Dame Pat Barker (1943 - )
English writer and novelist;
her multi-award winning fiction often centres on
themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery,
often in the context of war and oppression;
her famous Regeneration Trilogy (1991-1995)
deals with the trauma of World War I, while
her latest Trojan War Trilogy (2018-2024)
retells Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, but from
the perspective of the women involved in those myths.
Ohhhh The Trojan War Trilogy sounds like a fab read!!
ReplyDeleteXOXO
🙂 I am usually more partial to non-fiction, but I have looked up the descriptions and reviews. The 3 volumes of the Regeneration Trilogy are now in my wish list. Wouldn't it be great if we cured "shell shock"/PTSD by not having wars?
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was very open with me about his experiences in WWII/Korea. He often focused on the mental health aspects. He was unnerved by the propaganda work on the brains of he and his fellow Marines. ("You are a dangerous fighting machine and you will kill the slant-eyes!") Yikes. He was among the first Marines that landed in Japan and began the occupation. He found that the propaganda fed to the Japanese ("run into the hills to avoid the big white rapists") was just as ugly. Dad felt that what we now call PTSD often began with those home-grown messages. He observed significant mental health improvement in fellow Marines after they met and interacted with Japanese people so they overcame the programming from their own military.
I can't wait to see what Barker's books will teach me about these processes. 🤔
@ Cleora Borealis -- I've read the Regeneration Trilogy twice and it is highly recommended! There's also a British film made of the first novel that is extremely good as well, if you can find it -- "Regeneration" (1997). Outstanding cast of actors.
DeleteI never read fiction and have to admit I've never heard of her or her books. And she's a Brit too!
ReplyDelete