This term, we will be reading REGENERATION by Pat Barker. Although this is part of a trilogy of novels about the First World War (The Regeneration Trilogy), we will only be reading the first one as part of the Book Group. Not only is it a pretty extraordinary book, but it will also give invaluable context to your GCSE study of First World War poetry.
A Summary
Regeneration is the fictionalization of Siegfried Sassoon's stay in a mental hospital, Craiglockheart, in 1917 after he'd written a letter to Parliament protesting that the war was being needlessly extended. His psychiatrist, Rivers, is given the task of getting Sassoon to 'see sense and return to the front'. Rivers, a gentle, perceptive, humanitarian, attempts to save Sassoon and the other inmates from the demons that have come to haunt them. His burden is to share their grim experiences as they become able to articulate the horrors that have rendered them psychologically paralysed .
But how do you help people make sense of a world that has possibly gone mad itself? Whilst at Craiglockheart Sassoon meets a young man called Wilfred Owen and gives him valuable advice on his poem 'Anthem For Doomed Youth'. Meanwhile, the reader and Rivers become aquainted with a working class officer, a rarity in itself, named Prior who has lost his ability to speak, through shock or possibly even by choice.
Buying the Book
If you are to take part in the Book Group this term, you will need to get hold of a copy of the book. The quickest among you will get hold of a copy from your local library; the rest of you will need to purchase a copy. Although you can buy it from Waterstones in Walthamstow, this will not be the cheapest way to do so - and you may have to wait to order it from them anyway. The cheapest way to buy a copy is online, by following one of the following links:
N.B. I have purchased 20 copies of the novel, and they will be on sale from me - for £5 each - on a first come first served basis from Friday 5th January.
Reading Schedule
I will expect you to read approximately 20 pages (or two chapters) each week. This should be MUCH easier than last term, as the prose is much more modern and accessible. I suggest you choose a couple of evenings a week, and read a chapter on each one, every week.
You should read:
by Sunday 14th January: Chapters 1-3
by Sunday 21st January: Chapters 4-5
by Sunday 28th January: Chapters 6-7
by Sunday 4th February: Chapters 8-9
by Sunday 11th February: Chapters 10-11
HALF TERM: Catch-up
by Sunday 25th February: Chapters 12-13
by Sunday 4th March: Chapter 14
by Sunday 11th March: Chapters 15-16
by Sunday 18th March: Chapters 17-18
by Sunday 25th March: Chapters 19-21
by Sunday 1st April: Chapters 22-23
Any questions on any of this, just email me...
Mr Savage
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