REGENEration by pat barker (1991)
On 18 Feb we discussed 'Regeneration' by Pat Barker (1991). This is the first part of a trilogy and therefore like all good trilogies it lacks a very satisfying ending. That aside, the vast majority of the group thought it a great book 'up there with Sebastian Faulks' 'Birdsong''.
It's a bit hard to get into and you won't find expansive descriptive passages; what you will find are conversations between the characters that draw them into being, interspersed with minimal details of place and some really powerful language e.g. 'the state devouring its young' which is a very apposite description of the mass slaughter of WW1.
Pat Barker doesn't hold back from portraying some of the real horrors of the trenches in a very human context. Nor does she hold back from the horrors of doctors 'curing' patients by inflicting further trauma on them.
The book is well researched and powerfully written, and there are also subtle sub-texts like the way that characters' homosexual inclinations are dealt with, along with social class, and the nature of courage.
The character of Dr Rivers was loosely based on the real Dr. W.H.R. Rivers, a psychiatrist at the shell-shock hospital Craiglockhart, in Edinburgh, from 1916–1917 (although Barker's accounts of his discussions, thoughts, and moral dilemmas are entirely fictional). He was a man ahead of his time. You may not have heard of him but are likely to know of some of his patients included in the novel, like the poets Siegfried Sassoon, Robert Graves, and the more shadowy Wilfred Owen. Excerpts of their poetry dot the book and using known individuals was an interesting choice for Barker to make.
Only one member of our group gave this book a thumbs down. Almost all of us intend to read more by Pat Barker and some have already bought - or ordered from Library services - the second book in the trilogy, 'The Eye in the Door' (1993). The final part is 'The Ghost Road' (1995). There's also a film of 'Regeneration' (1997), with a very starry cast including Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, and Jonny Lee Miller.
We send healing vibes to Pam, and welcome Diane to our group.
