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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Possibly a bit too much detail at times, not all to taste! The last paragraph in particular, was in some respects haunting, and worthy of 4-stars, but other areas lowered the book in my estimation. The descriptions of Rivers' experiences in younger life, particularly when he travelled abroad and encountered such unrecognisable beliefs was fascinating!
I put this one off because I knew it would kick me in the stomach. It certainly did.
This book brings the trilogy - a trio of books highly engaging and deeply important - to a crashing end. Barker returns to her characters Rivers and Prior, now well-loved by her readers, and uses them to explore the messy, stunted end of the war and the human debris it left in its wake as it stumbled to an end.
By splitting the narrative between protagonists, and through time, Barker emphasises the sense of fragmentation that governed the soldiers' war experience. Her individuals are caught between home - the familiar - and the front, a strange place of in-betweenness where normal social codes broke down and new ones sprung up. They negotiate this unstable territory whilst simultaneously coming to terms with experiences of cruelty, violence and needless destruction.
Barker's parallel narrative of River's fieldwork in Melanesia stands beside Prior's stunted diary entries to create a broader picture of how war works within societies; and what purpose, if any, it serves. As Rivers looks back on his time with an unfamiliar society, where he lived as a vulnerable stranger, his patient Prior is thrust back into the line of fire. Their narratives converge, diverge, then finally come back together for Barker's dramatic finish. Gripping.
By splitting the narrative between protagonists, and through time, Barker emphasises the sense of fragmentation that governed the soldiers' war experience. Her individuals are caught between home - the familiar - and the front, a strange place of in-betweenness where normal social codes broke down and new ones sprung up. They negotiate this unstable territory whilst simultaneously coming to terms with experiences of cruelty, violence and needless destruction.
Barker's parallel narrative of River's fieldwork in Melanesia stands beside Prior's stunted diary entries to create a broader picture of how war works within societies; and what purpose, if any, it serves. As Rivers looks back on his time with an unfamiliar society, where he lived as a vulnerable stranger, his patient Prior is thrust back into the line of fire. Their narratives converge, diverge, then finally come back together for Barker's dramatic finish. Gripping.
I read this trilogy in high school or college, I can't remember. & while I liked them well enough then, I LOVED them now. These books hit so many things I am fascinated by: war, the futility of WWI in particular, masculinity, manly comradeship, homosexuality, class distinctions (& the crossing of those barriers), poetry, shellshock. Plus, billy prior is as good an anti-hero as you could hope to find. You know he is a total jerk, but you are fascinated (& in my case, love him) anyway. They are an amazing trilogy of books, & I'm sorry it's over (until I read it again in another 14 years or so).
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes