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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
“The silence deepened, like a fall of snow, accumulating second by second, flake by flake, each flake by itself inconsiderable, until everything is transformed.”
Regeneration, undoubtedly Barker’s most notable work, follows several World War I soldiers admitted to a mental facility in England after fighting on the French front. One of them is Siegfried Sassoon, who, convinced by pacifists like renowned philosopher Bertrand Russell, abandons the war for moral reasons, later deciding to focus on writing poetry from his room at the mental institution. Other characters include Owen, an aspiring poet and loyal follower of Sassoon, and Rivers, an older, overstressed, and war-torn anthropologist in charge of the institution.
A novel based on true events, Regeneration explores many themes that were present in the minds of those who fought in the Great War, such as loyalty, power, death, and trauma. Among many other themes, there is an honest, at times crude, depiction of homosexuality in the early 1900s, and mental illness caused by inhumane experiences in the war.
That said, this book is not for everyone, as the latter half of the book can become tedious and slow-paced. It is full of long dialogues on existential and thought-provoking topics, and the whole novel is character-centered, therefore not making it entertaining or engaging for most audiences.
And started blazing wildly . . . then a bang
Crumpled and spun him sideways, knocked him out
To grunt and wriggle: none heeded him; he choked
And fought the flapping veils of smothering gloom,
Lost in a blurred confusion of yells and groans . . .
Down, and down, and down, he sank and drowned,
Bleeding to death. The counter-attack had failed.
— Siegfried Sassoon, 1918
so much detail but at the same time not enough, hard to follow and prior was the only interesting character.
"A society that devours its own young deserves no automatic or unquestioning allegiance". Pat Barker
Regeneration is set in World War I-era Britain, but its insights into the effects of war on those who fight it are as relevant today as they were then. Barker's storytelling style recalls the stark prose of Hemingway's war novels, but is warmer and more sympathetic towards its shellshocked characters. A quietly devastating reading experience. Looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy.
challenging
dark
reflective
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:
Complicated
read this for uni —> honestly not that bad of a book, i just have zero interest in it
challenging
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Historical fiction so real that it could be the truth. The audio I listened seemed to miss some of the nuance of Barkers style, and the story is a slow one, but otherwise I enjoyed it. Siegfried Sassoon is an interesting man and Dr Rivers even more so.
I had to read this for uni and while I did not enjoy the experience that much, it was a good and insightful book.