Book Description
In the aftermath of covering 9/11, English war reporter Stephen Sharkey and photographer Ben Frobisher leave New York and part company. Stephen returns to the devastating discovery of the end of his marriage; while on assignment in Afghanistan Ben is killed. Retreating to the English countryside to write a book questioning the role of the war reporter and photographer Stephen enters into complicated relationships with Ben’s widow Kate, a sculptor, her disturbing and sinister young studio assistant, and a young au-pair. Set far from the literal theatre of war, Double Vision is nonetheless a novel about its representation and effects as Pat Barker once more lays bare the complexities of desire and violence.
Customer Reviews:
Double vision may mean taking a second look. .......2007-02-02
Pat Barker gets right to the point - she is a direct story teller. Even though she is extremely skillful as a writer, with a wonderful skill for description of person and place, she believes in telling a comprehensible story with beginning, middle, and end and none of that ambiguous hanging ending that can be too arty and frustrating.
Well what was this story about? Well it is about as many themes as there were primary characters. It is about grief and recovery from grief. It is about starting love over again with mature eyes. It is about recognizing that your ego blinds you to dangers.
Kate has lost her photographer husband in Afganistan, yet she moves forward, she continues to create, and she continues to be brave.
Steven has seen it all and experienced it all as a war correspondent and now a newly divorced man. Yet he allows first unexpected lust and then unexpected love to be kindled in a relationship with a young woman, Justine, 20 years younger than himself.
Alec, the Episcopal minister and father of Justine, appears to be the humble wise man of God, but in fact he is an egotist who thinks he can really help ex-prisoners make a change in their lives, yet his ego is so big he puts his daughter, Justine, in danger.
Peter is an ex-prisoner around 30 years old, who killed a woman when he was 10. Pat Barker plays a game with the reader in that she gradually reveals disturbing information about Peter, making him into somewhat of a Patricia Highsmith type of villian, but by the end of the novel, we see that he is a catalyst. He revealed to Kate her inner courage; he is Justine's ex-lover who decides to break up with her rather than reveal his past; he is Stephen's competition; and he is the instrument that brings Alec into true humility from his egotism. He is not a Highsmith or Hitchcock villian as Barker would lead us to believe in the early clues she puts in our path in the first chapters.
The book is packed full of literary skill.
Double Vision.......2006-08-21
Pat Barker is brilliant novelist, best known for her "Regeneration" trilogy about WWI. "Double Vision" is also about war, but about its aftermath, and about war now--the state of endless war we live in during the 21st century. There are several surprises in this novel, whose characters are rich and deep, and whose plot has the kind of pace a tv thriller might have. Although on the surface it seems simple enough, the novel in fact is opening up very complex questions about the ethics of making images of atrocities and combat, as well as about the nature of love.
Cracking good read.......2005-04-07
It's a long time since I read a book in a day, and it's a long time since I read a novel that made the hairs on my legs stiffen and my skin shiver with fear, but I did with this one.
Pat Barker has always appealed as the author of novels of nuance and subtlety but which don't become over-literary in a "school of creative writing" way. But she excels herself in this book. It's about lots of things: why people cover wars and what covering wars sometimes does to their minds; about love and loyalty. But it's also a very good yarn. Pat Barker has an old-fashioned and utterly welcome belief in plot and comprehensibility. Double Vision is a very good read - plus a lot more.
Book Description
When Alexandra Todd's 21-year-old son is diagnosed with cancer, the family embarks on an odyssey that ultimately steers an expansive course between the gleaming technologies of traditional Western medicine and the gentle arts of alternative healing.
Customer Reviews:
A great book for everyone--not just those with cancer.......1999-03-05
A very interesting and informative introduction to Eastern healing, such as acupuncture and macrobiotic diet. Also a touching and uplifting story of a family's struggle with cancer. Ms. Todd's recipes and sources for further reading are especially helpful. The title sums it up: healing through an effective combination of "alternative" Eastern therapies and "traditional" Western medicine. Highly recommend this book for all those facing any serious illness. It does not claim to have all the answers, but helps identify some concrete ways to help in healing yourself (or at the very least, to better tolerate treatments).
Book Description
Individuals who are in religious leadership positions will immediately recognize the dilemmas or paradoxes described in this book. The good news is that Malony offers sound practical advice on how to deal with them. This book is accurately descriptive and helpfully prescriptive.
--Douglas Lewis, Wesley Theological Seminary
Malony suggests ways to turn destructive conflict into creative tension. A helpful guide for every religious leader struggling to make sense out of the colliding interests that buffet many congregations and other not-for-profit institutions.
--William E. Hull, Samford University
As a leader you must also challenge individuals to make uncomfortable choices in the service of doing God's work in the world.
Maloney identifies eight central paradoxes that all religious leaders--both lay and ordained--must confront. The author shows how these paradoxes, when viewed as either/or choices or struggled against, can whipsaw the leader, tearing the ministry apart. However, embracing paradox and accepting it as a gift allows religious leaders to deal successfully with conflict in their roles, and in so doing, break through to a more powerful connection with those to whom they minister.
H. Newton Malony is senior professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary, a licensed psychologist, and an ordained United Methodist minister.
Customer Reviews:
Hard to Categorize Except as "Good".......2003-08-12
In "Living with Paradox," H. Newton Malony seeks to take religious leaders from "the tyranny of the OR to the genius of the AND." He explores eight paradoxes of religious organizations and religious leadership. The table of contents gives a sense of the book's scope:
1. Religious leadership and paradox
Part One: Paradoxes in the Religious Leader's Role
2. Person and position: being true to oneself and to congregational expectations
3. Prophet, priest, and king: playing three roles that become confounded
Part Two: Paradoxes of Perspective
4. Inclusivity and exclusivity: appreciating both uniqueness and universality in faith convictions
5. Timely and timeless: applying the Bible's eternal truths to present circumstances
Part Three: Paradoxes Built into the Structure of Religious Congregations
6. For-profit and not-for-profit: balancing the books while serving a larger purpose
7. Person and organization: running an efficient organization in which people feel deeply recognized
Part Four: Paradoxes of Congregational Mission
8. Product and process: valuing ends and means equally
9. Mission and maintenance: moving the congregation toward achieving its goals while fostering goodwill and group cohesion
10 Conclusion: Leading others to double vision
True to its paradoxical theme, this book defies easy categorization. Part one focuses on the nature of ministry and ministers. The chapter on "timely and timeless" takes up the subject of preaching, while the next chapter, "for-profit and not-for-profit," moves on to financial issues. Many of the book's subjects tend to be issues for church conflict, and chapter seven is partly about the process of church conflict. You will not find a comprehensive treatment of any single subject in Living with Paradox, but I'm certain the book will spark some new ideas for reflection.
As someone who is preparing for ministry, I found the book very helpful. I would easily recommend it to any minister or ministry student. I also think Living with Paradox would be of interest to board members, committee chairs, or other lay leaders in a church.
Average customer rating:
- Fill My Eyes With That Double Vision
- Double Vision
- Quantum computing, romance, and intrigue
- Very Disappointed
- Predictable Ending, Poor Writing
|
Double Vision
Randall Ingermanson
Manufacturer: Bethany House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Technothrillers
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Mystery
| Fiction
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fiction
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Retribution (City of God Series #3)
-
Premonition (City of God Series #2)
-
Oxygen
-
Transgression (City of God Series #1
-
The Fifth Man (Sequel to Oxygen)
ASIN: 0764227335 |
Book Description
Rachel and Dillon are about as opposite as two people can be. She is quirky, erratic, and liberal, and he is uptight, meticulous, and conservative. But both are brilliant and on the verge of developing a quantum computer with the potential to change the world. On the eve of certain breakthrough, the sabotage begins--someone knows about their discovery, and the treachery is escalating. In the wrong hands, their discovery could destabilize the world's economy. They have no choice but to run, but are they running from or toward the enemy? Ingermanson deftly combines action-packed suspense, intriguing scientific speculation, a bit of romance, and delightful touches of humor in this fascinating techno-thriller.
Customer Reviews:
Fill My Eyes With That Double Vision.......2007-03-18
I've read and enjoyed a few of Randy's novels. The City of God series (Transgression, Premontion, Retribution) is among my favorites. His writing and marketing ezines are some of the best resources for wannabe writers like me. His Snowflake method for constructing a novel is a great tool for many who write.
I recently received a copy of this novel, Double Vision, and was anxious to dive into it. I was not disappointed. The story is one of quantum computers, nano-technology, humor, off the wall, yet endearing characters and--dare I say it . . . romance.
Dillon Richards is a brilliant and talented man. Like many with great talents, he has his own thorn in the flesh. Asperger's Syndrome. He's not Normal and he knows this. He doesn't think like you and me. He's very literal, logical, rational and intellectual. Order and structure are the pillars in his life. And yet he doesn't get the most simple things about people. Slang really does a number on him. Chaos and disorder in the lives of those around him confounds him. And women might as well really be from another planet.
Now he finds himself with a dream project that will revolutionize encryption and, not one, but two woman battling for his affections. Not only this, but now someone wants the technology he and his co-workers are developing. This technology being a last ditch effort to save the company he works for ramps up the action.
It's enough to make a guy with AS crazy. :-)
I enjoyed this novel and look forward to the time when I can read all of Randy's works.
In reading the reviews here I've noticed several comment negatively on Randy's 'simplistic' writing. Much of this novel is from Dillon's perspective and as such requires such an approach in my humble opinion. Dillon is so different from the common man that he doesn't speak or think like most people. This is reflected in much of the narrative involving him. I don't think it has anything to do with lack in Randy's writing style. Read his other works and see if you agree. Rather, I believe the more simple style was a technique Randy used for the Dillon character, as well as to help make the technical aspects of the story more accessible. Just my 1 cent there, buy what you will with it.
Double Vision.......2007-03-16
The book arrived in excellent condition within the scheduled delivery time. I love Randall Ingermanson's books and can't wait for the next one!
Thank you,
Francine Keehnel
Quantum computing, romance, and intrigue.......2007-02-17
Dillon Richards is one of CyberQuanta's most talented computer programmers, but he isn't "Normal" like everyone else. Afflicted with "Asperger's Syndrome" his entire life, he's always seen life from a different perspective; through a different set of rules and regulations. To Dillon, order is the cure to chaos; logic the bedrock of existence, and rationality the key to a better life. He believes in science and God, and though both "faiths" have seemingly unsolvable contradictions, his belief in them remains unshakable. However, though he understands quantum string theory and the "multi-verse", he finds women and love to be inherently chaotic and impossible to understand - why would anyone allow themselves to fall in love in the first place?
Keryn Wills, part-time mystery author and financial accountant for CyberQuanta is just the type of woman Dillon finds interesting and fascinating. A committed Christian who loves books, talking about alternate universes and Shakespeare, Keryn seems to be the right fit for the order-conscious Dillon - until the vivacious, risky, and outlandish Rachel Meyers storms onto the scene. Not only is Rachel bold and beautiful, she's dreadfully smart, almost as skilled as Dillon himself, and not afraid to flaunt "what God gave her".
Suddenly, Keryn is faced with daunting competition for Dillon's affections...but is there really any competition? Despite her infectious zest for life, Rachael is horribly conflicted about God, and it's very possible that in his strictly ordered, nonsensical and logical world, Dillon finds the idea of relationships and love beneath him in the first place. What's a romantic mystery novelist to do?
Of course, throw in a revolutionary quantum computer that will change the way the world thinks about encryption, personal security and privacy; federal conspiracies and a flight from powers wanting the quantum computer for their own nefarious reasons, and these three individuals are thrown into a pressure cooker that will not only test their limits and entangle them in a web of deception, misdirection, and lies, but also force them to consider their relationship with each other and their relationship with the divine power behind all design and purpose - God himself.
Double Vision is a quirky tale full of suspense, humor, and intrigue that brings a fresh flavor to Christian fiction. Randall Ingermanson writes about romance with as much authority as he does about all things scientific, and a carefully structured narrative results in a solid story leaving no stone unturned, no loose ends, and a painstakingly concealed plot twist at the tale's conclusion. His depiction of Dillon as an adult afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome is authentic, and his character development - juggling three main characters - is rich and full of depth.
Though Double Vision is billed as "A Novel of Intrigue and Suspense", the real focus is the developing relationship between Dillon, Rachel, and Keryn. Most of the suspense serves to put all three characters into situations in which stress brings them closer together and challenges their preconceptions of each other and the world around them, but this doesn't detract from the novel in any way, just makes it much more of a character-driven story, rather than a plot-driven one. The suspense and action builds slowly, much like the movie The Pelican Brief (Denzel Washington; Julia Roberts), and we don't really go "on the run" until a little over half-way through the novel.
Though more of a romance novel than pulse-pounding action/suspense, Double Vision is sure to entertain and engage readers, and the conclusion does come out of "left field", surprising the reader with its revelations. For some quantum computing, romance, and intrigue, pick up Double Vision today.
Very Disappointed.......2007-02-12
I'm not sure who wrote this book. I have read Mr. Ingermanson's others books (Oxygen, The Fifth Man, and the time-travel series) and those were good books, tightly written and with some good character depth.
This book, on the other hand, is very frivolous, shallow and silly. Maybe there was so much potential that it needed a more thorough treatment in an expanded series but, as another reviewer noted, it's all wrapped up in a nice neat package (with a thousand loose ends that don't seem thought through) so I'm glad to note we won't be seeing this band of goofballs in print again.
I'll check out more novels by this author if he continues to write, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. :(
Predictable Ending, Poor Writing.......2006-04-25
I picked up this book with high hopes, considering all the good reviews I've read regarding it. However, I was sorely disappointed with Ingermanson's simple - exceedingly simple - writing style and predictable plotline.
The book started off good enough and was quick to get into the action. In fact, the first few chapters of the book were the most enjoyable and clearly the most humorous of the entire novel. Certainly Dillion - the main character - is a novelty: an autistic with an unusual outlook on his fellow human beings. The love triangle between Dillion, Rachel and Keryn was equally interesting and entertaining. I was prepared to wholeheartedly enjoy this book, but ending up bored and dissatisfied in the end.
The biggest problem with this novel is the writing style. Ingermanson writes in such a simple, elementary style I found it hard to relate to any of the three main characters. Their emotions seemed insincere at best and artificial at worst. I eventually found myself not caring whether or not they made it alive till the end. And the only true suspense in the book - the carjacking - ending up being quickly resolved in the most cliche manner possible.
But the most disappointing part of the book had to be the ending. Terriblely unsatisfying. Everything resolves out sickeningly perfect. In fact, the author makes sure to round up ever character in the book in a classic Brady Bunch reunion the had me perfectly nauseated.
This whole book is even more disappointing because the Ingermanson had such a promising storyline and then just threw it away in slopshed writing and a boring ending. Sorry, but I won't be picking up another book from this author for a long time to come.
Average customer rating:
|
Double Vision
Christopher Weston , and
Nigel Hicks
Manufacturer: Guild of Master Craftsman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Nature & Wildlife
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| How-to
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Nature Writing
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1861082789 |
Book Description
Celebrated nature photographers Christopher Weston and Nigel Hicks have traveled the world in a passionate pursuit of shadow and light. One hundred of their finest photographs are collected here, featuring landscapes as diverse as the crashing fury of the Bali seashore and the cloud-tipped mountains of Nepal. Accompanying the photos are in-depth discussions about the equipment and techniques used to achieve each shot, as well as tips for attaining similar results in your own photographs. As instructive as it is inspiring, the collection offers help on everything from choosing the right equipment and film to using color and motion to capture and express emotion, and it even addresses the challenges and possibilities of digital photography. Special circumstances like fog and mist, and shifting light conditions including foul weather, dawn and twilight are considered and a host of innovative solutions are offered, making it an ideal addition to any amateur photographer's library.
Customer Reviews:
Double Vision.......2003-04-03
I've often wondered what makes a pro photographer choose a particular scene or perspective ... and now I know! It's nice to read about a side of landscape photography other than just speeds, apertures and focal lengths. This is a really inspirational book and had me out with my camera for the first time in ages! Each chapter gives an excellent insight into what motivates the photographer to take a particular picture and I've already seen an improvement in my pictures. My recommendation? A definite must for anyone interested in getting better landscapes!
Average customer rating:
|
Double Vision: Moral Philosophy and Shakespearean Drama
Tzachi Zamir
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
Shakespeare
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Ethics & Morality
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0691125635 |
Book Description
Hamlet tells Horatio that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in his philosophy. In Double Vision, philosopher and literary critic Tzachi Zamir argues that there are more things in Hamlet than are dreamt of--or at least conceded--by most philosophers. Making an original and persuasive case for the philosophical value of literature, Zamir suggests that certain important philosophical insights can be gained only through literature. But such insights cannot be reached if literature is deployed merely as an aesthetic sugaring of a conceptual pill. Philosophical knowledge is not opposed to, but is consonant with, the literariness of literature. By focusing on the experience of reading literature as literature and not philosophy, Zamir sets a theoretical framework for a philosophically oriented literary criticism that will appeal both to philosophers and literary critics.
Double Vision is concerned with the philosophical understanding induced by the aesthetic experience of literature. Literary works can function as credible philosophical arguments--not ones in which claims are conclusively demonstrated, but in which claims are made plausible. Such claims, Zamir argues, are embedded within an experiential structure that is itself a crucial dimension of knowing. Developing an account of literature's relation to knowledge, morality, and rhetoric, and advancing philosophical-literary readings of Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, and King Lear, Zamir shows how his approach can open up familiar texts in surprising and rewarding ways.
Book Description
Does one ever escape from the family? How much do we understand about our own past? How do we come to be who we are?
Walter Abish, the internationally acclaimed author of How German Is It, examines these questions through the prism of his own experience, and confronts and encapsulates the historic upheavals of the mid-twentieth century in this brilliant, deceptively simple, and quietly wrenching account of his two journeys.
The first begins in Vienna, where Abish was born in the 1930s in the Jewish, but not-too-Jewish, household of a prosperous perfumer. Then it ricochets around the world as his parents flee first to France (his mother had to sneak alone across the Italian border), then to war-torn Shanghai under Japanese occupation, just ahead of Mao’s army, then to Israel.
Incapable of understanding his family’s desperate situation, Abish as a boy creates his own private world, filtering out precarious and terrifying realities.
Abish describes fantastic events in the coolest tones. In precise, haunting detail, he records the perceptions of a child who registers and remembers what he will only later understand. He writes of the day in the park when a stranger suddenly screams “Jews out!” and he and his frail grandmother run for the exit in a panic as the other children and grandmothers stand and watch; the day his father is released by the Gestapo because a man in the room owes him money that he has never tried to collect and says, “Let Abish go—he’s okay”; of the time his father speaks to him about inheriting his perfume business, as they stand on the deck of a ship bound for China.
The first journey recounts the flight; the second journey chronicles the return: Abish writes about how, in the 1980s, he went on a tour to Germany to launch the translation of his award-winning novel How German Is It—a book he wrote without ever having set foot there, deliberately, because he wished to elicit the idea of Germanness in what was “a fantasy of Germany.” This tour of what to him is an unfamiliar society includes a side trip to Vienna, where he glimpses the life he might have experienced and has the horrifying feeling that he never left.
Double Vision is a book that cuts to the quick. With unflinching candor, humor, and affection, Abish re-creates the way it feels to be a child and to look at your parents and wonder who they are. To be an adult and catch them in every corner of your personality. To look back on the world of your youth and realize both what you noticed and what you missed. It is a stunning achievement.
Average customer rating:
- Desultory Observations
- Looking Forward, Looking Now-Double Vision
- A quietly riveting tale
- Tastes Great, Less Filling
- Blind As A Bat
|
Double Vision: A Novel (Barker, Pat)
Pat Barker
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Classics
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Classics
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Saturday
ASIN: 0374209057 |
Book Description
A gripping novel about the effects of violence on the journalists and artists who have dedicated themselves to representing it
In the aftermath of September 11, reeling from the effects of reporting from New York City, two British journalists, a writer, Stephen Sharkey, and a photographer, Ben Frobisher, part ways. Stephen, facing the almost simultaneous discovery that his wife is having an affair, returns to England shattered; he divorces and quits his job. Ben returns to his vocation. He follows the war on terror to Afghanistan and is killed.
Stephen retreats to a cottage in the country to write a book about violence, and what he sees as the reporting journalist's or photographer's complicity in it; it is a book that will build in large part on Ben's writing and photography. Ben's widow, Kate, a sculptor, lives nearby, and as she and Stephen learn about each other their world speedily shrinks, in pleasing but also disturbing ways; Stephen's maid, with whom he has begun an affair, was once lovers with Kate's new studio assistant, an odd local man named Peter. As these connections become clear, Peter's strange behavior around Stephen and Kate begins to take on threatening implications. The sinister events that take place in this small town, so far from the theaters of war Stephen has retreated from, will force him to act instinctively, violently, and to face his most painful revelations about himself.
Customer Reviews:
Desultory Observations.......2007-09-28
The easy part is reading Pat Barker's stories. The tough part is thinking comprehensively about what one has read. Therefore, this review will be desultory in nature, with my observations subject to revision, as I continue to think about this terrific book.
Double Vision is my second read of Barker, and it won't be my last. Her economic use of language, in an epoch of a surfeit of information, is perhaps her greatest strength. Settings are drawn well and sufficiently, but not Hardylike. Characters are consistent throughout, speaking a dialogue that's believably real for us moderns.
This story centers around a seemingly "retired" war correspondent and his links from his now dead photographer/partner's life. Without spilling too much, I'll say that it is enough anti-war in its effects on the main characters as it has to be without imitating the woes of Hecuba in Troy.
Although the war scenes are alarming, the tale of insecurity in secure suburban civilization is probably the better carrier of message. The hints about human predation in just a few sentences in a scene where Uncle Stephen picks up nephew Adam from school play wondrously with judgments about our actual achievements regarding security.
To finish now, I'll say that the somewhat comedic ending indicates to me that a novel can be sensitive to commercial concerns, without sacrificing truth.
This book can be read easily in a weekend. You'll find it a labor to set down.
Looking Forward, Looking Now-Double Vision.......2005-04-24
Pat Barker has written a fabulous book in "Double Vision", a look into the present and future of our life through the form of violence and trauma, and how we respond. Of course, throughout the entire book the tune and lyrics of Foreigner's song, "Double Vision" played through my mind- how apropos;
"Fill my eyes with that double vision, no disguise for that double vision
Ooh, when it gets through to me, it's always new to me
My double vision always seems to get the best of me - the best of me, yeah"
Stephen Larkey, a war correspondent, returns to London from Afghanistan after 9/11. His best friend, Ben Frobisher has been killed. Ben was the photographer he worked with in most of his journeys. Stephen is suffering from post traumatic syndrome from the violence he has seen and needs to get his life together. On 9/11 he had called his wife and discovered that she had been in bed with another man. His life is in pieces and he needs to put it back together. His colleagues suggest psychotherapy, but he compares therapy to feeling sorry for himself and cannot go there. Stephen moves to a cottage in small town near his brother, Robert and his family, to write a book about war and it's after affects.
Kate Frobisher, Ben's wife lives near this small t own in the country. She is a sculptor and Kate has two traumas she is recovering from. She has had a bad auto accident that has left her weak with neck and spinal injuries. She is able to walk and move but will need physiotherapy. And, she has just re-entered the world after grieving for her husband Ben. She has accepted a job to sculpt a figure of Jesus for a church. She needs assistance to put this together and the local vicar, Alec Braithwaite, knows of a young man, Peter Wingrave who can help. This arrangement works out well. Kate likes to work alone, but Peter is almost invisible and he is most helpful However, it turns out that Peter has a great trauma of his own, and he is trying to work this out.
Stephen enters his new life and finds his brother and his marriage is in trouble. His nephew, Adam, has a behavioral issue that isolates him from other people Robert is a physician and spends more and more time away from home. His wife is very religious and works hard. She needs help at home. Justine, the vicar's daughter is recovering from a glandular illness and has put off college for a year. She works as an au pair a couple of hours, taking care of Adam after school. Stephen and Justine meet and start an affair. He knows this will not last a lifetime, but it is soothing for both of them. Justine suffers a beating after a robbery in the home, and this recent trauma for her gives her the need to recover with Stephen.
All of the characters in this novel need recovery from their personal traumas. 9/11 has brought violence and fear into our world. We have all gone through the various forms of recovery from trauma, and this novel shows us up close and personal how our lives are changed by sweeping historical tragedy and everyday violence. We require a leap of faith to move on, and this novel represents our firs move. Highly recommended. prisrob
A quietly riveting tale.......2005-01-09
From the winner of the 1995 Booker Award and the author of the Regeneration Trilogy, Pat Barker, comes this latest literary offering.
Stephen Sharkey, a burnt-out war correspondent, returns from a harrowing experience in Afghanistan and determined to change his career and write a book based on the work of his colleague, Ben Frobisher, a photographer recently killed in Afghanistan. He moves to a cottage on his brother's property near Ben's widow, Kate Frobisher, a sculptor and begins his book. He soon finds himself involved with Justine, a woman twenty years his junior and so the plot evolves.
Barker is particularly adept in subtly delineating the effects of violence on the lives of her characters and this book is no exception. A quietly riveting tale.
Tastes Great, Less Filling.......2004-09-25
Pat Barker's DOUBLE VISION resolves perfectly the beery "brew-haha" of Miller Lite's immortal bar argument: "Tastes great! Less filling!" In this oh-so-faint cousin to English pastoral novels of George Eliot, Jane Austen, and Thomas Hardy, Pat Barker has crafted a writerly but irrelevant novel filled with characterless characters, too-improbable plot contrivances, and pop philosophical conundrums supposedly arising from the great (and noticeably non-Asian, non-African) horrors of the last decade - Afghanistan, Kosovo, and 9/11.
The novel begins with the heroine, Kate Frobisher, suffering a temporarily debilitating auto accident on an icy country road. Kate is a sculptress, recently commissioned to create a fifteen-foot statue of (who else?) Christ. Her late husband Ben has recently died in Afghanistan, working there as a war photographer, and now Ben's partner and boozy friend Stephen arrives to incorporate Ben's work into a book about war and its observers and the meaning of recording such events while not participating (far, far, far better treated in the DVD "War Photographer" about James Nachtwey).
Remarkably, Stephen's brother Robert lives close by to Kate, and although Stephen falls for Kate, he falls even harder for Robert's 19-year-old babysitter, Justine (so exotically French!), the only child of the local (and badly divorced) vicar, Alec, who happens to take in ex-cons, one of whom, Peter, becomes Kate's temporary arms and legs in the art studio while she recovers from her accident. Got all that? Add in Robert's son Adam, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome and Peter's Zelig-like personality and surprise criminal past, all shadowed by that indomitable 15-foot Christ statue, and the result is "another fine mess" as Oliver Hardy used to say.
Barker's style is reservedly British, but her prose is observant and at times compelling if you can look past such Anglicisms as kerb (curb), poofs (gays), and fug ("a fug of warmth and music", "a fug of human bodies and damp wool"). She spins a convoluted web of strained family relationships among Robert's and Stephen's family, and between Stephen, Justine, and Alec, and their impact on one other plays at times like a multi-themed concerto.
Unfortunately, the interjections of BIG IDEAS about war, media, the role of the correspondent/photographer, Goya's representations of war, the fragility of life and our perpetual exposure to random violence and tragedy, even in the English countryside, reduce a novel of manners to Novel Lite. Nice prose, but too many big ideas too easily tossed off and unexamined, requiring too many plot manipulations to accommodate their presence (or force their presence in the first place). In the end, after all the dancing around horrific war images of rape and death, sniper bullets through the skull, and 9/11 catastrophes, we're left with Stephen's stunningly banal observation, "No experience is valid without the accompanying image." This philosophical gem presents itself just before a day cruise almost turned Titanic reminds us again about life's ever-threatening tragedies.
In the end, DOUBLE VISION feels more like a gentrified, exurb-London version of CLAN OF THE CAVE BEARS, full of grunts and head-clubbings (literal and figurative, that is) within an artsy, cloistered-almost-to-incestuousness, gossipy, adulterous, self-consciously angst-ridden clan of urban (and faultlessly urbane) transplants. Only Mrs. Peel and Mr. Steed are missing to complete the tableaux.
For those seeking this kind of countryside "slice of life" with a little intrigue, I recommend the more compelling and considerably more artistically satisfying alternatives of Graham Swift's WATERLAND and EVER AFTER and Robertson Davies' THE DEPTFORD TRILOGY.
Blind As A Bat.......2004-05-25
Pat Barker develops some interesting characters in "Double Vision." Unfortunately, she does not tell much of a story. Kate Forbisher is an artist sculpting an image of Christ. She loses her husband Ben in Afghanistan. She crashes her car against a tree. Why did she do this? Is it a comment on women drivers? Who knows?
Someone peers in the window as she is lapsing into unconsciousness. We don't know who this was. We suspect Peter. We want to know who was peeping at Kate as she was bleeding. Is it a predator? Was it a country looky-loo without a phone? Who knows?
Peter is an ex-con who replaced sheep that had hoof and mouth disease and then hires on to help Kate chisel Christ. We kind of like Peter until we find out that he secretly likes to dress up in Kate's clothes and pretends to chisel Christ during thunderstorms. Kate doesn't like this either. We think Peter might commit some ex-con type of nasty act. Justine gets whacked over the head during a robbery. Did Peter whack her over the head? Did Peter get tired of replacing sheep and decide to rob stereos? Who knows?
Stephen Sharkey shows up. He was Ben's best friend. He seems to develop a crush on Kate despite her neck brace. Unfortunately, that has to be put on hold since he puts the moves on his brother Robert's nanny Justine. Justine is 19. Is Stephen really attracted to Kate? Or does he like teenagers? Does it take Justine's attack to help Stephen revere fidelity? Who knows?
Stephen's nephew Adam has Asperger's disease. He gets enjoyment from seeing road kill. Stephen helps him by taking him owl poop that can be washed to reveal the skulls of small animals that the owls ate. We think Adam is a bit weird. The kids at Adam's school think he's a bit weird. Adam thinks he's weird. Will Adam become a serial killer? Will Robert stop fooling around with other women and pay attention to his son? Will Robert stay with his wife Beth for Adam's sake? Will Stephen help Adam wash the owl poop after Justine gets hit on the head by an unnamed burglar and quits her job? Who knows? Who cares?
"Double Vision" has such an unfocused and unresolved plot that one might rename the tome "Blind As a Bat." Barker writes a lot of nice words. We enjoy her descriptions of dead women in war zones who are violated after death. We appreciate Ben's dedication to his work. We are sorry he gets killed in Afghanistan. Do we care? Who knows?
Taxi.
Books:
- Draw Write Now, Book 1-8 (Draw Write Now)
- Emphasis Art: A Qualitative Art Program for Elementary and Middle Schools (8th Edition)
- Evil And the Justice of God
- Findings & Finishings: A Beadwork How-To Book (Beadwork How-To series)
- For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men
- Fundamentals of Power Electronics (Second Edition)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Maki
- The Sin of Wages: Where the Conventional Pay System has Led Us and How
- One-Color Graphics: The Power of Contrast
- Southern Exposure
- The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable
- Species Invasions: Insights into Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography
- The Prophet Armed: Trotsky 1879-1921
- ART IN OUR TIME; A CHRONICLE OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
- Steller's Sea Cow
- California spring wildflowers, from the base of the Sierra Nevada and Southern Mountains to the sea
Another World: A Novel
The Eye in the Door
Union Street & Blow Your House Down
Moon Tiger
The Needle's Eye
