- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Picador USA; Reprint edition (Feb 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312420196
- ISBN-13: 978-0312420192
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,983,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
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Border Crossing is haunted by one of the most disturbing figures in contemporary English culture: the child who kills.
The theme that runs through Barker's superficially very different works - she is best known for her regeneration trilogy, set during and after World War I - is a fascination with the life of the mind, the tricks the mind plays on life and those that life plays on the mind.
This latest novel is an intelligent examination of the nature of evil, memory and obsession.
While walking along the beach child psychologist Tom rescues a young man, Danny, from drowning.
When Tom realises that this is the same man at whose trial he gave significant evidence many years previously in a murder case, he begins to wonder how much their latest encounter is really the coincidence it at first appeared.
He agrees to help Danny explore the events leading up to the trial and as he gets increasingly drawn into the young man's psyche, finds himself questioning many of the convictions he had previously held secure.
Meanwhile, as one relationship grows in intensity, and the personal and professional intertwine, Tom's wife is slipping away, their marriage seemingly past the point of no return.
As the central character, Danny is a masterpiece, a beguiling and convincing combination of victim and aggressor, apparently leaving a trail of broken lives in his wake.
His is a character of unresolved opposites, at times deeply manipulative and destructive, at others, charming, innocent, inconsistencies played out brilliantly, in an atmosphere of increasing menace and intensity, in the taut, spare language at which Barker excels.
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Border Crossing is haunted by one of the most disturbing figures in contemporary English culture: the child who kills.
The theme that runs through Barker's superficially very different works - she is best known for her regeneration trilogy, set during and after World War I - is a fascination with the life of the mind, the tricks the mind plays on life and those that life plays on the mind.
This latest novel is an intelligent examination of the nature of evil, memory and obsession.
While walking along the beach child psychologist Tom rescues a young man, Danny, from drowning.
When Tom realises that this is the same man at whose trial he gave significant evidence many years previously in a murder case, he begins to wonder how much their latest encounter is really the coincidence it at first appeared.
He agrees to help Danny explore the events leading up to the trial and as he gets increasingly drawn into the young man's psyche, finds himself questioning many of the convictions he had previously held secure.
Meanwhile, as one relationship grows in intensity, and the personal and professional intertwine, Tom's wife is slipping away, their marriage seemingly past the point of no return.
As the central character, Danny is a masterpiece, a beguiling and convincing combination of victim and aggressor, apparently leaving a trail of broken lives in his wake.
His is a character of unresolved opposites, at times deeply manipulative and destructive, at others, charming, innocent, inconsistencies played out brilliantly, in an atmosphere of increasing menace and intensity, in the taut, spare language at which Barker excels.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
25 reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
A Psychologically Engaging Novel
3 May 2001
Format:Hardcover
This engaging and very readable novel explores the inner life of a psychologist, Tom Seymour. Tom is trying to cope with the possible break-up of his marriage when he is visited by a figure from his past, Danny Miller. More than a decade earlier, Tom testified in court that Danny understood the difference between right and wrong and therefore was fit to stand trial as an adult. In the electrifying opening chapter, Tom meets the adult Danny, and is subsequently forced to consider the extent to which he may have contributed to Danny's problems.
The book explores themes including trust, betrayal, what we owe to other human beings, and the consequences of our actions. The title has multiple layers of meaning, but clearly one of the borders that fascinates Barker here, as it did in the _Regeneration_ trilogy, is the border between psychologist and patient. How much of a barrier should Tom draw between himself and Danny? What are the consequences if Danny crosses that border? Is there a danger in being too close to someone like Danny, even if one has the best of intentions? Finally, how different is Tom from Danny? Is there a little bit of cruelty in all children, all people?
Although this novel touches on a hot button issue--children and punishment--it steadfastly resists plot cliches. Danny Miller is a complex, enigmatic, intelligent, untrustworthy, yet at times movingly vulnerable character. The novel is all the stronger for refusing to reduce him to the role of either victim or monster.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Almost
3 April 2001
Format:Hardcover
Ms. Pat Barker has written some wonderful books. Many consider her, "Regeneration Trilogy", her best work, and it was the most enjoyable work of hers for me as well. Her newest work, "Border Crossing", was frustrating as it appeared weak only to become very intriguing, however in the end it did not rise to the level of her other works.
The book opens with an event that is so unlikely as to seem absurd. Ms. Barker then does a wonderful job of providing the justification for this act and uses it to stage the continuation of a relationship ended 13 years previously. She develops great tension as to the ethical choices a doctor must make, and reconstructs the years of incarceration of a juvenile murderer that is unnerving and populated with some of the best characters she has created.
As she has done in the past, she creates and resolves a great many issues in the relatively brief span of 215 pages. When the read is complete the story and some of its elements are not. Critical issues that are seemingly the justification for revaluating the past are brought to the very edge of revelation and then dropped. There is no resolution of the story just a repetition of the original placement of an individual in new circumstances. The story could easily be continued and perhaps that is what she has in mind. I certainly hope this is the case as she has created at least 2 characters that are excellent, one of whom could be the darkest creation of her writing to date.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Border Crossing - A compelling read
1 Mar 2001
Format:Hardcover
This is an easy, compelling read from start to finish. Engaging characters, take you through the story of a boy murder ( or is he) and that of his psychologist. At the time the author makes one thinks about wider issues, of capacity, morality, and moral responsility. When someone serves time in prison, what is a good outcome, what should we expect from them and from those around them. If these themes sound a little heavy - worry not, Barkers fluent style and ability to keep us guessing, mean that you wont want to put this book down.
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