Reviews

Noonday by Pat Barker

collismeanshill's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I didn’t read the first two books of the trilogy so there might be parts with more meaning than I realize, but overall I think I got the major impact of the book. Solid book by a consistently good author. Good read. 

schopflin's review against another edition

4.0

For some reason I didn't like Still Life at all and I didn't know this was in the series when I picked it up. But it's excellent - a brilliant corrective to anyone who romanticises world war 2, or marriage for that matter.

claredesausmarez's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

abookishtype's review against another edition

1.0

The iconic phrase from London’s Blitz was “Keep Calm and Carry On.” The media of the time gives us one version of life during one of the longest sustained bombing campaigns in history, of Londoners with cheerful grins giving Hitler the double fingers (usually metaphorically, because they are English) or serving up a cup of tea in an air raid shelter. The characters in Noonday, by Pat Barker, are not particularly calm and are not carrying on very well...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.

booktwitcher23's review against another edition

3.0

The Life class series has not been as good as the Regeneration series, but it has been interesting to follow the characters through the two wars.

lovmelovmycats's review against another edition

4.0

I still love Pat Barker. I dislike the summary they wrote on the back of my copy. I feel depressed. This book is pretty depressing. I love the last line though ❤️

halkon's review against another edition

4.0

Big fan of this book because the rapist gets his comeuppance almost immediately.

maebinnig's review

4.0

Noonday is surprisingly hopeful given its dreary setting. It's World War II London and bombs are dropping so regularly that it's more or less business as usual; there's more emotional angst over family drama than about, you know, people getting blown up. But that's life, isn't it? Tragedy is hard to process on such a massive scale; it makes more sense to focus on the more immediate, manageable issues.

The detail in this book is exquisite and brilliantly rendered. Oh, and it is So Very British. I honestly got a bit thrown off by the slang at times. Regardless, it smacks of authenticity.

I was at a disadvantage with this book because it's the third in a trilogy and I haven't read the first two. It can be read as a stand-alone--I was never confused about what was going on--but I felt somehow that I was missing an important emotional core. Everything related to Toby, and to a lesser extent the ending with Kit, felt very meaningful in a way that I didn't get. Since the second book is called "Toby's Room," I'm betting I would feel more feelings about him had I read it.

(I received this book for free through a Goodreads giveaway.)

suebarsby's review

4.0

I'm not sure this needed the medium or the spirit world bit in it, but the rest was a fitting end to this trilogy.