Regeneration by Pat Barker Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Regeneration
Book Review: Quite brilliant, but not personally moving
Summary: 4 Stars
Barker's novel is a most impressive anti-war novel, wonderfully written and meticulously accurate in its characters' psychoanalysis. I occasionally had some trouble enagaing with the story, but that is most likely a result of my personal preferences (and non-preferences). I lean more toward plot driven tales, but this should delight anyone who prefer character driven fiction.Book Review: Reality was better
Summary: 1 Stars
Sorry, but I can't see what this superficial fictional treatment added to the already rich mix of Sassoon's own (internally inconsistent, or just honestly perspectivist?) memoirs and Max Egremont's probing, nuanced telling in his biography of Sassoon. The sharpness and humanity of Egremont's insights make this novel seem banal by comparison.Book Review: Regeneration
Summary: 5 Stars
"Remember, you must behave as becomes the hero I expect you to be."
In Regeneration, by Pat Barker, Dr. Rivers, a brilliant psychologist is given the task of "curing" the soldiers sent to his mental institute so they can return to service. Ironically, these mental problems are caused by their service in WWI. The story tells of a brilliant psychologist, Rivers, and his treatment of several patients, the most important of which is Siegfried Sassoon, the published War poet who was taken to the Craiglockart Mental Institution for his written protest against the War. Rivers is forced to treat Sassoon, who is not remotely insane, but possibly saner in recognizing the evil of the War, which is evident in all the patients he treats. Sassoon forces Rivers to come to terms with his own work and mission at Craiglockart. Rivers' analysis of Sassoon's attitude towards the War shows Rivers the futility of Sassoon's protest. By refusing to participate in the War, Sassoon is not only breaking the oath he took when he entered the service, but because he is not serving, he is similar to the leaders and generals prolonging the War from afar.
Pat Barker expertly illustrates the horrors of the War through its victims. Regeneration is so blunt, open, and horrific that it forces us to square with the terror and outrage of this tragedy, and discover our real feelings on the conflict in the world today. WWI is the perfect setting for this dramatic anti-war book. The author uses the destructive weapons, real people, and extreme mental breakdowns to emphasize what these men went through.
There is a poem by Wilfred Owens, a character in the book and friend to Siegfried Sassoon, which mirrors the brutal horror and futility of the War.
So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And stretched forth the knife to slay his son.
When lo! an Angel called him out of heaven;
Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,
Neither do anything to him, thy son.
Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,
A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.
Book Review: Regeneration
Summary: 3 Stars
Regeneration was an insightful book, but it did not completely captivate me. In it, a man (Siegfried Sassoon) is sent to a psychiatric hospital for soldiers in WWI, only because he had realized that the war he was fighting is essentially useless, that the reason for the war has disappeared, and that the people dying there, are not dying for a real cause. Dr. Rivers treats the patients at the hospital and he meets with Sassoon and it is his job to prepare him to be sent back to war. At the hospital the reader sees the other soldiers wounded physically and mentally from the war and the reader and Dr. Rivers begin to wonder if maybe Sassoon is right. Though the book was not my personal favorite it did make me think about how justifiable war is.Book Review: Regeneration
Summary: 4 Stars
This book resonated with me because the characters are very vivid and I connected with them. Although the plot line seemed to drag at times, the book was still a very good reflection on the horrors of world war one. I liked the fact that it was told by a soldier opposed to war rather than a soldier who was only fighting for the honor. Sassoon is a fantastic character for the book and it is great that he was an actual person. I highly recommend reading Regeneration.