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A review by svrye_docx
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
So this third book, the finale, is the one that won the Booker Prize, yet for me, it's the weakest one in the trilogy. Having said that, 'The Ghost Road' is still a really well-written book.
With the end of the Great War in sight, Barker now plumbs the depths of flashbacks and non-linear narrative to continue the story of our two main protagonists. It's done well and neatly, the ping-pong between the past and the present as well as between setting never feels confusing or difficult to grasp. Yet, for all that, I did wonder why?
Maybe I missed out on a vital detail in my devouring of this book but the flashbacks into the past that are set in the Solomon Islands felt incongruous in theme. Rather than focus on war and trauma, as the first two books had largely dealt with, these flashbacks dealt with colonisation, imperialism and the effects of such on indigenous cultures and traditions. Death, loss and grieving did crop up in these flashbacks but nowhere near as underlined enough for it to be the reason one of the main characters are experiencing these flashbacks in the first place.
So when the book ends, it struck a strange note.
And to be frank, I did like the ending. Or rather, the non-ending. War cuts short all endings as we tend to think of them. Rude interruptions and fullstops in the middle of a life in progress. And this Pat Barker has portrayed to perfection at the book's close.
With the end of the Great War in sight, Barker now plumbs the depths of flashbacks and non-linear narrative to continue the story of our two main protagonists. It's done well and neatly, the ping-pong between the past and the present as well as between setting never feels confusing or difficult to grasp. Yet, for all that, I did wonder why?
Maybe I missed out on a vital detail in my devouring of this book but the flashbacks into the past that are set in the Solomon Islands felt incongruous in theme. Rather than focus on war and trauma, as the first two books had largely dealt with, these flashbacks dealt with colonisation, imperialism and the effects of such on indigenous cultures and traditions. Death, loss and grieving did crop up in these flashbacks but nowhere near as underlined enough for it to be the reason one of the main characters are experiencing these flashbacks in the first place.
So when the book ends, it struck a strange note.
And to be frank, I did like the ending. Or rather, the non-ending. War cuts short all endings as we tend to think of them. Rude interruptions and fullstops in the middle of a life in progress. And this Pat Barker has portrayed to perfection at the book's close.