Call number
FIC BAR
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
E. P. Dutton (1995), Edition: 1st, 256 pages
Description
1918, and Billy Prior is in France once again. A real test case for the 'shell-shock' therapies practised at Craiglockhart War Hospital where, with Wilfred Owen, he was a patient. In London, Prior's psychologist, William Rivers, tends to his new patients, more young men whose lives and minds have been shattered.
Subjects
Media reviews
Pat Barker has incorporated many of the actual words of the war's most eloquent narrators in her complex and ambitious work . . . too striking as hybrids of fact and possibility, easy humor and passionate social argument to be classified as anything but the masterwork to date of a singular and
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ever-evolving novelist who has consistently made up her own rules. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member atheist_goat
Barker assumes many things in this book. She assumes the reader does not know that war is hell. And that the reader does not know that Lewis Carroll liked little girls. And that the reader does not know that men can be bisexual, or at least will be wildly shocked by such a thing. And that the
Mostly Barker assumes that the reader will not know this beat The Moor's Last Sigh for the Booker prize, because, knowing that, the reader is tempted to go after the Booker committee with a sharp stick.
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reader needs incredibly condescending Noble Savage stuff flung in his or her face to make a point about how Western Civilization is not so civilized. (Very deep.)Mostly Barker assumes that the reader will not know this beat The Moor's Last Sigh for the Booker prize, because, knowing that, the reader is tempted to go after the Booker committee with a sharp stick.
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LibraryThing member edgeworth
I have conflicting feelings about Remembrance Day, and the public reverence of World War I in both Britain and Australia. I suspect that for most of the 20th century, when the war was a real event in the living memory of many people, that it was probably purely a day of remembrance and reflection.
Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy – which begins with Regeneration, continues in The Eye In The Door and concludes with the Booker Prize-winning The Ghost Road – is an incredibly important piece of contemporary literature which highlights the real, ugly truth of the war; one of the most important truths being the fact that it had terrible effects on everybody it touched, not just the young men who lost their lives. (And I use the word “lost” rather than “gave” very intentionally.) It’s notable that The Ghost Road is the first novel in the series which actually has scenes set in the war zone that aren’t memories, dreams or flashbacks. The previous two books, especially The Eye in the Door, focused as much on the wives, mothers, pacifists, protesters and wounded as they did on the soldiers and the dead. That’s another side effect of our reverence for veterans and war dead; it marginalises the effects war has on civilians.
From a purely technical standpoint The Ghost Road is certainly the finest book in the trilogy, and a deserving winner of the Booker Prize. It cleanly narrows the scope down to two of the trilogy’s main characters: Dr Rivers, a fictionalised version of the real-life psychologist who treated traumatised soldiers, and Billy Prior, Barker’s fictional working class officer who returns to the front despite an opportunity for a desk role, out of an ineffable sense of duty towards his fellow soldiers. Prior’s experience at the front is contrasted with Rivers’ treatment of the wounded in London, and a surprisingly extensive flashback sequence detailing Rivers’ time as an anthropologist in the South Pacific, which serves as a comparative metaphor about death and its effect on those who remain living. I criticised Barker’s writing style in Regeneration and to a lesser extent The Eye In The Door because much of it involved conversations between two men sitting on opposite sides of a desk. The Ghost Road, however, has a wonderful sense of physical beauty, from a tropical beach in Melanesia to the ruins of an overgrown French village:
A labyrinth of green pathways led from garden to garden, and they slipped from one to another, over broken walls or through splintered fences, skirting bramble-filled craters, brushing down paths overgrown with weeds, with flowers that had seeded themselves and become rank, with overgrown roses that snagged their sleeves and pulled them back. Snails crunched under their boots, nettles stung their hands, cuckoo spit flecked a bare neck, but the secret path wound on.
I’ve always appreciated this trilogy for its brutal and honest depiction of the war, but The Ghost Road is the first of Barker’s books which I actually enjoyed as a novel as well.
It’s not easy (and nor should it be) to criticise the manner in which nations memorialise their war dead; it can easily come off as churlish and cynical. I don’t mean to suggest this day of remembrance should be done away with. But I feel uneasy about a ritual which has begun to take on symbolic, semi-religious overtones, with its symbols (poppies) and incantations (Gallipoli, Anzac, lest we forget). From the earliest days of primary school I’ve had those words drilled into my head, long before I could properly appreciate and understand even the concept of war. During the minute’s silence in November I’d imagine myself in the trenches with rifle and bayonet in hand – not an empathic act of remembrance, but rather a boyish adventure fantasy. I doubt I was the only one. When the symbols and artworks of our remembrance are sanitised, when our politicians repeatedly say things as trite and false as “they died for our freedom,” and when the right wing can reposition World War I into a more pleasing arrangement of good vs evil, it’s clear that our society is deeply conflicted about how it wishes to portray this war. Barker’s Regeneration trilogy does us a great service by presenting the era in all its ugly detail; not just the grisly slaughter of the front, but the twisted politics of British imperialism, class warfare and capitalism which led to it. The Regeneration trilogy is a warning that while we must remember, we must not remember selectively.
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Now, in the age of 9/11 and Iraq and Afghanistan, when it seems so distant as to be entirely mythical, I think our society’s perception of World War I – and, by extension, all wars – has slipped back towards the jingoism and nationalism of the 19th century ruling class who propagated it in the first place. I stood at the moat of the Tower of London last week, amongst crushing crowds, and admired Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red for the striking public artwork that it is – but I couldn’t help but feel unsettled by this sanitised, aestheticised depiction of war, which has become the accepted norm.Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy – which begins with Regeneration, continues in The Eye In The Door and concludes with the Booker Prize-winning The Ghost Road – is an incredibly important piece of contemporary literature which highlights the real, ugly truth of the war; one of the most important truths being the fact that it had terrible effects on everybody it touched, not just the young men who lost their lives. (And I use the word “lost” rather than “gave” very intentionally.) It’s notable that The Ghost Road is the first novel in the series which actually has scenes set in the war zone that aren’t memories, dreams or flashbacks. The previous two books, especially The Eye in the Door, focused as much on the wives, mothers, pacifists, protesters and wounded as they did on the soldiers and the dead. That’s another side effect of our reverence for veterans and war dead; it marginalises the effects war has on civilians.
From a purely technical standpoint The Ghost Road is certainly the finest book in the trilogy, and a deserving winner of the Booker Prize. It cleanly narrows the scope down to two of the trilogy’s main characters: Dr Rivers, a fictionalised version of the real-life psychologist who treated traumatised soldiers, and Billy Prior, Barker’s fictional working class officer who returns to the front despite an opportunity for a desk role, out of an ineffable sense of duty towards his fellow soldiers. Prior’s experience at the front is contrasted with Rivers’ treatment of the wounded in London, and a surprisingly extensive flashback sequence detailing Rivers’ time as an anthropologist in the South Pacific, which serves as a comparative metaphor about death and its effect on those who remain living. I criticised Barker’s writing style in Regeneration and to a lesser extent The Eye In The Door because much of it involved conversations between two men sitting on opposite sides of a desk. The Ghost Road, however, has a wonderful sense of physical beauty, from a tropical beach in Melanesia to the ruins of an overgrown French village:
A labyrinth of green pathways led from garden to garden, and they slipped from one to another, over broken walls or through splintered fences, skirting bramble-filled craters, brushing down paths overgrown with weeds, with flowers that had seeded themselves and become rank, with overgrown roses that snagged their sleeves and pulled them back. Snails crunched under their boots, nettles stung their hands, cuckoo spit flecked a bare neck, but the secret path wound on.
I’ve always appreciated this trilogy for its brutal and honest depiction of the war, but The Ghost Road is the first of Barker’s books which I actually enjoyed as a novel as well.
It’s not easy (and nor should it be) to criticise the manner in which nations memorialise their war dead; it can easily come off as churlish and cynical. I don’t mean to suggest this day of remembrance should be done away with. But I feel uneasy about a ritual which has begun to take on symbolic, semi-religious overtones, with its symbols (poppies) and incantations (Gallipoli, Anzac, lest we forget). From the earliest days of primary school I’ve had those words drilled into my head, long before I could properly appreciate and understand even the concept of war. During the minute’s silence in November I’d imagine myself in the trenches with rifle and bayonet in hand – not an empathic act of remembrance, but rather a boyish adventure fantasy. I doubt I was the only one. When the symbols and artworks of our remembrance are sanitised, when our politicians repeatedly say things as trite and false as “they died for our freedom,” and when the right wing can reposition World War I into a more pleasing arrangement of good vs evil, it’s clear that our society is deeply conflicted about how it wishes to portray this war. Barker’s Regeneration trilogy does us a great service by presenting the era in all its ugly detail; not just the grisly slaughter of the front, but the twisted politics of British imperialism, class warfare and capitalism which led to it. The Regeneration trilogy is a warning that while we must remember, we must not remember selectively.
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LibraryThing member eleanor_eader
The third chapter in the Regeneration trilogy, and another powerful, moving, gripping look into Dr. River’s past, and the effects of WWI on his patients. As with The Eye in the Door we follow Billy Prior as much as Rivers (and, again, glimpses of other current cases in River’s London practice);
I think this is the strongest of the three books, or perhaps I have become more invested in Barker’s Dr. Rivers and his patients over the course of reading the previous two; I remember being as impressed with Barker’s writing in the other two – she really is a wordsmith, a character forger, and approaches her subject with the utmost respect, humour and a real quest for understanding. Regardless, this is an important trilogy and each book should be read, digested, considered and loved on its own merits
These three books form the cornerstones of my reading year, and I recommend them to anyone whose interests in literature include war, mental health, sexuality, historical or biographical fiction of any kind, or indeed anyone who relishes characters so strongly portrayed that they could have been acting out their lives in your room while you were reading.
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this time we follow Prior back to France (where he fights alongside Wilfred Owen), and much of his story is given in diary excerpts. Rivers, meanwhile, having caught a flu with accompanying fever, reminisces – or perhaps it is more accurate to say ‘relives’ – his time with an African head-hunting tribe whose collective zest for life has deteriorated with the British ‘intervention’ into their proclivities. The trend of examining the way the mind processes the harrowing results of guilt, shame, horror, fear - of memory itself - continues to this reader’s great absorption and fascination. I think this is the strongest of the three books, or perhaps I have become more invested in Barker’s Dr. Rivers and his patients over the course of reading the previous two; I remember being as impressed with Barker’s writing in the other two – she really is a wordsmith, a character forger, and approaches her subject with the utmost respect, humour and a real quest for understanding. Regardless, this is an important trilogy and each book should be read, digested, considered and loved on its own merits
These three books form the cornerstones of my reading year, and I recommend them to anyone whose interests in literature include war, mental health, sexuality, historical or biographical fiction of any kind, or indeed anyone who relishes characters so strongly portrayed that they could have been acting out their lives in your room while you were reading.
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LibraryThing member stephkaye
The Ghost Road is a war novel unlike many others. Set in England and France at the end of World War I, it borrows the viewpoints of the often overlooked: men being treated for mental illness. One of these is bisexual; homosexuality was considered both an illness and a crime at the time.
In a style
The Ghost Road is a quick but moving read that reminds us that we take our neuroses and our passions everywhere, even to war. Perhaps even especially to war.
In a style
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similar to Tim O'Brien's in its thoughtfulness and attention to detail, Barker explores the aftereffects of war with compassion, but not sentiment. One of her most interesting methods is the flashbacks of Dr. Rivers. An anthropologist turned psychologist, Rivers intersperses narration about treating current trauma cases with memories of his research in Melanesia. There, he studied a tribe that was dying out because their warlike way of life was being suppressed; in the present, he treats men going mad due to their tribe’s latest war. The parallels allow the reader to compare both cultures from a more objective point of view.The Ghost Road is a quick but moving read that reminds us that we take our neuroses and our passions everywhere, even to war. Perhaps even especially to war.
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LibraryThing member lauralkeet
The third book in Pat Barker's Regeneration Trilogy continues the story of Billy Prior, a British officer in World War I. In the first book, Prior was treated for shell-shock at Craiglockhart, a hospital in Scotland. In the second book, he struggled to find his way in civilian society and battle
Prior also starts a diary. The reader is able to experience his eagerness to return, and his world-weary view of both the conditions and the new recruits. Meanwhile, Rivers remains in London, treating injured soldiers. Prior's diary entries alternate with Rivers' memories of working with native people in Melanesia, work that was set aside when the war began. Through the lives of both men, Barker continues her theme of war protest, while exploring and exposing a number of truths about individuals and society.
Having now read the complete Regeneration Trilogy, I agree with a comment on one of my January blog posts:
It seems to me that the Booker for “The Ghost Road” was something akin to the Oscar for the last Lord of the Rings film – it was really a recognition of the whole trilogy.
The Ghost Road was a powerful book, especially as Prior's diary unfolds. But the strength of this book comes from taking it as a whole with its predecessors, immersing yourself in the lives of these characters, and reflecting on the realities of war.
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personal demons, with the help of Dr. William Rivers. In The Ghost Road, Prior is approved to return to service at the front. In the first part of the book, Prior puts his affairs in order, visiting his ailing sister, his fiancée, and Rivers. Prior is keen to prove he is one of Rivers' success stories, by being able to keep his nerves steady even as he returns to the source of his troubles.Prior also starts a diary. The reader is able to experience his eagerness to return, and his world-weary view of both the conditions and the new recruits. Meanwhile, Rivers remains in London, treating injured soldiers. Prior's diary entries alternate with Rivers' memories of working with native people in Melanesia, work that was set aside when the war began. Through the lives of both men, Barker continues her theme of war protest, while exploring and exposing a number of truths about individuals and society.
Having now read the complete Regeneration Trilogy, I agree with a comment on one of my January blog posts:
It seems to me that the Booker for “The Ghost Road” was something akin to the Oscar for the last Lord of the Rings film – it was really a recognition of the whole trilogy.
The Ghost Road was a powerful book, especially as Prior's diary unfolds. But the strength of this book comes from taking it as a whole with its predecessors, immersing yourself in the lives of these characters, and reflecting on the realities of war.
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LibraryThing member writestuff
The Ghost Road is the third and final book in Pat Barker’s WWI trilogy - and it is by far the best of the series. The novel takes place in the waning months of the war and continues the story of Billy Prior who has returned to the front lines in France along with Wilfrid Owen (who previously
Barker weaves these two story lines together, deftly showing a culture of death and war amongst the South Pacific tribe linked to the mentality of modern society which supports the war in France.
Barker’s prose is harsh yet poetic - a ying and yang style which draws the reader into the lives of the characters.
Billy Prior is a largely unlikeable character with his gritty, sardonic view of life - and yet he becomes a sympathetic symbol of all that is wrong with war. And as the reader turns the final pages, it is with the conviction that war is not worth it.
The Ghost Road is a simply wrought, yet beautifully constructed anti-war novel which is graphic and disturbing. Barker spares her reader nothing and shows the violent nature of human beings in the depiction of loveless sex and ruthless battles. This novel - which won the 1995 Booker Prize - should be read as part of the larger trilogy to gain its full impact.
Highly recommended with a caution that some readers may be offended by violence, graphic sexual scenes and realistic language.
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spent time with Prior at Craiglockhart recovering from a breakdown). Neither man believes in the war, but are there out of duty to fight side by side with their comrades in arms. Psychiatrist Dr. Rivers continues to play a prominent role in this novel, seemingly safe from the war at his post in a London hospital. Dr. River’s memories of a time spent studying headhunters in the South Pacific run parallel to Billy’s story.Barker weaves these two story lines together, deftly showing a culture of death and war amongst the South Pacific tribe linked to the mentality of modern society which supports the war in France.
Barker’s prose is harsh yet poetic - a ying and yang style which draws the reader into the lives of the characters.
Billy Prior is a largely unlikeable character with his gritty, sardonic view of life - and yet he becomes a sympathetic symbol of all that is wrong with war. And as the reader turns the final pages, it is with the conviction that war is not worth it.
The Ghost Road is a simply wrought, yet beautifully constructed anti-war novel which is graphic and disturbing. Barker spares her reader nothing and shows the violent nature of human beings in the depiction of loveless sex and ruthless battles. This novel - which won the 1995 Booker Prize - should be read as part of the larger trilogy to gain its full impact.
Highly recommended with a caution that some readers may be offended by violence, graphic sexual scenes and realistic language.
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LibraryThing member baswood
In many ways The Ghost Road feels like a rewrite of the second book in the trilogy ‘[The Eye in the Door]’ but Barker has done a better job this time. The first book in the trilogy [Regeneration] broke new ground with its historical fiction perspective of the story of the two most famous world
As the trilogy has evolved Barker’s writing has become less cognitive until in this third book we are presented with a rip roaring story of soldiers trying to survive in the trenches and doctors who are trying to heal impossible mental and physical wounds. There is enough fairly graphic sex to keep readers interested at the expense of theories concerning the efficacy of Dr River’s methods of treatment. Perhaps that is why it was this novel that was selected by the Booker prize panel in 1995. If a dumbing down of the content has taken place (in order to win the Booker prize?) then it has also improved the readability of the novel and by concentrating on more conventional story telling it is my opinion that Barker has written a better novel. It was E M Forster in Aspects of the novel who maintained that authors should concentrate on the story, the people, the plot, pattern and rhythm and in Ghost Road Barker seems to have done just that. Her characters are more fully developed, for the first time we are given a back story of Dr Rivers and his work as an anthropologist on the Torres Straits expedition linking his experiences there with his approaches to treatment of the wounded men of the Great War. Billy Prior is given a more human characterisation with his courtship and engagement to Sarah; a working class girl from the north. The plot of the novel follows the course of one of the final conflicts of the war where Barker’s description of events is both real and enhances her theme of the futility and loss of life. There is pattern and rhythm provided by the different story strands told in alternating sections for example Dr Rivers adventures amongst the headhunters, his work in the hospital, the story of Billy Priors courtship and then his final tour of duty, these strands crescendo nicely to provide an excellent climax to the novel.
Barker also creates the idea of two or perhaps three different worlds existing at the same time for these junior officers caught up in the war. There are the obvious differences of the army and the battlefield and life in England when the soldiers are on leave, but there is also another world, the world of Dr River’s hospital. Barkers comparing and contrasting bring out the themes of her book: the call to duty, the futility of war, sexuality both homo and hetero, class, survival and the destruction of ordinary lives. I read Regeneration a few years ago and have just recently picked up the final two books of the series and while I was fascinated by the first book and its attempts to portray the poet heroes of the war, I found the second book badly balanced and sort of stuck in no mans land, however I thoroughly enjoyed The Ghost Road and so 4.5 stars.
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war one poets sojourn at Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh. Here Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen among others were helped to overcome their war neuroses by Dr Rivers talking cure. This concentration on historical figures was augmented in the second novel by the introduction of Billy Prior a fictional character, who also becomes one of Dr River’s patients. The Ghost Road continues with the story of Billy Prior as he is passed fit for service and is sent back to the front line for the final months and days before the end of the war, taking his place in the same regiment as Wilfred Owen who we know was killed in action one week before the armistice was signed. As the trilogy has evolved Barker’s writing has become less cognitive until in this third book we are presented with a rip roaring story of soldiers trying to survive in the trenches and doctors who are trying to heal impossible mental and physical wounds. There is enough fairly graphic sex to keep readers interested at the expense of theories concerning the efficacy of Dr River’s methods of treatment. Perhaps that is why it was this novel that was selected by the Booker prize panel in 1995. If a dumbing down of the content has taken place (in order to win the Booker prize?) then it has also improved the readability of the novel and by concentrating on more conventional story telling it is my opinion that Barker has written a better novel. It was E M Forster in Aspects of the novel who maintained that authors should concentrate on the story, the people, the plot, pattern and rhythm and in Ghost Road Barker seems to have done just that. Her characters are more fully developed, for the first time we are given a back story of Dr Rivers and his work as an anthropologist on the Torres Straits expedition linking his experiences there with his approaches to treatment of the wounded men of the Great War. Billy Prior is given a more human characterisation with his courtship and engagement to Sarah; a working class girl from the north. The plot of the novel follows the course of one of the final conflicts of the war where Barker’s description of events is both real and enhances her theme of the futility and loss of life. There is pattern and rhythm provided by the different story strands told in alternating sections for example Dr Rivers adventures amongst the headhunters, his work in the hospital, the story of Billy Priors courtship and then his final tour of duty, these strands crescendo nicely to provide an excellent climax to the novel.
Barker also creates the idea of two or perhaps three different worlds existing at the same time for these junior officers caught up in the war. There are the obvious differences of the army and the battlefield and life in England when the soldiers are on leave, but there is also another world, the world of Dr River’s hospital. Barkers comparing and contrasting bring out the themes of her book: the call to duty, the futility of war, sexuality both homo and hetero, class, survival and the destruction of ordinary lives. I read Regeneration a few years ago and have just recently picked up the final two books of the series and while I was fascinated by the first book and its attempts to portray the poet heroes of the war, I found the second book badly balanced and sort of stuck in no mans land, however I thoroughly enjoyed The Ghost Road and so 4.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
After the triumph of 'The Eye in the Door', I wondered where Pat Barker could go to avoid writing a workmanlike finale; the answer is: abroad. The story takes our characters to France at the end of the First World War, and we follow their ill-fated adventures there; we also go back into the
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psychiatrist Rivers's life, and learn of his experiences in the tropics, working as an anthropologist. The juxtaposition works excellently. Show Less
LibraryThing member vibrantminds
Book 3 brings to life the true cost of war with the climatic conclusion of the series. Billy Prior who was treated for shell shock by the psychiatrist Dr. Rivers is found fit for duty and sent back to the war front in France, which is where he longed to be. He is sent back just in time to
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participate in the "one last push" campaign to restore a sense of valor and fortitude for the senseless loss of life. Meanwhile, Dr. Rivers finds himself ill and begins contemplating a time earlier in his life when on a scientific expedition he lived with a community of headhunters in the South Seas. He begins to associate his experiences there with that of what is currently happening with the war. A very moving and thought out series that depicts some of the horrors brought on by war and those who are left to struggle with the consequence of the aftermath. Show Less
LibraryThing member lizpatanders
Overall this was an enjoyable book, although at times the characters got confusing. I thought it was interesting that it was written from the male perspective by a female author, and I really enjoyed the sections that gave background on the characters before the war. I read this for a class and
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will now plan on reading two Pat Barker's otehr books, as this is apparently the third novel in her Regeneration trilogy. Show Less
LibraryThing member isabelx
Prior peered into the small looking-glass behind the wash-basin, checking the knot in his tie. If they didn't send him back he was going to be awfully lonely, marooned among civilians with their glib talk.
As the end of World War I approaches, and while men are still dying in France, the Spanish
A strong end to a brilliant trilogy.
As the end of World War I approaches, and while men are still dying in France, the Spanish
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influenza epidemic is taking hold back home. Rivers spends a lot of time thinking back to his time as an anthropologist in Melanesia. He was studying a tribe on Eddystone Island, who had only recently given up headhunting at the insistence of the colonial powers and whose attitude towards death was very different to the Europeans.A strong end to a brilliant trilogy.
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LibraryThing member mikedraper
In August 1918, Lt. Billy Prior is finished with his recouperation and returning to the front. He had been at the Criaglockhart Military Hospital and treated for shell shock and asthma. His doctor tells him that he shouldn't return to the front due to the asthma and enemy gas attacks but he feels
Dr. William Rivers is a psychologist who treats the men at the hosptial. His optimism and belief in the human spirit have helped many men. However, when he treats a soldier named Moffet who suffers from emotional paralysis of the legs, he cures the affliction but finds Moffet in the bathroom attempting to commit suicide.
There is also a good description of the upper class and the working class. At one point, an officer tells Prior that they won't be able to understand the W.C.s (working class) because they are so different than the upper class are.
Billy tells Rivers that to many of the W.C.s the war is the means with which they will be able to raise their status.
The novel won the 1995 Booker Prize and provides a good psychological profile of the soldiers and their acceptance of orders to go to the front and for many, sacrifice their lives.
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it's his duty to do so.Dr. William Rivers is a psychologist who treats the men at the hosptial. His optimism and belief in the human spirit have helped many men. However, when he treats a soldier named Moffet who suffers from emotional paralysis of the legs, he cures the affliction but finds Moffet in the bathroom attempting to commit suicide.
There is also a good description of the upper class and the working class. At one point, an officer tells Prior that they won't be able to understand the W.C.s (working class) because they are so different than the upper class are.
Billy tells Rivers that to many of the W.C.s the war is the means with which they will be able to raise their status.
The novel won the 1995 Booker Prize and provides a good psychological profile of the soldiers and their acceptance of orders to go to the front and for many, sacrifice their lives.
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LibraryThing member picardyrose
It shouldn't have ended the way it did, but it had to.
LibraryThing member iayork
The final chapter of Regeneration Trilogy: THE GHOST ROAD is the final volume of Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, and the winner of the 1995 Booker Prize. Throughout the trilogy Barker performs a phenomenal job of detailing the psychological consequences of trench warfare during the Great War.
Overall, this trilogy is a wonderful glimpse into the atmosphere of Britain during the First World War.
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Set in London and France, THE GHOST ROAD focuses on the principle characters of Billy Prior and the renowned Dr. Rivers and their personal relationships with each other and the First World War. The reader is provided a glimpse into the terrible conditions of trench fighting, and how the medical establishment viewed shell-shock as a medical diagnosis and how it was treated. Through the poetry of Owen, Sassoon, etc, the world can begin to understand the personal horrors they have witnessed of a war that many did not understand. Based loosely on historical events and characters, Barker has created a perspective of modern warfare that does not contain the quintessential happy ending.I believe each volume of the Regeneration Trilogy should be read in chronological order (REGENERATION, THE EYE IN THE DOOR, AND THE GHOST ROAD) to fully appreciate the merits of each volume. Although the plot is re-summarized at the beginning of each book, the main characters are continually being developed throughout. I just finished reading GHOST ROAD, and I have to admit that it's not my favorite of the three. I don't understand how this volume was awarded the Booker Prize when I believe REGENERATION is the strongest of the bunch. I also enjoyed THE EYE IN THE DOOR because of the exploration of societal issues during The First War, especially scape-goating of homosexuals and pacifists. Overall, this trilogy is a wonderful glimpse into the atmosphere of Britain during the First World War.
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LibraryThing member Cariola
The third installment of Barker's "Regeneration" trilogy (and a Booker Prize winner), [The Ghost Road] was a bit of a disappointment. I'm not exactly sure why, although I think that Dr. Rivers's digressive reminiscences about his time in Melanesia may have had something to do with it. I'm sure
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Barker included them to make a comment on human nature, who is civilized and who is not, etc., but it really didn't work for me. Pryor, Sassoon, Owen, and a new character, Hallett, are considered well enough to return to the front, each to devastating results--Barker's comment, again, on the insatiable war machine. I'm not sorry that I read all three books, but I could as easily have stopped after the wonderful [Regeneration]. Show Less
LibraryThing member Citizenjoyce
This is the perfect ending to the Regeneration trilogy. Barker manages perfectly to tie together Rivers' anthropological studies of Malaysian headhunters, for whom the ban on warring with neighboring tribes was a debilitating blow to their culture, with soldiers fighting WWI. The premise in the
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first book, advanced by Siegfried Sassoon,was that the government was unnecessarily prolonging a war that could be ended with diplomacy. By the end of Ghost Road the war is almost over, but soldiers are forbidden to talk of peace. They are told that the only just end to the war would be the complete destruction of Germany. So, the government is enjoying the war that the headhunters would like to engage in, but the soldiers just do their duty. This is an excellent study of war and psychology with Billy Prior, the lusty, shameless officer representing what? The life wish in opposition to the government's promotion of the death wish? I'm not entirely sure, but this is a trilogy that must be read in its entirety. Then think about the wars that continue, the made up reasons for continuing them, and the effects on the people who fight them and the people who love those fighters. Show Less
LibraryThing member wispywillow
I just now learned that this book is the third in a trilogy—d’oh! Why do I never find this stuff out before I start reading it?
Despite that, this book was utter poetry. God… the mixture of beauty of language and the ugliness of war… and the humanity of… of just being human. And that some
The imagery is so beautiful. In a way it reminds me of the movie A Thin Red Line. It’s been years since I’ve seen this movie, but what I do remember is a combination of beauty with the ugliness of, in this case, the second World War.
I’m going to read the first two books of this trilogy as soon as possible.
Despite that, this book was utter poetry. God… the mixture of beauty of language and the ugliness of war… and the humanity of… of just being human. And that some
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of these people—many of them, actually—really existed, really died… it serves to deepen an already poignant, mesmerizing, heart-breaking novel.The imagery is so beautiful. In a way it reminds me of the movie A Thin Red Line. It’s been years since I’ve seen this movie, but what I do remember is a combination of beauty with the ugliness of, in this case, the second World War.
I’m going to read the first two books of this trilogy as soon as possible.
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LibraryThing member CBJames
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker is the final volume in her Regeneration trilogy. (For reviews of the first two see Regeneration and The Eye in the Door.) In this the story's conclusion we follow Billy Prior as he prepares to go back to the final days of the fighting in World War I and Dr. William
In The Ghost Road Ms. Barker continues to mix historical fact with fiction to tell her story. Billy Prior is a fictional character but Dr. Rivers is a historical figure who really did spend time living with a tribe of headhunters. During his flashbacks we learn quite a lot about the lives and customs of the South Seas natives. They have been forced to abandon their headhunting customs by the British who now control the area, but they have done so reluctantly. After the death of their chief it is clear that they want to go on the traditional hunt and bring back skulls in tribute to their lost leader, but they cannot. They have been forced into "civilized" life. We can't help but contrast them with the soldiers in Billy Prior's part of the novel.
After serving in France, Billy Prior finds it difficult to function in civilian England. He believes the war is futile, that it's final days are being stretched out so the diplomats can get better terms in the peace treaty, but he wants to go back to the fight, back to the life he led on the battlefield, more than anything. He cannot stand to be around civilians for long at all. Ms. Barker brings this home when she describes Billy's reaction to hearing the phrase "go over the top" used by party goers to describe a drinking binge or an argument. The phrase comes from the soldiers who used it in reference to climbing out of the safety of their trenches and charging the enemy. A phrase that fills Billy Prior with dread on the battlefield is the newest slang and a source of laughter back home. There must be hundreds of little things like this that infuriate soldiers returning home from battle. One of the best aspects of Ms. Barker's books is how well she understands the effect words can have and how clear she makes it for the reader.
In the final section of the book we follow the story of Billy Prior through a journal he keeps during breaks in the final days of the fight. He writes how certain words no longer mean anything. Words like patriotism, honor, courage. While other smaller words have taken on great weight:
But now I look round this cellar with the candles burning on the tables and our linked shadows leaping on the walls, and I realize there's another group of words that still mean something. Little words that trip through sentences unregarded: us, them, we, they, here, there. These are the words of power, and long after we're gone, they'll lie about in the language, like the unexploded grenades in these fields, and any one of them'll take your hand off.
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker gets my highest rating of five out of five stars. These three books are the highlight of my reading summer and surefire bets for my end of the year top ten. Surefire--what do suppose the chances are that word comes from wartime usage
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Rivers as he continues to treat soldier's suffering from various forms of mental breakdown and dreams of the days he spent as an anthropologist studying a tribe of head hunters on Eddystone Island in the South Seas. In The Ghost Road Ms. Barker continues to mix historical fact with fiction to tell her story. Billy Prior is a fictional character but Dr. Rivers is a historical figure who really did spend time living with a tribe of headhunters. During his flashbacks we learn quite a lot about the lives and customs of the South Seas natives. They have been forced to abandon their headhunting customs by the British who now control the area, but they have done so reluctantly. After the death of their chief it is clear that they want to go on the traditional hunt and bring back skulls in tribute to their lost leader, but they cannot. They have been forced into "civilized" life. We can't help but contrast them with the soldiers in Billy Prior's part of the novel.
After serving in France, Billy Prior finds it difficult to function in civilian England. He believes the war is futile, that it's final days are being stretched out so the diplomats can get better terms in the peace treaty, but he wants to go back to the fight, back to the life he led on the battlefield, more than anything. He cannot stand to be around civilians for long at all. Ms. Barker brings this home when she describes Billy's reaction to hearing the phrase "go over the top" used by party goers to describe a drinking binge or an argument. The phrase comes from the soldiers who used it in reference to climbing out of the safety of their trenches and charging the enemy. A phrase that fills Billy Prior with dread on the battlefield is the newest slang and a source of laughter back home. There must be hundreds of little things like this that infuriate soldiers returning home from battle. One of the best aspects of Ms. Barker's books is how well she understands the effect words can have and how clear she makes it for the reader.
In the final section of the book we follow the story of Billy Prior through a journal he keeps during breaks in the final days of the fight. He writes how certain words no longer mean anything. Words like patriotism, honor, courage. While other smaller words have taken on great weight:
But now I look round this cellar with the candles burning on the tables and our linked shadows leaping on the walls, and I realize there's another group of words that still mean something. Little words that trip through sentences unregarded: us, them, we, they, here, there. These are the words of power, and long after we're gone, they'll lie about in the language, like the unexploded grenades in these fields, and any one of them'll take your hand off.
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker gets my highest rating of five out of five stars. These three books are the highlight of my reading summer and surefire bets for my end of the year top ten. Surefire--what do suppose the chances are that word comes from wartime usage
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LibraryThing member samfsmith
An interesting novel of WWI. An English doctor compares and contrasts the customs and beliefs of Polynesian headhunters with the conduct of soldiers in the war.
This is the third book in a series, and I read it because it won the Booker prize, without reading the previous novels. It was tough to get
“It’s not worth it” is the basic message here, referring to the war. There are also graphic descriptions of homosexual sex too. One of the soldiers is bisexual, engaged to be married, and has sex with female prostitutes, his fiance, and various men. I believe his character may be explained better in the previous novels, or at least the author may give some background.
So it’s interesting, just not that effective standing alone.
This is the third book in a series, and I read it because it won the Booker prize, without reading the previous novels. It was tough to get
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started because of that. The author didn’t waste any time recapping what had happened before, so I had to guess and piece together the characters as best I could. I have to say it is not intended to be read without the preceding novels, but I managed.“It’s not worth it” is the basic message here, referring to the war. There are also graphic descriptions of homosexual sex too. One of the soldiers is bisexual, engaged to be married, and has sex with female prostitutes, his fiance, and various men. I believe his character may be explained better in the previous novels, or at least the author may give some background.
So it’s interesting, just not that effective standing alone.
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LibraryThing member Smiler69
The third book of the [Regeneration] trilogy unfortunately proved unsatisfying. I'm not sure how that happened, since I felt such a strong connection to the first two books and even felt a certain amount of sympathy to one of the main characters, officer Billy Prior and especially to psychiatrist
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Dr. Rivers, but here, there were parallels to be drawn between Rivers' remembrances of time spent among an island tribe of headhunters and their cult of the dead with the horrors of trench warfare during World War I that would need to be explained to me. As it is, I found this to be a disappointing ending. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker is the third volume in her First World War trilogy. These books took a very different look at World War I and she did so by mixing real life characters with fictional ones and basing most of her story away from the actual battlefield. This volume concentrates on real
William Rivers pioneered the treatment of shell shock, and Billy Prior was one of his patients. By this volume we are nearing the end of World War I, but Billy Prior is going back to the front, knowing as we do that the end is near makes the slaughter all the more senseless. Dr Rivers meanwhile goes on to treat new cases and explores his memories of his research in Melanesia where he tried to understand a people who relished head-hunting. The comparison of this carefully carried out ritual contrasted vividly with the messy butchering that was going on at the Front.
Although you don’t have to have read the previous two books in the trilogy, there are references back, and characters that are common to all three books, so reading all of them makes the story stronger, more cohesive and brings a clarity to the underlying meanings. Overall these three books, read together produce a rich and varied story made all the stronger by the author’s brilliant writing.
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life psychoanalyst, William Rivers and the fictional working-class officer, Billy Prior.William Rivers pioneered the treatment of shell shock, and Billy Prior was one of his patients. By this volume we are nearing the end of World War I, but Billy Prior is going back to the front, knowing as we do that the end is near makes the slaughter all the more senseless. Dr Rivers meanwhile goes on to treat new cases and explores his memories of his research in Melanesia where he tried to understand a people who relished head-hunting. The comparison of this carefully carried out ritual contrasted vividly with the messy butchering that was going on at the Front.
Although you don’t have to have read the previous two books in the trilogy, there are references back, and characters that are common to all three books, so reading all of them makes the story stronger, more cohesive and brings a clarity to the underlying meanings. Overall these three books, read together produce a rich and varied story made all the stronger by the author’s brilliant writing.
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LibraryThing member kewing
The concluding volume of Barker's WWI trilogy, preceded by Regeneration and The Eye in the Door. The conflicts are both physical and psychological, linking New Guinea with England and the trenches in France; the horror and insanity of war, the strange proclivity to male honor and duty, are more
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immediate in this concluding volume. The three volumes need to be read as a whole; like many trilogies, the middle volume, bridging the first and third, would be most difficult to read independent of the other two. Regeneration and Ghost Road can stand alone, but are more potent as part of the trilogy. Show Less
LibraryThing member IanMPindar
Don't make the mistake I did, read the last one first read them in order. Sucked in by the Booker prize!
LibraryThing member Vivl
Brilliant. Enthralling. The story swapping between Captain River's hospital life and Melanesian reminiscences, and Billy Prior's return to the front kept me absolutely captivated. I read much longer than I intended to each night, wanting to know what would happen to these characters who are so
I'm sad to have finished the Regeneration trilogy. Time to seek out the rest of Pat Barker's books.
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beautifully and sympathetically drawn by Pat Barker. My affection for and understanding of them has built and built over the course of the three novels.I'm sad to have finished the Regeneration trilogy. Time to seek out the rest of Pat Barker's books.
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LibraryThing member Castlelass
This historical fiction is the final book of the Regeneration trilogy set in Europe during WWI. It focuses on finishing the stories of Dr. William Rivers (a real person) and Billy Prior, whom we followed closely in the first two books. It is a character study of the two main characters as they deal
Themes include the psychological effects of war, duty, class prejudice, and friendships on the front lines. It also addresses cultural changes in Melanesian tribal communities brought about by British colonial influences. Regeneration is my favorite of the trilogy, with this book as a close second, and The Eye in the Door third. After reading this trilogy and a few others, Pat Barker has become one of my favorite authors.
4.5
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with a traumatic past and the horrors of war. We learn about Rivers’ experiences in Melanesia and Prior’s return to the front.Themes include the psychological effects of war, duty, class prejudice, and friendships on the front lines. It also addresses cultural changes in Melanesian tribal communities brought about by British colonial influences. Regeneration is my favorite of the trilogy, with this book as a close second, and The Eye in the Door third. After reading this trilogy and a few others, Pat Barker has become one of my favorite authors.
4.5
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Awards
Booker Prize (Longlist — 1995)
Women's Prize for Fiction (Longlist — 1996)
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 1997)
Costa Book Awards (Shortlist — Novel — 1995)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 1996)
Pages
256
ISBN
0525941916 / 9780525941910