Regeneration [Paperback]

In an era when treatment of mental illnesses was often barbaric, (as in a memorable scene near the book's conclusion), Rivers' treatment plan is to cure with compassion and respect for the patient. He allows these men the freedom to work through their experiences instead of repressing them. In doing so, he takes some of their suffering onto himself, and is changed in the process. The give and take between doctor and patient is the real meat of the story.

But beyond the plot, there's a lot to think about in this novel. In fact, the real genius of this work is not the plot or the characters or the setting, but rather the seemingly endless array of serious ethical questions that crop up as these men struggle with their situations. Was Britain justified in going to war against Germany? Can war ever be moral? Who is responsible for the actions of nations? Do soldiers abdicate their moral responsibilities when they don the uniform? How can a doctor cure a patient's infirmity only to send him back to the front lines to die? How does this apply to conscientious objectors? Is it enough to treat symptoms when the underlying causes are psychological? Barker doesn't provide answers, but wants us to look for them in ourselves.

This would be a terrific book for teaching an ethical philosophy course, and surely that's why this novel is so highly praised by reviewers. However, as an entertainment, this book is substantially less successful. One patient's brief dalliance with a factory girl provides almost our only glimpse of a woman, and even this episode seems tacked on, and is decidedly unromantic. And as one might expect, there is absolutely no trace of humor in this book at all - no one ever cracks a smile, let alone a joke. Less predictably, there's very little action in this book, either. The patients' tales of horrors at the front are powerful enough, but rarely run more than a page or two, and we don't get many of those. So while this is indeed a brilliant work of fiction, it should only be recommended to those who are deeply into ethical philosophy.

The First World War was the seminal catastrophe of the 20th century [not my phrase]. Pat Barker has tried to explore some of reasons why the previous sentence is true. Class differences and conflicts, the emerging important roles of women in society, the rise of psychological therapy, the incredible ambiguities regarding wartime male relationships and homosexuality are all part of her narrative and the world within the book covers. In no way can these matters be handled broadly or in depth in a tale of 250+ pages but that she can weave them all in with superb writing is testament to an excellent novelist.

It was a pure enjoyment to read about WW1, an often forgotten war in the literary world in my own opinion. I was previously unaware to the full extent of the shock and revulsion of trench fighting that the soldiers had to endure. It seems virtually impossible to leave that situation psychologically untouched. REGENERATION contains many horrific scenes that remain with the reader long after the book is put down. Another intriguing aspect of this book concerns the fact that it is a mixture of fact and fiction. Characters such as Siegfried Sassoon and Dr. Rivers existed in real life, although Barker did perform some literary liberties in writing this book. REGENERATION is a book that was difficult to put down. The unique plot grabbed me and held my attention. Although there were many scenes of graphic violence I felt it was an integral part of the plot. It enabled the reader to get a glimpse of what these soldiers endured in the trenches. A well done accomplishment.