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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Loved this book (if that is the right turn of phrase for a book about the closing days of WW I). This brings the stories begun in the first two books to a satisfying close. Don't want to say too much because of the potential spoilers, but the ending worked and I can see why this book won the Booker prize. I highly recommend the whole of this series...amazing!
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Ghost Road, winner of the Booker Prize in 1995, is the final in a trilogy exploring the impact of World War One, particularly shell shock, on soldiers. I have not read the first two books and while this can be read as a stand-alone I could at times sense that I was missing out by not having the background and knowledge from the former books. This book focuses on two main characters. Billy Prior is a bisexual, working class officer who has recovered from shell shock, and volunteers to return to France rather than take a desk job out of a sense of loyalty to the men fighting there. Dr William Rivers, an actual person, is a psychiatrist who treats soldiers with shell shock. Before this he was an anthropologist/ethnologist who spent time on the Solomon Islands. When he suffers from the Spanish Flu, memories from the Solomons dominate his mind.
Barker’s effectiveness in depicting the horrific realities of warfare, her compassionate but accurate portrayal of shell shock, plus the callous way it was disregarded by some make this a harrowing read. Among the other things that stood out for me are the way Barker highlighted the class divide. Prior was especially conscious of and resentful towards it. She also does an excellent job combining the actual with the fictional, for instance the friendship between the real life war poet Wilfred Owen and the fictional Billy Prior. I think the biggest standout was the parallels, comparisons and contrasts that could be drawn between some aspects of Melanesian society and what occurred during World War One. This is a unique approach to critiquing British society’s attitude to warfare and makes The Ghost Road a worthy read.
This may not be my favourite Booker winning book by a woman, but it is undeniably well-written and thought provoking.
Barker’s effectiveness in depicting the horrific realities of warfare, her compassionate but accurate portrayal of shell shock, plus the callous way it was disregarded by some make this a harrowing read. Among the other things that stood out for me are the way Barker highlighted the class divide. Prior was especially conscious of and resentful towards it. She also does an excellent job combining the actual with the fictional, for instance the friendship between the real life war poet Wilfred Owen and the fictional Billy Prior. I think the biggest standout was the parallels, comparisons and contrasts that could be drawn between some aspects of Melanesian society and what occurred during World War One. This is a unique approach to critiquing British society’s attitude to warfare and makes The Ghost Road a worthy read.
This may not be my favourite Booker winning book by a woman, but it is undeniably well-written and thought provoking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Medical trauma, War
why? why do I do this to myself every year? why does god let us suffer
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I saw the ending coming, which perhaps made this a little less gripping than the first two books in the trilogy. There is a certain sense of inevitability to it which lessens the tension—though I suppose it's fitting, given the subject matter and the protagonists' characters. The prose is as lucid and vivid as ever, beautifully constructed, and I was very impressed with how skilfully Barker drew parallels between the collapse of the long nineteenth century and the decay of the Melanesian headhunter societies which Rivers had studied. It's subtly done, but I think proves a very effective comparison, and a very thought-provoking one. Overall, it's one of the most compelling trilogies I've ever read, and I would highly, highly recommend it.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes