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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.  Lili88 | Nov 2, 2009 |  Loved this book! (  ) Allie64 | Sep 1, 2009 | A disciple of Freud solves a murder in 1909 New York. Setting aside the needlessly convoluted plot, the main female character and her motivations (which are the motivations for the murder) are straight out of Freud (deliberately so, as the author makes clear in the afterword). So, unless you read Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria nodding the whole way through and saying, "This is SO TRUE! This is EXACTLY how women think!", you are not going to like this book. I am pretty sure the author's intention was not to show us how writing a female character based entirely on what Freud thought women were like creates a wildly inconsistent, wholly unsympathetic, and completely unrealistic heroine with motivations that make no sense, but that was the end effect of this book. Also, if you think Freud has women right you are a) a man and b) a jerk. atheist_goat | Aug 7, 2009 | As a genealogist, I appreciate the quantity and quality of the research done for this book: the architecture, the social climate, etc. It was the only thing that kept me going through this totally absurd drama, culminating in an equally unsatisfactory finale. Very disappointed with this novel. (  ) HugoReads | Jul 22, 2009 | This book is very loosely based on Freud's trip to America in 1909. Nothing much is known about it, and ever since he hated America and never went back. I say very loosely - obviously, with no real records to the contrary and a lot of imagination, the author has created a thrilling murder/assault case around the time of Freud's trip. (The author does admit this; he doesn't admit to it being completely accurate.) Although Freud himself does not solve the murder, his (fictional) friend Dr Younger does, and seeks Freud's advice as he psychoanalyzes the surviving victim of the attacks. 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. ( ) lecari | Jul 9, 2009 |  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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Wikipedia in English (1)
Des bas-fonds de Chinatown aux hôtels particuliers de Gramercy Park, ce thriller à l'intrigue impeccable nous plonge dans le New York en mutation du début des gratte-ciel. (