The second book in a series can so often be the best one. The first in a trilogy establishes the characters and the general idea of the plot; the third ties up all the loose ends; but more often than not it's the middle book that carries the most drama, the most uncertainty, and the most shocks. This is certainly true here. 'The Eye in the Door' is, for me, the most interesting of the 'Regeneration' trilogy. I hadn't much enjoyed the first volume and so my expectations were sufficiently low for this book to delight me. It is about the Great War, true, but so much more as well, like freedom of expression and love, and homosexuality in a time when it was still illegal. ( )

The sequel (and second in the trilogy) to Barker’s amazing ‘Regeneration’. I only discovered these books recently, and was blown away by the standard of writing and treatment of the issues in Regeneration… The Eye in the Door follows through on this; I get the impression that Eye is based slightly less on biographical fact, though is none-the-less important for that. The theme of homosexuality is addressed more directly in this book, concentrating on River’s patients in England who are dealing with both natural homosexuality and war-induced blurring of sexuality in a time when the citizenry’s reaction to the bonding of soldiers was to crack down ferociously on ‘inappropriate and degrading’ behaviour at home. Threaded through this theme, we follow Prior, whose dual personality threatens to implode under the strain of investigating his childhood friends for harbouring deserters, ‘conchies’ and ‘cowards’.

There are so many issues of war woven through Barker’s stories that coming out of each book is rather like emerging from the trenches; or at least from River’s consultation room, where one’s psyche is stripped to the ground. The characters are not real simply because the existed, but because Barker effortlessly breathes complicated, harrowing life into them, leaving the impressively dedicated Rivers to deconstruct neuroses so real and life-sized that they daunt the reader even as we begin to understand the impact of the first world war upon the men who fought it. ( )

very much a book about duality.each character struggles with an internal conflict--most dramatically Prior, who has blackouts in which a "second" personality emerges and behaves in away he can't remember or explain. Does he betray his childhood friend Mac? It appears that he does. His sexuality, though he seems less conflicted about it, isn't completely clear. He seems a sexual omnivore. any partner will do. Unlike others who are closeted and more guilt-ridden. Baker does a terrific job in bringing her well-rounded characters to life while weaving in all the social class and psychological aspects of the war. Looking foward to the last book in the trilogy. ( )

[The Eye in the Door] by [[Pat Barker]].

This is the second novel in Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy. As such, it reads a bit like a transitional novel and doesn't quite stand on its own as well as the first, [Regeneration]. I'm hoping that the final installment, [The Ghost Road], will raise the bar again.

In [The Eye in the Door], psychiatrist Dr. Rivers and several of his patients, including Billy Pryor and Siegfried Sassoon, return, and we find out what each has been doing since leaving Craiglockhart, the Scottish war hospital for soldiers suffering mental trauma. Barker explores a myriad of questions concerning loyalty to one's country, family, and friends. Because the setting has moved to London, she is able to expand her scope to include British society outside the confines of the hospital. (One of the themes is the persecution of homosexuals; one character notes how strange it is that the war encourages love between men as a motivation to fight, yet at the same time. those in charge want to set parameters on the kind of love that is acceptable.) Through Pryor, who has joined military intelligence, we see the corruption of the justice system and the conditions of prisons, and Rivers's visits to his colleague (aptly named Dr. Head) provide insight into what now seem like primitive forms of treatment for psychological problems. Overriding all is the power of the war machine and its efforts to keep providing bodies to fill the trenches. And, of course, the devastating effect of the war on individual lives and the national psyche. ( )

This is the second novel in Pat Barker's historical anti-War fiction trilogy. I enjoyed this more than 'Regeneration,' the first book. This again features the physician, Dr. Rivers and some of his former patients --- the officer-poet turned war protester Siegfried Sassoon; and more specifically the haunted Billy Pryor. Billy is now working as an intelligence officer on the homefront sniffing out pacifists and presumably turning them in. But we find out he has quite the double life -- in more ways than one.

Some of the same themes are present again -- pacifism, homosexuality, war flashbacks, and most prominently in this novel, disassociation. How we compartmentalize different aspects of our personalities to get through difficult things with both effective and pathological results.

I felt this novel was more poignant and compelling than the first though she still has this laid-back, almost vague way of writing that occasionally is unengaging. She doesn't do alot of background explicating, the reader just has to catch up with the character's lives, as it were, and let thngs unfold. Storylines are left a bit unresolved in the end - but, of course, there is a third installment.

Overall, a solid read by a talented writer. Don't be expecting a WWI story re: battles and politics etc. -- this is more about the damaged men, mentally, physically who have returned home. I will definately finish the trilogy. ( )