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The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
Feb. 18th, 2014 10:11 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
1918, the closing months of the war. Army psychiatrist William Rivers is increasingly concerned for the men who have been in his care – particularly Billy Prior, who is about to return to combat in France with young poet Wilfred Owen. As Rivers tries to make sense of what, if anything, he has done to help these injured man, Prior and Owen await the final battles in a war that has decimated a generation …
The Ghost Road is the Booker Prize-winning account of the devastating final months of the First World War.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Pat Barker’s Booker Prize winning conclusion to the REGENERATION TRILOGY is a thoughtful, moving novel that reflects on the duality demanded from the men involved in it. I particularly enjoyed Prior’s diary sections recounting his journey to the Front but Rivers’s experiences in Melanesia were equally moving as he seeks to understand the tribe he’s visiting. I did wish that there had been more scenes with Sarah, although the encounters with her family are effective and give some much needed humour. As with the earlier books, there is a sameness to some of the characters but Prior and Rivers have enough to depth to carry you through to the sad end. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this and will check out Barker’s other World War I novels.
1918, the closing months of the war. Army psychiatrist William Rivers is increasingly concerned for the men who have been in his care – particularly Billy Prior, who is about to return to combat in France with young poet Wilfred Owen. As Rivers tries to make sense of what, if anything, he has done to help these injured man, Prior and Owen await the final battles in a war that has decimated a generation …
The Ghost Road is the Booker Prize-winning account of the devastating final months of the First World War.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Pat Barker’s Booker Prize winning conclusion to the REGENERATION TRILOGY is a thoughtful, moving novel that reflects on the duality demanded from the men involved in it. I particularly enjoyed Prior’s diary sections recounting his journey to the Front but Rivers’s experiences in Melanesia were equally moving as he seeks to understand the tribe he’s visiting. I did wish that there had been more scenes with Sarah, although the encounters with her family are effective and give some much needed humour. As with the earlier books, there is a sameness to some of the characters but Prior and Rivers have enough to depth to carry you through to the sad end. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this and will check out Barker’s other World War I novels.
