Reviews

Double Vision by Pat Barker

devinelybookish's review against another edition

3.0

Not a genre I would usually read but interesting nonetheless.
What I liked about this book was the relationship dynamics and the ability to hold the readers attention with the tension. The secrets and plot of the different characters was engaging and entertaining.
However, sometimes I felt there was a lack of description when it was needed. It felt rushed and only after continuing to read did I understand what was going on. Also, some of the questions raised in the book were not completely answered. I'm not sure if the ambiguity is a good or a bad thing.

ruta_crnoja's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

smemmott's review against another edition

4.0

Great feeling of tension and uncertainly - which lead to a happier ending than I expected. I don't mean that as a criticism, because I actually found it interested that Barker managed to surprise me.

eleong's review against another edition

3.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel -- set in the events of 9/11, the novel dealt with the aftermath of covering war and how the individual characters swirled around one another and yet were truly alone in their anxieties and fears. Barker has a lovely way of letting her readers get to know the characters by having other characters react and describe them. This is a novel about very lonely people, lonely by choice and by circumstance. Each has glimpses of moving past their grief and, in a way, their pasts but those moments are short-lived and rare.

themountaingoats's review against another edition

i feel like i’m already forgetting what happens in this book. we needed more kate tbh

quiche12's review against another edition

3.0

Not the best of Pat Barker's works. Lacked the emotional punch of her other works

petekeeley's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

booktwitcher23's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

3.25

shelleyanderson4127's review against another edition

4.0

Few people can write about violence like Barker. A chilling, thoughtful book.

janebranson's review against another edition

4.0

I felt this book was mis-described in the blurb. It's a very good read, but it doesn't quite do the things claimed for it; it does other great things instead. Particularly interesting is the exploration of how war is represented, particularly in photographic art. This widens out, as one of the characters is a foreign correspondent and one is a sculptor, so that some general ideas about the hows and whys of art are also touched on. There is also a more uncomfortable thread about crime and the possibility of rehabilitation, and a range of more domestic issues also pop up - parenting, the value of different types of work, marital failure. All this is played out amongst a set of characters who feel, when you list them like this, a bit like the cast of a Miss Marple drama - the village vicar, the vicar's admirer, the vicar's nubile daughter, the doctor etc. I really enjoyed it, especially the narrative voice, which manages to be very authentic even while shifting between several close to third-person perspectives.