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Review
Gripping, moving, beautifully constrcted and profoundly intelligent (Independent on Sunday )
Product Description
London, 1918. Billy Prior is working for Intelligence in the Ministry of Munitions. But his private encounters with women and men – pacifists, objectors, homosexuals – conflict with his duties as a soldier, and it is not long before his sense of himself fragments and breaks down. Forced to consult the man who helped him before – army psychiatrist William Rivers – Prior must confront his inability to be the dutiful soldier his superiors wish him to be …
The Eye in the Door is a heart-rending study of the contradictions of war and of those forced to live through it.
The second book in the Regeneration trilogy
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am writing this in response to the only other review of this book so far, which I do not think does the novel justice. All right, some of "The Eye in the Door" is "brutal and dark" - Pat Barker's books usually do have that element - but what I find so impressive about this novelist is how she manages to deal with difficult, and sometimes unpleasant, subjects in a way that is intelligent, compassionate and unsensational. Her books also have a streak of dry humour running through them that keep them becoming all doom and gloom like a Thomas Hardy novel. And yes, Prior's character is 'flawed" - (whose isn't?) - and sometimes difficult to like, but he seems real and human, and it is impossible not to sympathise with him sometimes, particularly given the courage with which he confronts his situations (not to mention the scalding sense of humour and irony.) Maybe "Regeneration" seems a "cleaner" novel, with characters it is easier to admire or like or pity, but I thought this one continued the tradition of amazingly powerful writing and is definitely worth a read, not just as part of the trilogy, but for its own sake.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you haven't read Regeneration, you are making a big mistake if you read The Eye in the Door before Regeneration. Regeneration sets the stage for The Eye in the Door and provides much background information that you need to appreciate this book.
Those who liked the first book in the Regeneration trilogy, Regeneration, will absolutely adore The Eye in the Door. The characters from Regeneration return, and you have a chance to find out the consequences of the treatments they received from Dr. William Rivers in Regeneration. Pat Barker builds on the tensions, damage, doubts, and despair of mid-World War I to show how much more desperate matters were for the British by the spring of 1918.
In developing these themes, Pat Barker does a masterful job of explaining how a soldier has to operate both by emotion and by objective distance in order to function. From there, she helps us use the crucible of war to see how that duality is important to everyday functioning for all people.
As the title indicates, the book builds on a central metaphor of everyone being under observation as doubts build about Britain's ability to win the war. Those on the margins are most under pressure and at greatest risk.
I thought that the portrayal of Lieutenant Billy Prior was brilliant. He comes across as the kind of complex, interesting character that can help us learn a lot about Ms. Barker's messages for us. The eye metaphor is nicely developed in the context of Billy's life.
Brava, Ms. Barker!
Those who liked the first book in the Regeneration trilogy, Regeneration, will absolutely adore The Eye in the Door. The characters from Regeneration return, and you have a chance to find out the consequences of the treatments they received from Dr. William Rivers in Regeneration. Pat Barker builds on the tensions, damage, doubts, and despair of mid-World War I to show how much more desperate matters were for the British by the spring of 1918.
In developing these themes, Pat Barker does a masterful job of explaining how a soldier has to operate both by emotion and by objective distance in order to function. From there, she helps us use the crucible of war to see how that duality is important to everyday functioning for all people.
As the title indicates, the book builds on a central metaphor of everyone being under observation as doubts build about Britain's ability to win the war. Those on the margins are most under pressure and at greatest risk.
I thought that the portrayal of Lieutenant Billy Prior was brilliant. He comes across as the kind of complex, interesting character that can help us learn a lot about Ms. Barker's messages for us. The eye metaphor is nicely developed in the context of Billy's life.
Brava, Ms. Barker!
32 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading the trilogy as a gay man I was struck and impressed by Barker's handling of her largely male cast, in particular Billy Prior. She writes convicingly about men and masculinity. In the opening scene she writes the most erotic and unpretentious sex scene between two men that I have ever read (bar the description of a kiss in Baldwin's Giovanni's Room). Incidentally I do feel Billy Prior is an appealing figure in his flawed humanity. More importantly he is a great anti-hero. With his anger, intelligence, working-class background and bisexuality he represents a brilliant anti-establishment challenge to everything the war he fought claimed to defend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
'in spite of Not Believing in the War and Not Having Faith in our...
Masterly novel set in the latter stages of World War 1- not in the trenches but in London. Barker marries historical characters (Siegfried Sassoon, neurologist Dr Rivers) with the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by sally tarbox
Pat Barker The Eye in the Door.
Brilliant, you'll feel drained after reading this novel. PB explores the psychological effects of conflict so missing from the press with their emphasis on the cult of heroes. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Gillian
The Eye in the door
This book was slightly damaged on the front cover with ink/other such substance but otherwise it was fine, the pages were in good condition. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Kerry Louise
The mental pressures of war...
Unlike Regeneration, which can function as a stand-alone novel quite apart from its place as the first in the trilogy, I think both the subsequent books require the knowledge of... Read more
Published 12 months ago by C. Ball
Regeneration trilogy
This is the second instalment in the Regeneration trilogy, and continues examining the effects of the first world war. Read more
Published 15 months ago by AdeleM
eye in the door
Not as good as Regeneration, but how could it be. Wonderful continuation of the characters,especially the psychiatrist, and unexpected continuation of the story. Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2009 by michael rampling
grim tale of split personality
This sequel to Regeneration starts with a sordid homosexual encounter. I found that I almost stopped reading the book. Read more
Published on 21 May 2008 by Cole Davis
I didn`t like the first one..
and i didn`t like this one either. Barker jumps about all over the place, making point after point - all adding up to nothing and leaving you wondering what the hell it`s all been... Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2008 by Leeds lass
Very loose ends
Books you have enjoyed stick with you, while books you didn't like fade away. But just occasionally, a bad book niggles and irritates your subconscious, until you stumble across it... Read more
Published on 30 April 2005 by Patrick Neylan
Interesting, but not compelling
Fascinating historical facts (primarily about the hypocrisy of the English) are woven into a moderately interesting fictional story. Read more
Published on 27 May 2001 by T. BRANNEY
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