Dr. Freud, accompanied by Carl Jung and Sándor Ferenczi, is invited to hold a lecture at Clark University. The week before the three spend in New York City, taken car of Dr. Younger. It is from Younger's perspective that the story of the book is told.
Nora Acton has been attacked in her parent's house and lost not only her memory of the event but also her voice. Therefore, an arrangement is made for a psychoanalytical treatment - on suggestion by Freud, Younger is to be treating her. The attack appears to be connected to one, possibly two previous murders. As the case gets ever more complicated, almost everyone making an appearance in the book appears to have their own agenda.
There is also a plot unfolding with the aim to discredit Freud and have Clark University cancel his appearance and also establishing Jung as the authority on psychoanalysis.
As explained in the author's note, the case is of course fictional but many of the people in the book are historical figures. Also, although the timeline has been changed, some of the conversations involving Freud are reported to have taken place, but not during his visit to New York. The split of Jung and Freud is also rooted in history but occurred a few years after the book is set.
The story is very dense and seems to be hurling off in different directions, at first, with apparent suspects having credible alibis and the attacks turning out to not quite be what they initially looked like.
As for the European visitors, everything Freud adds to assist Younger in his analysis of Nora comes back to incestuous desires and Oedipal complexes. And I mean everything. But he still comes off much more likable than Jung, who is petty and jealous of Freud's standing and goes slightly off the rails in the course of the story.
Quite interesting read.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment