A let-down after the first book. I probably would have liked this better if I knew more about European WWI History, though.

3.5

Sodomites, England during world war one, mental illness, class antagonism. Wonderful.

My least favourite of the trilogy. Not entirely sure why it didn't grab me the way others did, however it might have to do with the larger cast, an attempt to incorporate the wider social implications in Britain during WWI, and therefore less time spent between Rivers and the other characters. Barker highlights the duality of human nature, which manifests in contradictory behaviour with a certain wilful blindness. Man's violent nature vs pacifism, brotherly love vs homosexuality -- one side condoned, the other condemned, publicly at least, yet living side by side and often intertwined. In Billy Prior, this manifests eventually in a literal split personality because nothing can be reconciled, given how it becomes necessary to suppress the unacceptable.

Unfortunately, the depiction of these dynamics, important as they are, took some of the tension out of the story. I missed the crackling dialogue contained in the other two books. And the fact that Rivers, revered so much by the others, is never revealed fully (in a story where sexuality is so central, Rivers remains an enigma).

I marked this to read after reading the first in the trilogy, but I didn't find myself warming to this one.

I was blown away by the Regeneration trilogy (although as with many trilogies, I liked the first and third books best, especially the third). A powerful and lasting depiction of WWI and its wreckage, based on real and fictional people intermingled in a world so realistic it's hard to emerge.

Preferred this one to Regeneration - Billy Prior is a much more interesting character than Siegfried Sassoon. The psychological war Prior is fighting is just as engaging as that being waged in France and Flanders. The insight into wartime England itself was captivating - I had no idea conscientious objectors were so badly treated. I suppose my knowledge of WWI is informed by the poetry of Sassoon and Owen - the widespread support for the War is a fact often overlooked nowadays. Nonetheless I was shocked to learn that they engaged in treatment that was tantamount to torture in order to get the "conchies" into a uniform so they could be sent off to die in the trenches.

Definitely worth a read!