Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Regeneration by Pat Barker

6 reviews

erinbrenner's review

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

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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. 

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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

svrye_docx's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

First encountered this book several years ago in a university writing class (Literature of the First World War) and got really into it. We sadly only read part of it and now, years later, found the book again and read it in full.
It's not a gripping page turner, nor is it your standard war novel full of battlefield exploits. It's a psychological exploration of men dealing with war trauma. 
Though the book is fiction, Pat Barker has dived deep into historical records and research to feature historical figures as the main characters in this book and from what I was able to gather through my own parallel googling, most of what she's depicted is fairly accurate. 

As the first in a trilogy, I think 'Regeneration' is a strong entry into the series' themes of war trauma, masculinity in turn-of-the-century Britain, mental illness and its treatment and homosexuality. It's full of conflicted characters and a sense of inevitability that neither the characters nor we, the readers, can quite look away from. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail

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

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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

caitban's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Classism

anitaxlit's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Picking this up I expected to simply enjoy some content about Siegfried Sassoon —a character that's fascinated me for years— and I was delighted to find that Regeneration offers so much more. Its reflections on the horrors of trench warfare, doctor-patient relationships and the changing views on masculinity at the time are insightful, sensitive and emotional.

The author doesn't always state what she wants to say plainly: instead she takes you on a journey with the characters, and with subtle allusions and clever dialogue guides you to develop the same ideas as them. But Barker is direct and raw where it counts, and I was truly shaken by some of the soldier's descriptions of life in the trenches.

On a lighter note, I enjoyed seeing Wilfred Owen here. His few interactions with Sassoon are a welcome reprieve from the despair governing the lives of the other characters, and I loved the scene where they work on "Anthem for Doomed Youth".

"What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
— Only the monstrous anger of the guns."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Vomit