A smaller group turned up to talk about Regeneration by Pat Barker. Tom and Mark loved it and while I though the writing was excellent and the characters well-drawn, I didn't find myself as involved in the story a would have liked. To me, it seemed like a series of vignettes rather than an overarching story.
I was really surprised and delighted to read in the epilogue that Rivers was a real person and his work treating soldiers with PTSD was well recognised. The contrast in his method of treatment with that of another doctor in the book, Yealland, whose methods seem callous and hurtful.
We were also interested to note that while the bulk of the book was men speaking to men, the few women that did appear had their own agendas and sexual agency and saved it from being completely male-centric. The talk about how the war had taken away their men – to the delight of some of them – and given them employment opportunities really added another dimension to the book.
The selection of a new book prompted its own wide-ranging discussion before we eventually decided on Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5. I've read this book a few times and just love it so I'm happy to be going back again.
Can I also put in a good word for the movie which is a rare instance where the film is as good as the book, I have heard it said that it's better.
Our next meeting will be at The All Nations hotel on November 6 because of school holidays in October. I expect there will be an extraordinary meeting on September 2.
