... A pacifist by inclination, the whole topic of war is one of those things I find repugnant and fascinating at the same time - or is that just another example of my sick and twisted mind?
I was loaned 'Regeneration' by a friend as a swap for 'Birdsong' by Sebatian Faulks. Having heard ... Read review
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Advantages: Unputdownable Disadvantages: It's grim at times
The insanity that was the First World War has fascinated me ever since I studied the War Poets as part of my GCSE English more years ago than I care to remember. A pacifist by inclination, the whole topic of war is one of those things I find repugnant and fascinating at the same time - or is that just another example of my sick and twisted mind?
I was loaned 'Regeneration' by a friend as a swap for 'Birdsong' by Sebatian Faulks. Having ... ...quite a few years, I was wary of the book failing to live up to my high expectations. Plus, in my mind, I had already half convinced myself that it could not possibly be as powerful as 'Birdsong'. I was wrong. And I was pleased to be proved wrong - for a change!
The action of the book is set in the Craiglockheart institution in Scotland - a place where psychologically damaged soldiers were sent from the frontlines in order to be 'cured' ... more
The insanity that was the First World War has fascinated me ever since I studied the War Poets as part of my GCSE English more years ago than I care to remember. A pacifist by inclination, the whole topic of war is one of those things I find repugnant and fascinating at the same time - or is that just another example of my sick and twisted mind?
I was loaned 'Regeneration' by a friend as a swap for 'Birdsong' by Sebatian Faulks. Having heard about this book and intended to read it for quite a few years, I was wary of the book failing to live up to my high expectations. Plus, in my mind, I had already half convinced myself that it could not possibly be as powerful as 'Birdsong'. I was wrong. And I was pleased to be proved wrong - for a change!
The action of the book is set in the Craiglockheart institution in Scotland - a place where psychologically damaged soldiers were sent from the frontlines in order to be 'cured' so that they could be sent back to the frontline as more cannon fodder. The fact that these places existed sickened me to my stomach - how could the establishment be so inhumane? Then I remember what prawns were in charge of the WW1 effort and I am no longer surprised. The book centres around the stay of a rather well-known literary figure, Siegfried Sassoon, who is sent there to be 'cured' by the extremely efficacious Doctor Rivers - the psychotherapist who expertly cured the men of their shell-shock / post-traumatic-stress-syndrome / fear of being killed. Sasson is clearly not mad, but is sent to Rivers as a result of his famous 'pacifist declaration', as an alternative to his being court-martialed.
This relationship, between poet and psychiatrist, is the pivotal relationship of the novel. It is ironic that, through his (very sane, very rational) conversations with Sassoon, Rivers comes to question not only his role in the sending psychologically damaged men back to the front line, but the whole war effort. Barker's sensitivity in portraying this relationship is fantastic. Sassoon is not the wholly likeable war-hero good guy we the readers may like to see him as - he is evidently self-centred in that way that the privileged, monied classes of the time were. Similarly Rivers, the Demon Head Shrinker, is much more humane and sensitive than any man in his position can afford to be. This accentuated when Rivers is contrasted starkly with a doctor in London who thinks nothing of using electro-shock 'treatment' on the shell-shocked soldiers, repeatedly electrocuting one individual until he regained the power of speech!
There are so many other characters within the novel who illicit sympathy from the reader for the horrendous experiences they were party to during their time in the trenches. Barker's vivid description and detail paints pictures in your mind that stay with you long after you put the book down. Magic - in a haunting sort of way. A particularly magical episode is the part when Sassoon helps a young soldier by the name of Owen redraft one of his poems, called, I do believe 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'. For literary buffs like me with a panchant for war poetry, this sends tingles down your spine when you recall that, yes, the poem was redrafted quite significantly by Owen, who did meet Sasson at around this time.
This book does not dress up the horrors of war, and it does not try to erase the fear and horror witnessed and felt by the 'heroes' of war. Nor does it end with some pat 'Oh, but it was alright in the end' conclusion - how could it, when history tells us otherwise? In contrast to 'Birdsong', which graphically describes the horrors of life in (and underneath) the trenches, 'Regeneration' deals solely with effects this war had on the minds of the ordinary men who were told by their families and the establishment 'Dulce et Decorum Est, Pro Patria Mori'.
Advantages: Genuinely intriguing, fiction but with a lot of fact, informative Disadvantages: Quite sad in places
A book about war, through and through. If you're not interested in the World War I time period then this won't hold a lot of interest for you. If you're an avid fan of all war time books, then great. But if you're not entirely keen on them but not averse to them either, then I'd give this one a go...
War poet Siegfried Sassoon makes a stand against the war and is sent to a hospital to help 'cure' him, as friends and relatives think it would be easier ... ...carry on standing up against the war, in case he is court marshalled. Sassoon isn't too happy about this. Rivers, the main psychiatrist at the hospital, develops some rather close relationships with his patients, Siegfried included- not necessarily in the sense that they become friends, but in the sense that he cares deeply about him, and at the end of the book has to come to terms with Sassoon's decisions.
We also meet other patients at the hospital, ...
wicked_witch_89 24.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker
Advantages: Its a great book- deep if you want it to be. Disadvantages: Could be a bit depressing if you let it be.
...like a true litterary genius, Regeneration does not have to be a study into the problems of modern society, it is a fascinating, emotive novel, which will make you laugh and cry (if you're female) of course not if you're male- after all you really ought not to show emotion. Having written about the topics Barker addresses, I realise that Regeneration sounds like an essay, the book bashes you over the head with morality; to the contrary. Barker introduces ... ...litterary level. With its different levels there will be one for you. I suggest you read it, but thats just my opinion- thats what we're all about! Regeneration is part of a trilogy, but I haven't had enough of reading Regeneration to move on to the others yet! ...
princess_tallulah 20.02.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker
Advantages: incredibly deep, very readable Disadvantages: none!
As someone who has studied in detail many novels, memoirs and poetry relating to the Great War, Pat Barker's "Regeneration" still stands out to me as one of the most detailed, well-researched and imaginative books on the theme. Set in Craiglockhart Mental Hospital just after Siegfried Sassoon's infamous protest against the continuance of the war, Barker chooses to explore the emotional conflicts and changing perceptions of war, beautifully blending ... ...and Dr William Rivers with the characters of her own creation. Indeed, the psychological realism and complexity of each of these characters is unrivalled in most modern fiction, and we are shown a different side of warfare as these men take the long road from shellshock and trauma to recovery, aided by the wonderfully insightful and philosophical character of Dr Rivers. Barker also takes us on a whirlwind tour of Enland in the latter stages of the ...
lexyloo 12.05.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker
...and i had to read Regeneration as part of my A2 english literature course. War literature is something i have never read or ever really been interested in but Pat Barker's book blew me away.
The mixture of fact and fiction in the book works perfectly. Barker uses real people and created a realistic story around them and has created characters to help bring out other sides to them.
Prior is my favorite character in the book as we see as one of the ... ...interview that he was 'designed to irritate Rivers' and that is exactly what he does because he is a cocky, working class officer who almost flirts with Rivers to show off his bi-sexuality. There are many important themes explored in the book, one of which is women in the war. It isnt a main plot in the book but Sarah Lumb and her munitionette friends opened my eyes to see how war was for women as it isnt something one often connects with the war ...
SixthFormer 30.11.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker
Advantages: moving, historically accurate, well-rounded characters Disadvantages: it might make you want to cry
Regeneration is set in a WWI psychiatric hospital - Craiglockhart in Scotland. It's central character is probably Dr. Rivers, focusing on his relationships with his patients and their return to health.
It starts with Siegfried Sassoon, the poet, who has been sent to Rivers because of his opposition to the war, despite the fact that he has fought in it and been awarded a medal for bravery. This affects Rivers' conscience, as he wonders if he can ... ...another patient, and one subplot is the friendship that grows between the two poets.
Another patient, and perhaps my favourite character for his attitude, is Billy Prior, a working-class boy who has become an officer. His 'battles' with Rivers were emotional, engaging, and sometimes funny. Despite being set in the first world war, this is not a book involving weapons or great battles. It doesn't deal with physical injury, but instead looks at the ...
ali_morag 16.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker
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Advantages: pschologically realistic characters, incredibly readable Disadvantages: certain strands of the later chapters drag
As someone who has studied in detail many novels, memoirs and poetry relating to the Great War, PatBarker's Regeneration trilogy still stands out to me as one of the most detailed, well-researched and imaginative books on the theme.
Set intially in Craiglockhart Mental Hospital, and later at various locations in wartime England and the treches, Barker chooses to explore the emotional conflicts and changing perceptions of warfare, beautifully blending her interpretation of real-life figures such as Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen Dr William Rivers with the characters of her own creation. Indeed, the psychological realism and complexity of each of these characters is unrivalled in most modern fiction, and we are shown a different side of warfare as these men take the long road from shellshock and trauma to recovery, aided by ...
This is the third book of PatBarkersRegeneration series about the first world war. In this final book Prior goes to the front, eventually, but not until the final peices of the picture of Britain at war are laid in place. All of the strands are woven together hear for a passionate, sad finale in the rivers of Northern France. Prior comes across the war poets again, inevitably, perhaps even predictably, and of course, there is no happy ending.
This whole series of books (trilogy is a bad word these days) is an excellent taste of a terrible time. Well worth the time to read. ...
Advantages: Essential reading for anyone interested in 20th century history Disadvantages: You won't be able to put it down
After reading PatBarkers 'Regeneration' Trilogy on the Great War I just had to go and dig out my well thumbed copy of Vera Brittain's excellent 'Testament of Youth'.
I first read this book when I was studying English Literature to A, level MANY years ago. When we were given the reading list I didn't think that I would enjoy this book at all, but how wrong I was, I loved every minute of it and every now and then the book is brought out to have another reading.
For those of you who don't know Vera Brittain was the mother of former MP Shirley Williams. She was the daughter of a stuffy middle-clasaed family that owned paper mills in Hanley and Cheddleton. When she was eighteen months old her family moved to Macclesfield in Cheshire and when she was 11 they moved again, to Buxton in Derbyshire - just across the Peninnes from ...
Product Information for "Regeneration - Pat Barker" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Historical Fiction
Title
Regeneration
Author
Pat Barker
ISBN
0140123083; 0140235213; 0140236236
Manufacturer's product description
When Dr William Rivers treats a patient at a mental hospital who has spoken out against World War I, the relationship that develops between them makes them debate the logic of their respective positions. Thus the doctor questions the sanity of the war which is his duty to return his patients to.
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