book.

[aya7_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A farmer lived near the sea with his family.He liked watching birds in the beach.One winter,there were much more birds than usual and they made noises.And they started attacking people.Now the bird was dangerous animal.
So scary story.There is fear of death close to ordinary life.