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Loading... The Interpretation of Murderby Jed Rubenfeld
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. lecari | Jul 9, 2009 |   I believe that this book is not meant for everyone to like unless you're familiar with psychoanalytical concepts such as Oedipus complex and mechanism of repression etc. A thriller incorporating well explained psychoanalytical concepts is an amazing accomplish! A fast paced, well written novel. Set in Manhattan, New York, a story of 1909 Sigmund Freud's visit to America along with his protege and rival Mr. Carl Gustav Jung. When a wealthy young debutante died, discovered in an elegant luxurious apartment near the city. She was found tied bound, whipped and strangled and another second victim narrowly escaped but could not recover the events of what happened. Authorities calls upon Freud to help with the investigation and to recover the victim's memory.Through out the book you will notice that Mr. Carl Gustav Jung was depicted as self-absorbed, treacherous, racist in which I don't know why. Jung-bashing aside the novel is a worthy read. (  )dhelicious | Apr 23, 2009 | 1  Although I could see how this novel could be tarred with the taint of The Da Vinci Code I found it to be a fascinating and inventive crime novel that weaves together the biographies of Freud and Jung with the history of early twentieth century Manhattan, pscyhoanalysis and a critical theory of Shakespeare's Hamlet. (  )TheoClarke | Mar 16, 2009 | Set in America in early 1900 this story follows the arrival of Sigmund Freud to America to give talks about his theories and the science of psychology. At the same time a debutante is found bound and strangled in a luxury apartment block. This is followed by a youg heiress being found tied to a chandelier in her parents home. Are the cases linked? Are they done by the same person or is there a group involved? Dr. Younger takes on the case and tries to break through the amnesia of the young heiress to find the secrets she is hiding about the attack? Freud says it is all down to an sexual act she has seen when she was a child which has traumatised her - but is this the case? Also at the same time someone is trying to spoil Freuds reputation with slander regarding this methods. Can the murderer be found and Freuds reputation saved? As a first novel it is good - there are areas which were really slow going and hard work. But overall worht a read. Though the last 50 pages or so were the best - the tension built and there were a lot of twists in the plot which changed where you thought the story would go. The best was saved till last and for that I would try the next one Jed Rubenfeld writes.....if for no other reason to see if he can keep to the level he finished this first book with. ( )StuartAston | Feb 1, 2009 | 1 Dumb dumb dumb ptzop | Nov 28, 2008 |  0.019 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0805080988, Hardcover)It has been said that a mystery novel is "about something" and a literary tale is not. The Interpretation of Murder has legitimate claims to both genres. It is most definitely about something, and also replete with allusions to and explications of Shakespeare, to the very beginnings of psychology, to the infighting between psychoanalytic giants--all written in a style that an author with literary aspirations might well envy.In 1909, Drs. Freud and Jung visit Manhattan. They no sooner arrive when a young socialite is murdered, followed by another attempted murder, bearing the same characteristics. In the second case, the victim lives. She has lost her voice and cannot remember anything. The young doctor, Stratham Younger, who has invited Freud to speak at his University, soon involves Dr. Freud in the case. Freud, saying that Nora's case will require a time committment that he does not have, turns her over to Younger. The rudiments of Nora's case are based on Freud's famous Dora, complete with sexual perversions, convoluted twists and turns and downright lies. That is just one of the myriad plot lines in the novel, all of which are intricate, interesting and plausible. All it takes for all of the incidents to be true is a great deal of bad will--and it is abundant here! There are politicians who are less than statesmen, city employees at work for themselves and not the city, doctors who will do anything to undermine Freud's theories, thereby saving the neurotics for themselves, and opportunists at every level of society, seeking psychological or material advantage. Carl Jung is portrayed by turns as secretive, mysterious, odd, and just plain nuts, while Freud remains a gentleman whose worst problem is his bladder. Not the least interesting aspect of the book is all the turn-of-the-century New York lore: bridge building, great mansions, the Astor versus Vanderbilt dustup, immigrant involvement, fabulous entertaining, auto versus carriage. Despite the tangle of tales, debut author Jed Rubenfeld finishes it with writerly dexterity--and the reader is sorry to see it all end. --Valerie Ryan (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:01 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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When reading this book you have to bear in mind that it is mainly fictional. A lot of the characters did not exist, neither did several of the buildings, nor the murder case. I found myself enjoying it a lot more when I ignored that it was supposed to be about Freud and Jung, but more just a group of psychoanalysts, as otherwise it is rather difficult to believe in places. However, I believe that Freud and Jung's characters did keep true to the reality (from what I know of them both), including conversations and the theories/ideas they have.
With that in mind, I really enjoyed it; it was thrilling and exciting, and had enough plot twists to keep me guessing as to who the culprit is and to whether they will be able to prove it. The ending completely surprised me, too, as well as the final analysis of Nora, the victim of the attacks. I would certainly recommend it to others who like mysteries; it's really worth the time to read (it is quite long). Unfortunately it doesn't look like Jed has any other fiction novels available from a quick search on Amazon, which is a shame, but I will keep an eye out all the same. (