Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Regeneration by Pat Barker

12 reviews

kttylatte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.25

i was hesitant to read it because i couldn’t really tell what it was going to be about (plus reading it for college) but i really enjoyed it. it put me through the mill a bit, i found certain sections very emotional and reflective. i do just love and adore pat barker’s writing style, which i think made it even better!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

patriciapueyolopez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, and War

Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia and Classism

bebhie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness

ed_moore's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Barker’s ‘Regeneration’ is a different sort of war story. It focuses on the physiatrist Rivers and his patients at Craiglockhart Memorial Hospital, helping those traumatised from their service in WW1. His job is to cure them so they become mentally stable enough to return to the front, and when this is impossible the patient is deemed a ‘failure’. This mindset evolves when Rivers is assigned the poet Siegfried Sassoon as a patient, who believes the war is only still ongoing due to warmongers, all the death is futile and it can be stopped, and hence begins Rivers evolution in mindset towards the First World War.

‘Regeneration’ followed the storylines of numerous patients, and inevitably I preferred the company of some than others. Unfortunately one of the primary characters was a man called Prior who Barker placed a lot of emphasis from and I just really didn’t like the chapters that focused on him. He was generally unlikeable and though his mental condition completely justifies such, it still didn’t mean I wasn’t yearning for Sassoon. That being said, I adored the scenes between Wilfred Owen and Sassoon and the budding relationship of the two poets. The mentorship was so wholesome and yet so painful knowing how history plays out. Owen also played a very small role in the book which I would have loved to see more of. 

The book felt both very static and constantly changing somehow, especially with the shift of Rivers setting towards the end which left me desiring what I already knew. The speed in which departures of characters occurred I suppose contributed to such. All together ‘Regeneration’ was heart-wrenching and traumatising given its themes and context, yet also Barker wrote it so beautifully. I am surprised that it is a trilogy however as I feel there isn’t much more to be said and its harsh conclusion made the point that Barker had intended. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and War

erinbrenner's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, War, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Antisemitism

davbat's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Well written and engaging. Remarkable that the author could take one of the saddest periods in British history and write it in a way that provokes almost no emotion or sympathy. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, and Cannibalism

Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Classism

ginnydw's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

thevintageflowerfaerie's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

caitban's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Classism

dana_katherine's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Bought this a bit on a whim while stranded in a train station; devoured in a few sittings. I loved the way she weaves fiction and history together, the characters are beautifully drawn and the reflection on the traumas of war is thoughtful, incisive, sad, hopeful, humanist... a challenging read but wonderful.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail