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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
A really interesting look at the psychological effects of WWI on soldiers. I put off reading this for a long time as I assumed it would be gloomy, but it really wasn't. It was just very, very moving. Aside from learning about the war in school, it's an era I know little about, and the similarities and differences from modern society were particularly interesting.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Compelling writing about war, trauma, and recovery. Not a whole lot of plot, though, so it elicited mixed feelings from me.
Trin got this as a present for me, telling me no more than that I should read it because I would love it. It's kind of scary how well she knows my tastes. Regeneration is the first of a trilogy of novels set during the Great War. This first novel centers on the poet Siegfried Sassoon and his time at a psychiatric hospital in Scotland, the place where he was sent to 'recover' under the psychiatrist W.H.R. Rivers after he began raising protests about the war.
There are no words for how much I adored this book. The characters are so perfectly drawn. It amazes me how good a grasp Barker seems to have on Sassoon's personality and motivations, and even those people of whom I hadn't heard before, like Rivers, seem tangible and real. The prose in the book is the real revelation. Simple, stark and bleak, it helps make a two hundred and fifty page long piece feel like an epic in novella form.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the book is Barker's insights into people and class conditions, into how we treat our wounded and our less-than-perfect, into the stupidity and pointlessness and heroism of war. There were a couple of points where I had to actually put the book down and go away and make a cup of tea in order to think over parts of the book.
"You must speak, but I shall not listen to anything you say."
Definitely one of the most impressive novels I've read in a long, long time, and highly recommended.
There are no words for how much I adored this book. The characters are so perfectly drawn. It amazes me how good a grasp Barker seems to have on Sassoon's personality and motivations, and even those people of whom I hadn't heard before, like Rivers, seem tangible and real. The prose in the book is the real revelation. Simple, stark and bleak, it helps make a two hundred and fifty page long piece feel like an epic in novella form.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the book is Barker's insights into people and class conditions, into how we treat our wounded and our less-than-perfect, into the stupidity and pointlessness and heroism of war. There were a couple of points where I had to actually put the book down and go away and make a cup of tea in order to think over parts of the book.
"You must speak, but I shall not listen to anything you say."
Definitely one of the most impressive novels I've read in a long, long time, and highly recommended.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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
This book is unique - standard writing in someway but mainly anchored on dialogue and relationships. The writing is so poetic or economical that I wished there was context and more detailed writing of certain events. The beauty of most sentences got me through when I just didn't feel compelled to continue. I love how this book addresses issue of manhood, sexuality and emotional acceptance and awareness. The book is also anchored in many historical figures and facts. I find that really disorienting and confusing but all in all she taking the history and adding dialogue and poetic detail.
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes