Regeneration - Pat Barker

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 ...
...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 ...

Medusa 31.05.2001 (01.06.2001) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

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 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

...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 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

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 · Read full review
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 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

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 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

...war. Pat Barker writes ‘The Regeneration Trilogy’ in three stages, three books that deal with different aspects of WWI. Each book centres on an aspect of the war and burrows deep into fact and fiction giving a fully developed novel. ‘Regeneration’ is the first instalment in the trilogy. It centres on the mentality of soldiers dealing with the traumas of WWI and is mainly set in Craiglockhart war hospital. Once Barker has introduced the reader to ...
...the 3 books in the Regeneration Trilogy. · In Regeneration she begins with a soldiers declaration. It is a statement from Siegfried Sassoon saying that he is protesting against the war and its continuation and its horrific consequences ‘on behalf of those who are suffering’ he refuses to go on fighting in a war which he believes is being ‘deliberately prolonged by those who have the power to end it’. She jumps straight into the novel with this powerful ...

amyvollans 11.05.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

...the issues raised by war. Regeneration is the first in a trilogy of the same name - I strongly suggets that you read the other two - 'Eye in the Door' and 'The Ghost Road' - in the recommeneded order, as the story largely follows through - I bought them as a set in one book and loved it. It is addicting and fascinating, in a macarbe way - there are some scenes in the trilogy that you will be gripped by, while all the time knowing that this should ...

orpman 03.11.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker

This is a good book about warfare and its effects on the mind. The protagonist is suffering from shell shock and is locked up in a mental hospital in Scotland, with the powers that be keen to send him back to the front. En route he bumps into certain celebrated war poets (Sassoon, Owen) hence the main driver of the story. This is a time when the authorities are desparate to fill the gaps in the trenches and the worst atrocities of the war are occuring. ...

Saturn 14.08.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Regeneration - Pat Barker