The conclusion of Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy. Yet more with the cynical Prior... and also Dr. Rivers, mostly recalling when he was visiting Melanesia (Fiji?), as a different approach to "ghosts". Sassoon is MIA here, however. I would say the first book, 'Regeneration' is the most important. It's so good you don't even realize the book never sets foot in the trenches, and keeps to the military hospital. The third book actually does go into the war, but I can't see that it improves upon the first book. The first book is so good at visiting the psychological effects of battle and with the third, it's sometimes too busy being within it. It's almost like the first book should have been the last to really hit home, or at least feel like the other two books were leading somewhere. The second book 'The Eye in the Door' might even be better than this one. However, I do not at all regret reading all three books.
*Book #130 I have read of the '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' ( )

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 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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I read the first and third books of the Trilogy, haven't read the second yet but I sure will after reading this. The plot alternates between Billy Prior and William Rivers. War is coming to an end but Billy had to go back to the war front. Furthermore, he had to lead his men on an attack that seemed doomed. You feel a tinge of sadness knowing that his death is so futile. In contrast, the Melanesian tribe had a more considered approach to death. Yes, it's primitive but the supposedly more civilized men fighting the war aren't any better. ( )

This is a brilliant end to the trilogy and the diary entries by Prior in France are heartbreaking as the dates march closer to the end of the war.

Then there are the sections from earlier in River's career as he studies a tribe in Melanesia, these are an interesting new perspective and counterpoint to the European war which remind us that humans are doomed to be at war with each other.

I just thought it was a fantastic series and a different way to approach writing about WWI. ( )

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 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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