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18th out of 95 books
—
160 voters
The Eye in the Door (Regeneration #2)
by
Pat Barker
The second installment in the Regeneration Trilogy
It is the spring of 1918, and Britain is faced with the possibility of defeat by Germany. A beleaguered government and a vengeful public target two groups as scapegoats: pacifists and homosexuals. Many are jailed, others lead dangerous double lives, the "the eye in the door" becomes a symbol of the paranoia that threatens...more
It is the spring of 1918, and Britain is faced with the possibility of defeat by Germany. A beleaguered government and a vengeful public target two groups as scapegoats: pacifists and homosexuals. Many are jailed, others lead dangerous double lives, the "the eye in the door" becomes a symbol of the paranoia that threatens...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
April 1st 1995
by Plume
(first published 1993)
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Apr 28, 2013
Steve aka Sckenda
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Readers interested in PTSD, human rights, and World War I
Recommended to Steve aka Sckenda by:
Booker Award for Third Novel in Trilogy
“One began by finding mental illness mystifying, and ended by being still more mystified by health.”(147)
Can an entire society develop PTSD? According to Pat Barker, Great Britain in April 1918 needs “regeneration.” War fatigue has set in, and the general public reads the casualty lists, shrugs, and turns to articles about celebrity trials and gossip. But four years of war have unleashed cruel and primitive forces that were better left suppressed, and anybody who is different is assumed to be so...more
Can an entire society develop PTSD? According to Pat Barker, Great Britain in April 1918 needs “regeneration.” War fatigue has set in, and the general public reads the casualty lists, shrugs, and turns to articles about celebrity trials and gossip. But four years of war have unleashed cruel and primitive forces that were better left suppressed, and anybody who is different is assumed to be so...more
Five stars for brilliance, one for enjoyment (we're working with a flawed rating system). The second installment of the Regeneration trilogy presents one the most complex psychological portraits I’ve ever read, made more complex by the fact I had to read it through one half-closed eye because of the occasional graphic depictions of gay sex. However, there’s more to the book than insight into new territory (which normally I appreciate, but not so much here). The story goes outside Craglockhart Ho...more
Although it feels very different for some reason to me than the preceding book, Regeneration, Eye in the Door is a just as fascinating look at psychological trauma and political conflict during WWI. Because this book revolves primarily around an entirely nonfictional character, Billy Prior, rather than some of the historically present characters like Sassoon, Graves, and others, it definitely reads more like a piece of fiction than Regeneration did. Nonetheless, Prior was in the first book one o...more
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The second book in Pat Barker's World War I trilogy highlights the pacifist movement and gives great insight into those involved. I learnt so much from this book, not only from the book itself, but also from a good deal of searching on the net. Pat Barker makes this awful period of history really live, and i constantly was reaching for resources to dig a bit deeper to her text.
This book, like her first, is deeply sad, as we follow the chilling impact of the war on different men who have a common...more
This book, like her first, is deeply sad, as we follow the chilling impact of the war on different men who have a common...more
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Having first read Regeneration about age 14, then studying it for English Literature A-Level and owning a *very* well thumbed copy, I decided it was about time to finally read the second part of Pat Barker's trilogy.
Moving the story on through the character of Prior wasn't something I was entirely sure about - he was unquestionably an integral part of Regeneration and as a character he captivated me but I never particularly liked him, though I'm sure this is perhaps something many people felt. T...more
Moving the story on through the character of Prior wasn't something I was entirely sure about - he was unquestionably an integral part of Regeneration and as a character he captivated me but I never particularly liked him, though I'm sure this is perhaps something many people felt. T...more
I really enjoyed Regeneration back in 2008 and picked up the second in the trilogy a while back. It's quite different in style and approach than the first but equally well written (winning the 1993 Guardian Fiction Prize). The focus has shifted to Billy Prior who makes for an interesting character promoting sympathy, intrigue and slight disgust all at the same time. He's conflicted and not a well man, split in his responsibilities and possibly his personalities as well.
Barker wonderfully constru...more
Barker wonderfully constru...more
Borrowed this book from Brendan, after reading the first book in the trilogy, "Regeneration". Both books are about the effects of war on society, as well as on the soldiers at the front.
In this book, one of the main characters, Billy Prior, suffers from an actual dual personality - going to a safe place when he is in danger - did it as a child and then again at the front - whenever under stress. But all of the other characters as well have to lead dual lives in some way or other. Really only a...more
In this book, one of the main characters, Billy Prior, suffers from an actual dual personality - going to a safe place when he is in danger - did it as a child and then again at the front - whenever under stress. But all of the other characters as well have to lead dual lives in some way or other. Really only a...more
Jan 02, 2012
Kathleen Hagen
added it
The Eye in the Door, by Pat Barker, borrowed from the Library for the Blind, but available for purchase at audible.com.
This second book continues Dr. Rivers and his patients from the first book particularly focusing on Billy Pryor who has childhood memories so traumatic that he won’t remember them and, in fact, enters into what they then called “fugue states” in which he doesn’t remember for hours what he is doing. He is assigned to British Intelligence and has some conflicts about the things he...more
This second book continues Dr. Rivers and his patients from the first book particularly focusing on Billy Pryor who has childhood memories so traumatic that he won’t remember them and, in fact, enters into what they then called “fugue states” in which he doesn’t remember for hours what he is doing. He is assigned to British Intelligence and has some conflicts about the things he...more
Unlike Regeneration, which can function as a stand-alone novel quite apart from its place as the first in the trilogy, I think both the subsequent books require the knowledge of the characters and the circumstances that comes with Regeneration. Billy Prior, who has somewhat of a secondary role in Regeneration, as opposed to Rivers and Sassoon, takes centre stage this time, and despite being one of the few fictional characters in this trilogy, is arguably the most fascinating.
Prior is a working-c...more
Prior is a working-c...more
The sequel (and second in the trilogy) to Barker’s amazing ‘Regeneration’. I only discovered these books recently, and was blown away by the standard of writing and treatment of the issues in Regeneration… The Eye in the Door follows through on this; I get the impression that Eye is based slightly less on biographical fact, though is none-the-less important for that. The theme of homosexuality is addressed more directly in this book, concentrating on River’s patients in England who are dealing w...more
This second book of the Regeneration trilogy is not so much a stand alone as a continuation of the first book, partially resolving some of the questions that still remained there, and raising new ones that I hope will be resolved in the third and final installment. I don't think these books can be read very successfully unless they're read together. They really belong between two covers. This one is, if anything, even more intense than the first volume and is saturated with guilt, remorse, and p...more
In this second volume of Barker's World War I trilogy, the themes include homosexuality, imprisonment, resistance to the war effort, and the splitting of personality. The war seems to have made people in England hyper-sensitive to the perceived dangers of homosexuals, and a new character, Charles Manning, an officer who's been sent back to England with both physical and mental wounds, is receiving anonymous and somewhat threatening letters. Billy Prior's work in an intelligence unit attached to...more
This extraordinary WWI novel follows the characters that appeared in "Regeneration" a year later. Rather than tread old ground, Pat Barker makes convincing choices in adding further depth to lieutenant Billy Prior, doctor Rivers and poet/soldier Siegfried Sassoon. Like the first novel, "The Eye" is based largely on real life characters; here the plot fits in with the British war paranoia about war protestors. Official investigations spill over into other "suspect" groups, women, artists and gays...more
Horribly beautiful - and I mean horribly; this book rips your guts out and arrays them on the table while you watch. It's really devastating, with vividly realistic characters whose emotional plights don't always make them likeable but do always make them sympathetic. I may not remember the plot of this novel forever (I'm notoriously bad at that), but I will remember how it made me feel, and how it changed the way I think about people, about psychology and about the nuances of war.
Also, the pros...more
Also, the pros...more
I think this novel stands quite well alone in addition to serving as an important second part in the series of three starting with Booker Prize winner �Regeneration�. I read it out of sequence (as the last one), and that doesn�t seem to matter for comprehension. Each focuses on a different set of characters in the circle of patients of psychiatrist William Rivers, a real man who treated soldiers damaged by their combat experiences in World War 1. The other volumes focus on the recovery of Siegfr...more
Jul 10, 2012
Shovelmonkey1
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who read regeneration and are willing to commit
Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by:
1001 books list
To commit or not to commit that is the question?
Is it worth reading all of a trilogy when you've finished the first book (Regeneration) and feel that it works quite satisfactorily as a stand alone novel, thank you very much. Is it worth ploughing on with the other two books to get a sense of the ending, a feeling of completeness, a conclusion to it all?
If we're talking about this trilogy then I say yes. I am a commitmentaphobe but I took the plunge and with The Eye in the Door in one hand and Th...more
Is it worth reading all of a trilogy when you've finished the first book (Regeneration) and feel that it works quite satisfactorily as a stand alone novel, thank you very much. Is it worth ploughing on with the other two books to get a sense of the ending, a feeling of completeness, a conclusion to it all?
If we're talking about this trilogy then I say yes. I am a commitmentaphobe but I took the plunge and with The Eye in the Door in one hand and Th...more
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OK, so I already think Bat Barker is super-amazing, and I've read Regeneration about four times, but I have to admit, I never cared as much for Prior as I think I was supposed to. And then I read TEITD. Yeah. Sad lack of Sassoon and Owen, obviously, but so, so much background on Prior that I now absolutely love him. (He can be a complete jerk, but he's got enough self-perception all mixed up with self-disgust to really make that work.) What I noticed here is that in the first 20 pages, Prior get...more
This is an interesting and well-written book, and now that I know that it is part of a trilogy, my opinion of this work has risen. Barker reveals the psychological effects of WWI through the characters' connection to Dr. Rivers, a saintly and insightful psychiatrist/neurologist who specializes in the treatment of what we now call post traumatic stress syndrome. Many of the characters lead double lives, either as pacifists or conscientious objectors, and all feel they are under scrutiny (the eye)...more
In this, the second volume of Barker's Great War trilogy, she continues the stories of Dr. Rivers, Siegfried Sassoon, and Billy Prior, introduced in Regeneration. In the current volume, themes hinted at in the first novel are made explicit, including the homosexuality and bisexuality of some characters, class divisions, and the antagonism of many in the war-stressed British population toward "conchies," pacifists, and other opponents of British war policy. The story of Billy Prior's schitzophren...more
What's a trilogy without a middle? A trilogy without a middle is just a book with a sequel; two Oreo wafers without the white center.
I don't know what two call a set of two books. "Duology" sounds artificially inflated and is it really a word? "Trilogy" makes me think of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and The Godfather series. Call something a "trilogy" and you imbue it with power.
I read the first and third books of the World War I Regeneration trilogy. Book One, fantastic; Book Three, good, but o...more
The middle book in a trilogy that begins with (the fantastic) Regeneration and concludes with The Ghost Road, which I'll be reading soon, The Eye in the Door is every bit as good as Regeneration. The action moves to London, with the evocation of time and place amazingly strong. Barker's grasp of the nuances and complexities of psychological conflict, both internal and between people, is mainly what makes this a fascinating read, but the novel is also a window on aspects of the First World War I...more
This was the only English language book in the only book shop open in Hikkaduwa on my trip there. So bought it without much thought, and any knowledge of a prequel. Stressful, because I don't know many of the real life personalities this book uses. And also because it's about PTSD and dissociation. Definitely not light holiday reading but brilliant for war insights and World War I. Love Prior, the guy most central to the book I think. An officer of the British army now employed with the Ministry...more
In this second book of the Regeneration series, Pat Barker focuses on two things. First of all is the Mccarthy-like witch hunt that occurred in Great Britain during WWI directed at homosexuals and pacifists. Secondly is the attempt at personality integration that is necessary for mental health after men who are traumatized by the violence of war attempt to deny the darker side of themselves. Some of the real life characters from Regeneration return: William Rivers, the social anthropologist - ne...more
This is the second book of the Regeneration trilogy.
This is the story of another soldier, Billy Prior, and the neurologist Dr. Rivers.
Some sub-plots come up during the story.
The author describes Beattie Roper's story which is based on the "poison plot" of 1917: "Alice Wheeldon was jailed in 1917 for plotting to poison Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Her descendants, having read research by Dr Nick Hiley, of the University of Kent, are convinced she was framed by MI5."
The other sub-plot is co...more
This is the story of another soldier, Billy Prior, and the neurologist Dr. Rivers.
Some sub-plots come up during the story.
The author describes Beattie Roper's story which is based on the "poison plot" of 1917: "Alice Wheeldon was jailed in 1917 for plotting to poison Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Her descendants, having read research by Dr Nick Hiley, of the University of Kent, are convinced she was framed by MI5."
The other sub-plot is co...more
Superb! Not quite as emotionally draining as the first in the series but stunning nevertheless. This time the plot focuses around Billy Prior and all that he is suffering home from the war. This story is not quite as riveting as the soldiers stories at Craiglockhart were but good enough. The third part returns more to Dr. Rivers and the soldiers in his new job in London where again we're faced with the trials of soldiers suffering "shell shock". It is also so intriguing to hear the story of Sass...more
I'm not even sure if I could be bothered to finish this book.
The main character is an everyman. For some bizarre personal reason of my own I did not expect that this was meant literally. He is an officer of working class origin, shipworker father domestic service mother, bisexual, in a relationship with a munitions worker, suffers shellshock, was a boy prostitute, picks up brother officers for casual sex, lived on the same street as the woman who tried to assassinate Lloyd-George...
Any one of th...more
The main character is an everyman. For some bizarre personal reason of my own I did not expect that this was meant literally. He is an officer of working class origin, shipworker father domestic service mother, bisexual, in a relationship with a munitions worker, suffers shellshock, was a boy prostitute, picks up brother officers for casual sex, lived on the same street as the woman who tried to assassinate Lloyd-George...
Any one of th...more
This is the second part of a trilogy; I loved the first volume and put off reading this one for a few months because I didn't want to race through the books too fast and get burnt out (it's happened to me too many times before!).
Initially I loved this book just as much but as it went on I became confused, I missed matching up characters with their previous appearances in the book, and therefore began to put it down more which just made things worse. I definitely lost the plot somewhere!
I'll cert
...more
Because it is the sequel to Regeneration, I had high expectations for The Eye in the Door -- too high apparently. It could be partially because the novelty of Regeneration has worn off; the setting is no longer Craiglockhart war hospital, and the narrative no longer centres around Dr. Rivers and his patients, but instead Billy Prior, a patient of Rivers' in Regeneration who, to me, was the least likeable of the bunch. I found the plot, which largely centred around the aftermath of an assassinati...more
This is the second book in a three part series by British author Pat Barker. It is a fascinating tale that starts with a group of characters who are all British male soldiers who have been sent to a mental hospital where they can be "healed" and sent back out to the front in France during WW I. They work with a compassionate doctor, Dr. Rivers, who grows more and more conflicted about his job (to send them back out to war) as he gets to know and care for his patients. Pat Barker blends historica...more
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Pat Barker was born in Thornaby-on-Tees in 1943. She was educated at the London School of Economics and has been a teacher of history and politics.
Her books include the highly acclaimed Regeneration trilogy Regeneration ; The Eye in the Door , winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize; and The Ghost Road , winner of the Booker Prize; as well as seven other novels. Pat Barker is married and lives in Du...more
More about Pat Barker...
Her books include the highly acclaimed Regeneration trilogy Regeneration ; The Eye in the Door , winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize; and The Ghost Road , winner of the Booker Prize; as well as seven other novels. Pat Barker is married and lives in Du...more
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Thanks Shovelmonkey. Sorry for the delay...more
Jul 31, 2012 07:08am
Apr 28, 2013 06:45am