Pat Barker
Pat Barker is an acclaimed British author known for her profound historical fiction. Born in 1943, she gained prominence with her Regeneration Trilogy, exploring the psychological effects of World War I. Barker's work often delves into themes of trauma and resilience, earning her the Booker Prize for "The Ghost Road" in 1995. Her compelling narratives and keen insights into human nature have solidified her reputation as a significant contemporary writer.
Book summaries for books written by Pat Barker
Quotes
We don't belong in this theatre of war. We've been cast out. We have no connecting spirit with anything that happened here.
Shellshock is like a millstone around your neck. No one wants to admit they're carrying it, and you can't get rid of it.
You put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's head.
War memorials are one of the most sentimental and fraudulent aspects of the culture of imperialism.
Men have half the world and still say women should be grateful for the crumbs.
To give up pretensions is as blessed a relief as to get them ratified.
Is bravery some uniform quality that underlies two completely different behaviors?
Silence is the greatest ally of any war.
Sometimes you can do everything wrong and it still turns out to be right.
We know so much about dying, and so little about living.
In one of his letters to me, Edmund Gosse remarked, 'It is the mark of a truly great mind to be able to put on paper ideas which are difficult to apprehend.' I believed he meant me.
To see a man like that, a subaltern, subject to all the humiliations in the world, who can still carry himself like a king, is inspiring.