doesn’t quite compare to the first instalment but once again pat barker covers an enormous and horrendous topic with compassionate eloquence. lines from ‘regeneration’ have haunted me since i read it for the first time in school and ‘the eye in the door’ did excellently as a sequel - considering the final instalment won a booker i imagine it’s probably also setting up for the finale

i was struck by this quote about being willing to sacrifice body and soul and suffer for a cause:
‘That's a very dangerous idea. It comes quite close to saying that the willingness to suffer proves the rightness of belief. But is doesn't. The most it can ever prove is the believer's sincerity. And not always that. some people just like suffering.’