The Interpretation of Murder: A Novel

I rarely write a negative review but I truly hated this book. It's ugly in it's sadism and ugly in it's treatment of Jung, without any historical evidence. I actually listened to this all the way through because we were on a long trip with nothing else to listen to. But I wish I hadn't, pop music would have been better. It's not even a good mystery. You could figure out who the criminal is in about 100 pages and the rest is just an unpleasant story told poorly.

I did not like this book after listening for 30 minutes because I thought it was poorly written and banal. I found the reader's overly dramatic reading and silly accents irritating. The review I wrote at that time was returned unpublished because the Audible editor thought (fair enough) that I had not listened to enough of the book. I wish I had stopped there. The author's evident relish in the prurient details of childhood sexual abuse leaves me sickened.

I was engrossed in the book until the last quarter of it when the author seemed to run out of steam. The ending left me unsatisfied...the story did not maintain its initial momentum.

I wonder if I had read this book instead of listening to it if I would enjoyed it more. While I did find the subject matter interesting, the narration was disappointing to the point of being distracting. I found myself focusing more on the strange inflections used rather that what was being said.

The story is packed from beginning to end with tidbits for chuckles and comtemplation. The mystery is great. The personalities are deeply developed. The narrator is turns in one of the best ever. His sly delivery can have one laughing out loud as the plot is zooming along. Great book, Great performance.

This book was packed with all the things I love about historical fiction! I was delighted by this choice. I was reluctant to buy this book because this is a first novel and there were no reader reviews available. I am so glad I downloaded this one. It kept me thoroughly interested from the first page to the last.

I was motivated to write about this book when I read the reviews of Rubenfeld's new book. Don't miss "Interpretation of Murder." The various plot lines are wonderful -- really, building the tunnel under the Hudson? psychosexual murder? Freud's first visit to the United States in a murder mystery? It doesn't get better than this....plus a great narrator, and some splendid characters to love and to hate.

I didn't get very far with this book. The author seemed to me to be taking too much pleasure in writing about the murder of the girl. Such things do happen in the world, but to be invited to "watch" as a form of entertainment seems twisted to me.

factual errors about NYC geography.

pronunciation of "affect" by psychologists is wrong along with other slips. German vowels awful.

It has one, which is better

1) The inner narrative is stolen from Freud's famous "Dora" case, only here she is called Nora. Rather unsubtle. 2)Writer is aware of Jung's adultery, but not Freud's with his own sister-in-law. Yale prof making klutzy protagonist a Harvard man is a bit gratuitous.