Regeneration? Dead On Arrival, more like (Regeneration - Pat Barker)

Member Name: SWSt

Product:	Regeneration - Pat Barker
Date:	26/06/09 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Potentially interesting concept

Disadvantages: Let down by poor execution, dull characters and fragmented plot

Pat Barker has developed something of a reputation for novels based around The Great War. Having heard much from Mrs SWSt about the Regeneration Trilogy, I was keen to get started and see how the first in the trilogy (Regeneration) measured up.

Rather than focussing on the War itself, Regeneration concentrates on a number of soldiers sent back home suffering from psychological problems as a result of what they have witnessed. One of the constant characters throughout the trilogy - and the main one in this book is army psychologist Dr W H Rivers and the book examines his attempts to cure the soldiers and get them back to the Western Front. In particular, Regeneration concentrates on the real-life encounter between Rivers and (anti) war poet Siegfried Sassoon.

I have to confess, I seriously struggled to get anything out of Regeneration. I admit, this was partly my fault. Whenever I read a book set in World War I, I inevitably compare it with probably the greatest anti-war book of all time - All Quiet on The Western Front. Most books will come off badly in such a comparison, but I felt Regeneration suffered more than most.

It should be a very interesting story. Many of the characters and events are based on fact and in previous novels I have read, one of Barker's particular strengths has been her ability to weave fact and fiction to create a compelling tale.

Regeneration lacks that realistic or compelling status. At one stage, one of the characters (raised in the lower classes, but elevated to officer status) is branded "neither fish nor fowl"; unable to fit in anywhere. The same accusation could be levelled against Regeneration itself. I spent much of my time wondering what on earth the point of the book was. It tries to be three things: an anti-war novel, an examination of psychological illness and a work of fiction. On all three levels, it fails.

As an anti-war novel, it is deeply unsuccessful. Apart from one of two incidents, it never even comes close to describing the horrors of war so vividly captured by other writers. This isn't helped by the setting: Edinburgh, where much of the action takes place, is a long way away from the Western Front. There is no sense of danger, no sense of the very real suffering, misery and deprivation of the average soldier. Indeed, at times, the opposite message comes across. Everyone within the book seems to have a pretty agreeable lifestyle - reasonable food, pleasant walks, and visits to the pub - unwittingly leading the reader to assume that life in World War One wasn't that bad at all. One of the strengths of All Quiet on the Western Front was that it contrasted seemingly idyllic moments with times of extreme danger and terror. With no such instances, Regeneration has an almost wistful, nostalgic air to it, a fond look back at a bygone age.

As an examination of psychological illness, the book is both superficial and dull. There are various patients in the hospital with psychological illness, yet these are never fully explored. The author returns to them and their ailments when it is expedient for the plot to do so, then forgets about them again. The book flits around too many patients, giving us little time to get to know them properly or fully grasp the impact of their illnesses on their daily lives. Similarly, the discussions about treatments lack any depth or conviction.

As a novel, it is just plain dull. It takes over 250 pages for nothing to happen. The central storyline is so fragmented as to be almost non-existent and with no real strong sense of narrative; there is nothing for the reader to get their teeth into. This lack of "proper" narrative might have worked had the first two elements of the book worked. Since they don't, the lack of a proper story is cruelly exposed.

It's not helped by the fact that the characters are unremittingly bland. Writing a book based around historical people should be a gift for an author; after all, the basic details of their lives are already in place, with enough artistic licence to fill in the blanks. It's an opportunity Barker squanders. Characters feel flat and artificial, marked by bland, lazy characterisations. There wasn't a single character in the book for whom I cared on any level. There was a curious emotional hole in the centre of the book which I kept waiting to be filled by something , but never was. I don't wish to harp on with the comparison, but in All Quiet on the Western Front, you care deeply about virtually all the characters and feel genuine sadness when one dies. Regeneration captures none of that and left me feeling cold.

Barker's style also proves a let down. Long sections of fairly stiff, turgid prose do little to aid readability. This just compounded the fact that I was finding the rest of the book so dull, and meant that I really struggled to work my way through it. I actually felt a real sense of relief when a chapter was drawing to a close, so that I could put the book down and go off and do something more enjoyable, instead. Certainly I found it very difficult to read more than one chapter at a time - something which is very uncommon. This meant the book took a long time to wade through, which, in turn, lowered my enjoyment of it even more. It became a test of stamina, of will power to force myself to read through to the end.

As you've probably guessed, I didn't particularly enjoy Regeneration and felt it never delivered on its promise. I am aware that this opinion is very much in a minority and that most people consider Regeneration to be an excellent book. Maybe I just expected too much, or maybe I missed the point of it completely.

Whatever, because, I wanted to give the trilogy a fair crack of the whip, I did go on and read the final two parts (The Eye in the Door and the Ghost Road). You'll have to wait a little while for those reviews to see if I felt there was any improvement!

Basic Information
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Regeneration
Pat Barker
Penguin, 1991
ISBN: 0-141-02653-7

© Copyright SWSt 2009

Summary: Not a promising start for the trilogy.