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Executive Times |
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2008 Book Reviews |
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Life
Class by Pat Barker |
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Rating: |
*** |
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(Recommended) |
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Click
on title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
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Ambitions Pat
Barker’s latest novel, Life
Class, features a trio of art students in London at the beginning of the
first World War. If all artists are meant to suffer, those in Life Class are
true to form, and their ambitions to get through their suffering and into
success cause much of the tension in the novel. Some of Barker’s finest
writing comes when the setting shifts from London to the front line of the
war in France, and when life becomes more important than school or art or
anything else. Here’s an excerpt, from
the beginning of Chapter 3, pp. 25-7: A
light rain had fallen. The street was busy, people hurrying to restaurants and bars.
Women's scents, as they walked past on the arms of husbands and lovers, mingled
with the smell of leather and dung from the cab horses that stamped and
jingled in a long row by the curb. For no better reason than the freshness of
moist air on his skin, Paul felt suddenly full of hope. Teresa
was pulling on her gloves, pale gray cotton, pressing each finger into place
. She barely reached his shoulder but was so slim and held herself so erect
that she struck him as a tall woman, and how beautiful that dark, warm
coloring, those cheekbones that caught and held the light. "I
suppose you've already had dinner?" No
I came straight from modeling." Her voice had an unexpected rasp to it,
like fingernails dragged across the skin. "I'll have something when I
get back." As
she spoke her pale gray eyes darkened, and he realized two things: she was
hungry that must be why the wine had affected her so much and she was afraid. "Perhaps
we could eat together?" She
looked up at him. A cleft in her chin, he noticed, rare in women. He
struggled not to touch it, the side of his thumb would rest there so sweetly. "That
would be nice." "There's
a place over there. Shall we try that?" They
ran across the street and pushed open the heavy door of the restaurant.
Steamy heat, a smell of onions frying. The waiter showed them to a table by
the window where they could look out at people walking past. Paul was
delighted, particularly since the couple at the next table were engrossed in
each other. They were virtually alone. "Would
you like some wine?" "More
wine?" She blushed. "Yes, go on, why not?" Her
accent was very strong when she said that. He'd kissed and cuddled girls like
her, standing with his back to the factory gates, pausing and pulling them
deeper into the shadows whenever anybody walked past. But then he looked at
her again and thought, Who are you kidding? You've never had a girl remotely
like this. They
ordered soup and roast beef and talked about their mutual acquaintances. Had
she known Elinor long? "Two
years. She was only seventeen, you know, when she came to London. She's
always saying what an old stick-in-the-mud her mother is, but when you think
of it . . . letting a seventeen-year-old girl come to London, unchaperoned.
Most mothers wouldn't do it." "Would
your mother?" Her
face hardened. "I was married at seventeen. No danger of that with
Elinor. Though it's not as if she hasn't had offers. You must have seen how
men react to her?" "I
saw how Neville did." "She keeps trying to get
him interested in other girls." She looked at him mischievously.
"Do you think she's attractive?" "In a boyish sort of way
..." "Isn't that what men go
for?" "Not all of us." "Neville does." Perhaps she felt she'd said too
much, because she immediately raised her glass, using it as a shield against
her mouth as she gaged round the room. "Do you like Tonks?" Her eyes widened. "Yes, I
think I do. He's a very kind man. Underneath.
" "Tell that to
Neville." "Henry didn't like his
work. But I think he always thought he had talent." "Not the way Neville tells
it. Tonks told him he despised his work and despised him even more." "Oh? I didn't know
that." Barker’s
dialogue rings true throughout Life
Class, and her descriptive language often soars. The medical descriptions
seemed vivid, and provided an ideal way to illustrate the shifting ambitions
and aspirations of the characters. War changes everything. Steve
Hopkins, April 21, 2008 |
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The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the May 2008 issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Life Class.htm For Reprint Permission, Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
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