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The Eye in the Door Pat Barker 9780452272729 Books

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The Eye in the Door Pat Barker 9780452272729 Books

In Pat Barker's sequel to Regeneration, Billy Prior is the primary focus of the story rather than Sigfried Sassoon. This change of focus allows her to manipulate, examine and critique a wider number of issues: social class (Prior is of working-class origins, but can "pass" for a gentleman), of sexuality (he is enthusiastically bi-sexual), and of course the morality of war, as Prior is treated by Army psychiastrist Dr. Rivers who continues to wrestle with the ethical delimna of "curing" the shell-shocked only to return them to the hellish situation that created their nuroses in the first place.

In _Eye in the Door_ we get a stronger sense of who Dr. Rivers is (the character is loosely based on a real-life psychiatrist), but the primary focus of the story is Prior - a charming character with a wickedly sharp mind and a cynical outlook, the setting more in London than Craiglockhart hospital. As much as I liked Prior, I much preferred the back-and-forth between Sasson and Rivers that is such a crucial part of _Regeneration_. However, its not the characters that make this such a tremendous book (and such a powerful series), its Barker's social commentary: the waste of life in a pointless conflict; the place and role of women as objects - for sex and for labor asmunitions workers; of the differing attitudes towards (and between) social class. This is the real heart of the story. The glaring light under which Barker shows the inconsistencies and prejustices of the last century and her sharp critique of early 20th century British society earns the book five-stars.


Tags : The Eye in the Door [Pat Barker] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div> <b>The second installment in the Regeneration Trilogy</b>   It is the spring of 1918,Pat Barker,The Eye in the Door,Plume,0452272726,Literary,World War, 1914-1918;Great Britain;Fiction.,(William Halse Rivers),,1864-1922,1888-1967,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Fiction-Literary,GENERAL,General Adult,Great Britain,Historical - General,Rivers, W. H. R.,Sassoon, Siegfried,,World War, 1914-1918

The Eye in the Door Pat Barker 9780452272729 Books Reviews

The trilogy is the best depiction of the impact of trench warfare on the British office/poofter class I've read. The series strength lies in the use of detailed, insightful psychological analysis conducted by the real life Dr. W. H. R. Rivers and the inter-relation between the various patents and Rivers' own mental states. Particularly moving and prominent in this book, is Rivers' fight against barbaric methods of treatment popular at the time.
This is book two of the trilogy "Regeneration". The series explores the doctors and soldiers being treated for shell shock during World War I, especially the "conchies", conscientious objectors, and homosexuals. The doctors' job is to get them back in action.
All books in this trilogy are excellent and I learned things about the first World War that I had never heard of.
World War I London. Suffragetes and anti-war protesters are in prison being forced to inhabit cold cells in the nude. A painted eye in the door gazes in indifferent stare upon these prisoners of conscience. Overseas the war in the trenches has led to the slaughter of millions of Europe's finest young men and women.
This grim novel takes readers into the waste land of human struggle against the demons of war, hatred and psychic waste. The chief characters are Dr. William Rivers whose role is to care for the shell shocked and demoralized soliders of the British Army. Rivers deals with the traumatized officers who are cared by him at Craiglockhart hospital in Scotland, Rivers hates war but seeks to restore these broken men to strength. The men are then released to serve again in the insatiable iron maw of the French trenches. Rivers was a real historical figure who died in 1922.
The second major figure in Barker's novel is the fictional Billy Prior. Prior is a complex bisexual officer disillusioned by the war yet missing his battalion in France. He is being treated for his asthma and inability to communicate in Rivers' hospital. Prior is also spying for the Ministry of Munitions on antiwar figures such as a family he knew growing up in working class England. Homosexuals, pacifists and anyone who criticizes the government is in dangerous of government surveillance and imprisonment. Prior is a tragic figure torn by his service to the Crown and his sense of betrayal of his friends in the anti-war movement, He is an aristocrat who is having an affair with a fetching factory girl much to the displeasure of his family.
Siegfried Sassoon the real life trench poet plans to return to France as the novel ends. Dr. Rivers has been treating Sassoon who dared to criticize the mindless bloodletting in a public statement to the press.
Barker makes no authorial comment on these characters but lets the story speak its own antiwar message. Her style reminds one of Hemingway/D.H. Lawrence and Robert Graves (himself a character mentioned in the trilogy). Her trilogy won the prestigious Booker Prize
in 1995. The Booker is given to the best novel written by an English author during the year.
Pat Barker is a civilian who knows how to write about modern warfare. Her novels are sexually explicit which may turn off some readers. Anyone wanting to know the mindset of Great Britain in World War I should read these insightful fictional works by a first class novelist. Top notch!
While Regeneration was amazing, each book in the trilogy succeeds in its own way and I truly can't say which I liked the most. Pat Barker is one of the finest writers I have read in years, and I have read most of the classics, and most of the top literary books of the time. It is important to enjoy the British voice which is understated with a quiet dry humor and lots of subtext. The historical accuracy is impressive. I am a fan of the Brits but if you are not, and prefer Russian novels stylistically instead, then this book may not be for you. I had been warned that the WWI stuff was depressing to read, but I did not find this trilogy depressing in any way. The strength of the human spirit and the courage of the British was inspiring to read and Rivers is a character I wish I could have known in real life. Start with Regeneration before reading this book. You will be in for a great treat. Great on the /ipad because the online dictionary is handy and adds to the reading.
In Pat Barker's sequel to Regeneration, Billy Prior is the primary focus of the story rather than Sigfried Sassoon. This change of focus allows her to manipulate, examine and critique a wider number of issues social class (Prior is of working-class origins, but can "pass" for a gentleman), of sexuality (he is enthusiastically bi-sexual), and of course the morality of war, as Prior is treated by Army psychiastrist Dr. Rivers who continues to wrestle with the ethical delimna of "curing" the shell-shocked only to return them to the hellish situation that created their nuroses in the first place.

In _Eye in the Door_ we get a stronger sense of who Dr. Rivers is (the character is loosely based on a real-life psychiatrist), but the primary focus of the story is Prior - a charming character with a wickedly sharp mind and a cynical outlook, the setting more in London than Craiglockhart hospital. As much as I liked Prior, I much preferred the back-and-forth between Sasson and Rivers that is such a crucial part of _Regeneration_. However, its not the characters that make this such a tremendous book (and such a powerful series), its Barker's social commentary the waste of life in a pointless conflict; the place and role of women as objects - for sex and for labor asmunitions workers; of the differing attitudes towards (and between) social class. This is the real heart of the story. The glaring light under which Barker shows the inconsistencies and prejustices of the last century and her sharp critique of early 20th century British society earns the book five-stars.