Scan barcode
chalkletters's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
My first introduction to Pat Barker was during a mock exam, where I was presented with a portion of The Ghost Road and asked to analyse it. All I remember is that there was a tree, and maybe a body hanging from the tree, and I think some birds. It wasn’t a particularly compelling introduction to an author, I was mostly confused and stressed. Despite that, when I saw Life Class in a bookshop a few years later, I was intrigued enough to pick it up.
There are definitely things to like, starting with the descriptions. I haven’t read enough of Pat Barker’s work to know if she always uses artistic metaphors in her descriptions or whether its done in Life Class because all the perspective characters are artists. Either way, I enjoyed them. My feelings towards the characters themselves are more ambivalent. Elinor and Neville were mostly, but not unreservedly, sympathetic. Paul, the main character, had much greater lows, though not necessarily higher highs. I found his obsession with Teresa particularly annoying in this reread.
That said, the characters were still the best bit of Life Class, as far as I’m concerned. I honestly couldn’t tell you what the plot was, there was no strong sense of forward movement, and none of the characters develop particularly, despite being thrown into such dramatic circumstances as the First World War. I hadn’t realised until I went looking for an image of the cover that this was the beginning of a trilogy. Perhaps I should have, because the ending certainly failed to resolve much of anything.
Overall, there was enough in Life Class to intrigue me and make me want to read more of Pat Barker’s writing, but it wasn’t, in an of itself, an unqualified success.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Grief, Medical content, and Stalking
Minor: Death of parent and Domestic abuse
More...