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jackieeh 's review for:

The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
5.0

12/27/21:
The last few beats of this story remain among the greatest of all time, and so excruciating. God.

4/16/20:
Upgrading to five stars. Oof, my dudes. Oof. "It isn't worth it" indeed. So much of this is still so uncomfortably resonant, which is both a joy and a tragedy. Also I can't believe there was ever a time I didn't love Billy Prior with my entire soul.

9/11/09:
I had my mother's patented Impending Sense of Doom the whole time I read this, and what do you know, I was right. Billy Prior continued to be an interesting character with complex motivations, and I enjoyed his diary.
I wasn't sure what the purpose of all Rivers' flashbacks to Lewis Carrol's presence in his childhood was, but they were well done, so for the most part I was able to overlook my confusion.
I think the reason I liked the second two books better than the first one was that Sassoon was a fairly dull character, and the trilogy picked up steam after he ceased to be the focal point.