The British media has been swamped with reflections about and commemorations of World War One. In the centenary since it began, the ‘Great War’ has come to symbolise, in the British public’s eye, the waste, horror and sacrifice of war. If, ladies, your country's media has covered this topic endlessly too, you may be about to experience a degree of overkill.
The novel is the first one of a trilogy, the final book of which won the Booker Prize. This may be why it is exhaustively discussed on a variety of websites. These discussions make clear that there is some very realistic description of injuries incurred in the war. I might be skipping paragraphs/pages.
However, one of the aspects I look forward to reading about is the relationship between Sassoon and Owen - World War 1 poets who were fellow patients in Craiglockhart War Hospital, where much of the novel takes place. Though Ms Barker does describe fictional relationships, this central one is based on fact.
We might want to consider the value of war novels: entertainment, education, warning? Do we think combatants and civilians experience of modern warfare is substantially different to the WW1 experiences described by Ms Barker? How does the consideration of war here compare to its treatment in "Atonement", "The Book Thief", "The Infidel" and/or "The Kite Runner". We seem to have read quite a bit about war.
I sound like the school teacher I was. Let's just appreciate the writing of a highly regarded author.
I’m going to the library to order the rest of the trilogy. I thought this was a terrific book. Extensive research seamlessly integrated into the novel, the selection of detail, the realism of the characters, the use of conversation . . . I’m surprised at myself, because I thought the awful details of Craiglockhart’s patients and their treatment would make it a difficult book to read. And it was a difficult book - the electric shock treatment being perhaps the worst scene. However, nothing was gratuitous. Rivers’ analysis of his responses to witnessing Yealland at work, the insights it gave him into his own practices and motivation, were an essential aspect of one of the novel’s major concerns, the validity of Rivers’ work.
ReplyDeleteIt may be that I liked it so much because it was like reading an extension, reaffirmation and above all coherent discussion of my own partial knowledge of the subject. The author had brought together so much detail of the times: attitudes to women (who did not even have the vote); the poisonous effect of working in a munitions factory; the shocking details of a failed abortion and its consequences; patriotism being the production of children for the Empire (“lie back and think of England” fortunately being a joke today); the impact on soldiers’ relationships. Page 216 in my book talks of Prior not being able to tell Sarah about his war experiences and the irreconcilable conflict between this and the desire to “know and be known as deeply as possible.” And, of course, the experiences on the Western Front – how the author lived with those details as she recreated them I can’t imagine. If the book has a fault it’s that a reader might think Britain fought the war alone. Choosing to concentrate on Rivers and Craiglockhart perhaps made that inevitable given his patients came from the Western Front.
I like the beginning of the novel, Sassoon’s letter about the war being conducted as a means of “aggression and conquest”, a view that would be supported today. Sassoon had more going for him than I knew. The poem on p.189 had me in tears. He must have been in a dreadful state: Robert Ross, mentioned a few times, was a friend of Oscar Wilde, imprisoned in 1895 for homosexual activities. To be gay and in the trenches could not have been easy.
It’s Rivers himself who is the hero. How did he live with the knowledge of the lives of others and his own self-knowledge? How did he detach himself from his own horror? And how on earth could anyone be involved in the kinds of experiments Rivers and Head conducted on Head’s radial nerve, when they chartered the progress of the nerve’s regeneration? (Page 46. I’m assuming that coming so early in the novel it’s meant as a metaphor for the patients’ dreadful pain and eventual regeneration.)
I thought the writing was marvellous. The descriptions of Burns’ place in Suffolk (p.169-172 approximately) were so evocative as to take you straight there.
As a novel it was amongst the best I’ve read. As a war novel it was deeply informative and a shocking anti-war treatise. Entertaining is not a word one would use to describe this novel, but it was gripping. Sadly, I don’t think the essential experience of war has changed at all. However, the title is “Regeneration”. Perhaps the author is of the belief we survive and grow? We don’t seem to learn, though, do we? Twenty years later we did it all again.
On that depressing note, I’ll close.
Love to you both
Sue
Hello to you both!
ReplyDeleteWe are in the middle of preparing for Benjamin's first birthday. I can't believe it's been almost a year already. Where does the time go? Hope your summers aren't rushing by as fast as mine seems to be.
Sue, it might be just me, but I feel that WWI is not covered very deeply in the U.S. as compared to WWII. While casualties may have occurred for all countries, it seems that Britain took the brunt of the devastation. I barely remember any coverage of WWI from my high school days. WWII, on the other hand, is frequently brought to attention here. Just recently a gentleman living near my area was being extradited to Germany for his role as an Auschwitz guard. The man was 80 something years old and was going to be charged with war crimes. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending how you look at it, he passed away before he could be sent back to Germany. So as I said, more is made here of WWII than WWI.
The part of this novel that strikes me most, as always in novels, is the patient-doctor dynamic. The patients do as the doctor says regardless of their barbaric methods. There is an extreme lack of patient privacy in these military wards. Although, this could be a military thing and not reflective of the time frame. In our current age of patient centered care where the patient has the right to refuse, I always forget that there was a time when patients could not refused what was prescribed. (Please forgive me if I repeat myself from previous novels like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). The health care field so completely different than how it use to be. At my job, we are only permitted to minimally restrain patients who are at risk of self injury. Sue, I completely agree about the electric shock scene being unpleasant.
Another portion of the novel which reflects the age is a stiff upper lip mentality. Rivers mentions how these young men were raised to "be a man", to not break down. The relationship with their fathers was with a hand shake, not a hug. The idea that tears mean weakness. How patients, like Anderson, seem to view their breakdowns as unacceptable. Even the patients' families view their admittance to Craiglockhart as unacceptable. It is interesting to see how now, at least in the U.S., there is such a big movement to not enforce gender roles. How so much of the pediatric literature suggests not forcing dolls in the hands of little girls or cars at little boys. How it should be encouraged to allow boys to play with dolls and girls to explore dirt. Have either of you ladies seen this new age mentality in your respective countries?
When Rivers begins to have his own break down, it is hardly surprising. He is forced to take these "broken" men and rehabilitate them only to send them out again as fodder for the war. How difficult would it be to watch your hard work get mowed down by German gun fire? Also interesting is Rivers' methods versus the techniques at the other hospital. Prior and Callan seem to have a similar issue; mutism. While Rivers works with Prior through talk, the other doctor applys physical stimulus to Callan's vocal cords. Both doctors have success in returning the patients' speech. But does it make both methods right? Is one method better than the other?
All in all a good read. I enjoyed it. I would be open to reading the remainder of the saga, although I wonder how they will continue. Would we see the characters we've already been introduced to or would we see a new set due to the large nature of WWI? Thank you for the recommendation Sue.
Much love
-Katie
Hello Ladies,
ReplyDeleteSorry for my late comment, it feels I have been extra busy this past month. I have been packing in lots of fun with the family, although they are now back to the books. I have also acquired a new laptop {a mac book} so am busy learning the many differences haha.
Katie, it seems difficult to believe Benjamin is one this month, I have enjoyed seeing the beautiful photos you have posted, he is absolutely gorgeous I would also say you and Franklin are looking mighty fine as well. Sue, it could be time to give Facebook another go :].
I enjoyed our novel this month very much, it was so well written and insightful. I read the bios of the main characters after I finished the novel and now wish I had read them first. I feel I may have missed some things. The real life characters were certainly some exceptional people.
I found it refreshing the honesty with which Pat Barker tackled the mental fallout these soldiers suffered. Also, like both of you found harrowing the scene involving Dr Yealland.
I've read quite a lot of WW1 history and some novels, there are not many Aussies who haven't read Jack Bennett's 'Gallipoli". I've also learned a lot from Gracie as she studied in depth WW1 for her senior History class and the basis for her 2011 European trip was to be at the dawn service on Anzac Day at Villers Bretonneux. The magnitude of the losses at places like Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele are staggering.
As you point out Sue, we have read a few novels on war, I found that this particular one seems for me to truly highlight the depth of suffering that is endured by people caught up in these conflicts.
Maybe a little off tangent but,we have many refugees in Australia in detention centers, many of these people have risked their lives and fled wars in their own countries, they have and are suffering from the trauma of their experiences. I find it unbelievable our government acts like it's news, that there are many mental health problems in these centers and high suicide rates. Will we ever learn how to properly care for the traumatized and those whose lives are destroyed by war?
A big thank you Sue, it was a novel I am very glad I've read and will be reading the next two.
Cheers
Hello again Ladies
ReplyDeleteHow will you celebrate Benjamin's birthday, Katie? It seems incredible that a year should have gone by. Congratulations to you all.
So pleased you had a good time with your children, Nancy, and good luck with the Macbook. It will all be second nature in no time at all.
It's the anniversary of Britain's entry into WW1 today, and we are being encouraged to turn off all lights this evening and sit with a single candle. This seems to me a step too far. We should be looking forward, as you point out Nancy, to thinking more about how we care for those traumatised by war. Ex-military people are way over represented in our prisons, for example.
The numbers of our dead in 1914-1918 are dwarfed by those lost, for example, by the Turks. The number of people from the "Empire" who fought and died is awful to contemplate. I'd never heard of Jack Bennet's "Gallipoli" and must find it, Nancy. Thank you. Gracie's studies must have been both relevant and deeply depressing.
As you point out, Katie, medical treatment and the attitudes to patients' rights have changed enormously. We can only be grateful. The "right" method of treating a patient is surely one which addresses the whole person. There's a plan here to have everyone's genetic "map" available to doctors, thus ensuring much better prevention as well as more effective cures. We'll see if the promise can be delivered.
And how wonderful it is that in many societies there's a more generous understanding of gender. We are moving forward slowly. Dr. Rivers would be pleased.
Despite all this marvellous progress, I'm having trouble obtaining "Stoner" from the library. So, I might be a little late posting this month.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments
You keep what's left of my retired brain working
Love
Sue
We're having a classic American barbeque and pool party. Hamburgers, hot dogs; standard Americana. The guest list is huge! It should be quite a scene.
ReplyDeleteSue, were you a history teacher? Or do you just have a particular interest in WWI? Your knowledge is of it is very extensive.