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From Publishers Weekly
This talky first novel by psychotherapist Yalom ( Love's Executioner ) is set in 1882 Vienna, where Joseph Breuer, an eminent physician and mentor of Sigmund Freud, has applied his recently discovered talking cure to a woman afflicted with multiple symptoms of hysteria. But now it is Breuer who needs help, for he has become obsessed with the beautiful Anna O. although she is no longer his patient. On vacation in Venice, he is asked by Lou Salome, an imperious Russian woman, to treat German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who has threatened suicide because of her rejection. Nietzsche consults Breuer in Vienna and, after a series of subtle subterfuges, agrees to a month of daily meetings; Breuer's plan is to employ the talking cure on the bristling Nietzsche under the guise of getting the philosopher to help him with his own obsession and related depression. In this intelligent, fully imagined tale, Yalom accurately evokes the encapsulated world of Breuer and Nietzsche's sessions as well as the social and intellectual milieu of the period, but the narrative is constrained by too much telling ("Perhaps dreams can express either wishes or fears," Freud observes in a discussion with Breuer)--at the expense of showing--and a manipulated, unconvincing resolution. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Freud's mentor, Josef Breuer, attempts to cure Friedrich Nietzsche of suicidal despair in the clinics, cemeteries, and coffeehouses of 19th-century Vienna--in this first novel by the author of the bestselling Love's Executioner: an entertaining and highly original tale of an uncompromising friendship between two brilliant men. Distinguished physician, renowned scientist, beloved husband and father, Josef Breuer finds himself at 40 simultaneously at the crest of his professional life and near the bottom of a pit of incomprehensible despair. Cursed with nightmares, insomnia, and obsessive sexual fantasies of his former patient, Anna O. (whom he cured, miraculously if temporarily, through a new technique called ``talk therapy''), Breuer welcomes the distraction when the imperious future psychoanalyst Lou Salom‚ demands that he use talk therapy to cure the suicidal depression of her friend, Friedrich Nietzsche. Because the poverty-ridden, unknown philosopher is too proud to accept spiritual help from anyone, Breuer must somehow cure the younger man without his knowledge--but the physician welcomes the challenge, and soon solves it by posing as the patient himself and begging Nietzsche's help in relieving his own existential pain. Unable to refuse, dour Nietzsche agrees to embark on a month of daily ``talks'' with the physician. The ensuing dialogue between a man of the world and an unworldly man becomes increasingly compelling as first Breuer, then Nietzsche, uncovers his forgotten past and delves deep into his own and the other's unconscious desires and fears. Throughout, Yalom's evocation of Breuer imprisoned in a classic midlife crisis, Nietzsche stymied by his own pride, loneliness, and terror, Lou Salom‚ cracking her feminist whip, and young Sigmund Freud eagerly following each conversation's twists and turns make for a stimulating dip into the pools of 19th-century philosophy, psychology, and culture. A delectable fantasy--in which the sole disappointment is that it didn't actually occur. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
The chimes of San Salvatore broke into Josef Breuer's reverie. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The chimes of San Salvatore broke into Josef Breuer's reverie. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
great book,
By cody brown (boise) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession (Paperback)
I was immediately absorbed by the exchange between the characters of Nietzsche and Josef Breuer. I was fascinated by how the novel keep me clenched in its claws, simply by its engaging dialogue.When Nietzsche Wept successfully seeks to make the moral argument that despair lies in the recognition that one has made faulty choices, or the lack of any choice at all. The novels scenario is the examination, by Friedrich Nietzsche and Josef Breuer, into the life motifs of Breuer, and he has manipulated his life into archetypal themes. The character of Bertha, who Breuer holds an obsession for, Nietzsche also shares this obsession with the character of Leo, exist only as an instrument of choice, which is the real issue at hand. The issue of choice and being able to choose alludes to the central argument of the novel. It is the taking of responsibility that is a release from the despair that one feels from the lack of choice, or the making the wrong choices. Ultimately, the challenge for Breuer and Nietzsche becomes to find what the meaning of the obsession is, rather than to focus on the obsession itself. (i.e. trying to find ways to end the obsession, or treating the obsession as if it was a sickness in itself, rather than simply a symptom in a larger illness). The role of the unconsciousness plays a slightly different position then it is thought of in the Freudian tradition. The unconsciousness takes on a far less role than it does in the Freudian school of thought. The unconsciousness of Breuer and Nietzsche allows more room for the individual to make choices. This seems to logically correlate with the humanistic tradition that has grown out of the existential roots of Nietzsche. During the concluding chapters of the novel, Nietzsche and Breuer walk through a cemetery, while it begins to storm, Nietzsche confronts Breuer with many similarities between his mother and his current fascination with Bertha. The questions that Nietzsche is confronting Breuer with seem to have no innate meaning in themselves, they are only used to progress Breuer to the core issues that disturb him, that is the issues surrounding his death. Once the transparency of these issues are realized by Breuer, the core issues make themselves known, Breuer realizes that his life has not been consciously chosen by himself, and therefore has no meaning to himself. His next actions become clear, he must choose his life. The eminence of death forces an evaluation of the value he has given his life, and demands that responsibility be taken for it. Yalom initially "tricks" the reader into thinking that Breuer actually chooses this new life, free from his wife and responsibilities as a doctor. This ties directly into psychology's tactic to repair oneself through the fantasy mind. I felt that this portion of the novel was a bit thin. It is almost that Breuer fails to make the actual changes in his life, and settles for an imaginary version of the freedom that his psyche desires. The text is a bit unclear about how this is accomplished, besides that he was able to make these choices in an unconscious state.. The conclusion of this novel seems to end a little too easily. The novel then proceeds to tie up all of its loose ends with Nietzsche and Breuer revealing all of their hidden agendas. In the end everyone is honest, and wrapped up nicely. I thought that it was interesting how the personalities of the individual theorists of Nietzsche and Breuer not only influenced how they viewed the world, but also how they developed their theories of humans. Nietzsche, being an untrusting and suspicious individual, developed his ideas presuming that he was correct in feeling this about others, and began with this premise.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
makes you think,
By gomildes "a parent" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession (Paperback)
My friend recommended this book and when I started to read it I couldn't put it down. I thought it was an entertaining book that really makes you think about issues of life that tend to arise when you reach the mid-30's and 40's ("establish maturity wether you like it or not!:)"). I am a Nietzsche fan and it was fun to read this ficticious novel about him. The players here are interesting and famous but the issues are common to everyone! Did we make the right choices? Should we change directions now? What could have been if...?Most people will always wonder...
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing Ending,
By
This review is from: When Nietzsche Wept: A Novel Of Obsession (Paperback)
The premise of this book is truly interesting, but I felt that the author manipulated certain parts to "make it all fit". Yet, I did like certain aspects of it. I am drawn to historical figures, and have always had a fascination with psychoanalyzes, so I enjoyed the characters as the young and insecure Freud, the humanized Nietzsche - none less dysfunctional then as I portrait him, but more accessible as a human being - or yet, Lou Salome's manipulations of the men around her. I was also afraid it would become a "Sophie's World" type of book, but the author does manage to fill it with many of Nietzsche's philosophical ideas without making it overbearing. However, the end left me a bit disappointed, and it did not live up to the hype around it. Would I recommend it? To certain people I would, but I don't think this is a book that would be universally liked by all.
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