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Loading... The Death Instinct (original 2010; edition 2011)by Jed Rubenfeld
Work InformationThe Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld (2010)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Historical Fiction I came close to throwing in the towel on this book multiple times within the first 180 pages but stuck with it mainly to see what the author would do with this tumultuous time period. I was also pleasantly surprised that he had some flash backs to the battles fields of WWI, which I always find interesting. Sigmund Freud and Marie Curie are characters in this book and I enjoyed the way Rubenfeld used both of their discoveries and theories as part of the scaffolding for his story. There's political intrigue, scientific discoveries, cutting edge medical treatments, social unrest, prohibition, abuse of workers, capitalist tycoons, classism, sexism, Italian-bashing, antisemitism, rape, white slavery, multiple trips across the Atlantic, a car and motorcycle chase, an airplane ride, and lots of other historic tidbits and thriller novel conventions, but none of it seems overly forced to me. Rubenfeld is a skilled writer to pack in as much as he does without the story getting too clunky. While the novel never became a page turner for me, the reading did pick up after those first 180 pages. I'm glad I stuck with it just to see how much he was so skillfully able to weave into what I thought was a very good story. The two big things that were lacking for me were well-rounded characters that I cared about and atmosphere. Hence, the two star rating: it was okay and I'd recommend it to historical fiction fans. This is a well researched and interesting who-dunnit type of tale set in the 1920s New York and Vienna and Paris. The novel features Freud and Marie Curie among others. The novel was a touch too long for me as the twists and turns of the story meandered around but it was generally interesting and I learnt a lot and wanted to finish it. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesStratham Younger (2) Notable Lists
New York, 1920. The streets of Manhattan teem with seething resentments and inarticulate passions. Wall Street explodes-- literally. It is the most destructive and deadly terrorist attack ever committed on US soil. Three people caught in the blast are led on a harrowing journey from Paris to Prague, unraveling secrets and the shocking truth behind the terror in Wall Street. No library descriptions found. |
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumJed Rubenfeld's book The Death Instinct was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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