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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
The third book of the trilogy seems as if it could stand on it's own. I can understand why this book, above the first two, won the Booker Prize. Going back and forth between Billy Prior's narrative in France and Rivers' memories as an anthropologist in the Torres Straits, Barker brings her point on war home. There is little difference between the head-hunting cultures in the Torres Straits and the barbaric war fought in Europe. The hypocrisy of England's disgust of the native "savageness" while sending a generation of men to die shines through the narrative.
The first book was still my favorite, mainly because it dealt with the psychological trauma in the setting of a "looney-bin," as Prior calls it. The intimate setting allowed us to see how much damage can really be done even if one survives the battlefield. The third book was a great ending to the trilogy, though the romantic in me wishes for a different ending.
The first book was still my favorite, mainly because it dealt with the psychological trauma in the setting of a "looney-bin," as Prior calls it. The intimate setting allowed us to see how much damage can really be done even if one survives the battlefield. The third book was a great ending to the trilogy, though the romantic in me wishes for a different ending.
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Everybody touched wood, crossed fingers, groped for lucky charms: all the small, protective devices of men who have no control over their own fate. No use, Prior thought. Somewhere, outside the range of human hearing, and yet heard by all of them, a clock had begun to tick.
i think it's unfair that you know the ending is inevitable but it still makes you cry :((
Regeneration, the first volume in ths trilogy, was unique, affecting and memorable. I'll combine the reviews of The Eye in the Door and The Ghost Road as I read them in one glob. And sadly, I didn't care much for either one. "Eye" was rather confusing to me, I kept losing track of the story and having to go back and reread to see what I missed, ultimately I realized that I had lost sympathy or whatever for the characters and was just finding the whole storyline plodding and dreary, fact based or no. I hoped Ghost Road would pick up the pace a bit. But no. In both books there are a few riveting moments, but not enough. And when every few pages in GR we have to flashback to Dr. Rivers' experiences with headhunters in the jungle I would sigh and run the risk of skipping something profound by skimming. I just read many five star raves of both books and feel like I must have missed something, so maybe I should be ignored here, I don't know. (Oh, and quite a few reviews warn of some rather raw sex scenes that pop up out of the blue. I actually appreciated them because they woke me up when I was leaning towards dozing off. Although they ARE pretty yucky.)
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
not sure what i think about the Eddystone storyline but otherwise as sharp and well-written as the previous two books in the trilogy, a fitting ending as well. it was actually nice to read this with the previous book fresh in mind because the three installments do actually build on each other.
not sure what i think about the Eddystone storyline but otherwise as sharp and well-written as the previous two books in the trilogy, a fitting ending as well. it was actually nice to read this with the previous book fresh in mind because the three installments do actually build on each other.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The final part of the Regeneration trilogy builds on the relationships established, here focussed more on Prior and Rivers, albeit separately for the most. It's an affecting, compassionate study of war, mental health and relationships, building with terrible yet understated intensity to the frankly devastating conclusion. The writing is so good as to be invisible. A great book and one day I hope to read all 3 again back to back.
3.5 stars. Overall I loved the Regeneration Trilogy, but this was my least favourite.