Sebastian Faulks- Human Traces- Anyone read it?

[tiredemma]

Loved, loved,loved Birdsong and charlotte Grey- but hesitated at buying this today. Anyone read it?

Yes, but it's that great. He was clearly v keen to include a lot of his research and there are great chunks of it that read like year one essays on the development of psychoanalysis.

Sorry, it's not that great (a bit like my typing!)

Mmm- I find the content of the book interesting (Im a student mental health nurse)- nothing like birdsong though is it?

Am battling through it at the moment. Also loved Birdsong but finding this hard going. There is this great swathe of what one can only describe as 'guff' a third of the way through. At the end of a day of toddler psychosis, I simply can't get through more than a paragraph. Do yourself a favour and buy a Jackie Collins instead.

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Also characters not sympathetic or credible (which is what I loved about Birdsong). I am prepared to get through the lecture and see if I warm to any of them, but so far I'm unmoved.

I too struggled through this. Felt very arduous. Some of it was very interesting but I did skim a lot tbh. Not as good as Birdsong.

I found this interesting, more in a non fiction way, the 'plot' was pretty weak and definately not as good as birdsong, but I did finish it unlike 'On Green Dolphin Street' which I really didn't get.

undecided. im interested in psychiatry but still want a good 'novel' read

If you are interested in psychiatry then you should be ok but it is definitely a let down after birdsong.

It was tedious and wooden. Some interest - development of psychiatry and a weird section concerning the building of a mountain railway. The characters had no depth and the story line was not convincing.

I studied psychology and have worked in mental health services, but I'm still finding it...odd. Am looking forward to reading the latest Mark Haddon if I finish this before I die of boredom.

Haddon's "Spot of Bother" is certainly easier to read, though I'm not sure it is all that good.

it felt turgid, like previous poster i didn't warm to the characters (even by the end)and his research felt slotted in and undigested.

I read Engleby by same man recently which dealt with personality development/disorder in the context of a novel with credible, fleshed out characters and enjoyed it much more

....neither a patch on Birdsong though

never finished green dolphin street

Ploughing through it but can only manage a couple of pages at a time.

The only thing i've found interesting so far are the early theories on hysteria, but publishing entire lectures is mind-numbing and I've had to skip them.

And most of the characters could do with a good slap!

Yeah, I loved the idea of this and I raced through the first half but I thought it got really bogged down.