The Interpretation of Murder

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

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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.

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This was a good vacation read. Nothing fancy, just solid writing, fantastic period detail and good pacing. The story never slowed down, not even on the parts that I didn't really enjoy.

I enjoy a good who-done-it. And this has a very satisfying twist to it and a great "reveal" of the why, when,

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where, etc.

The hook of the book is that Sigmund Freud himself has been called in to help solve some murders in New York City. The story is based on enough fact to make it really enjoyable. Much like some of the characters in Caleb Carr's "The Alienest". But then the Freud connection was one of the parts that I enjoyed least. The story/mystery was strong enough to stand on its own, without all of the psychoanalysis babble going on. At first, it was fun and I learned some neat things. But then when the characters start arguing with themselves over trying to diagnose murderers and motives. It got a little slow. So I skimmed much of the psychology stuff.

And then there is Hamlet. The main character in this book has a fetish for Hamlet. I was amazed that with all of the brutal beatings and killings going on, the main character was never so excited that he couldn't take time to dwell on Hamlet. I mean people are getting killed and this guy was wondering why no one has figured out what Hamlet's mom was thinking the day her husband died? I'm being a bit of a so and so here, but I really could have done without the Hamlet stuff.
But, I imagine a lot of readers will enjoy the connections made.

Overall, a good read during a vacation, but not one I could sustain over a few weeks while reading at night. Not sure I could stay interested enough.

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My imagination was completely captured by the idea of a story that involved Freud in a murder mystery, and I could not leave it on the shelf. I can no longer remember when I purchased it, but I've been looking forward to reading it for quite a while. And for the most part it delivers. Towards the

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end it becomes a more typical "whodunnit" with the pedictable twists and turns, but even that is fun. But I love the gentle, fascinating pace at which the characters are drawn and the scene built. And I love the exploration of Hamlet and its relationship to psychoanalytic thinking.

It was lovely to simply read a good story that I could enjoy reading just for the sake of it, but which also excited my mind, without any conscious effort on my part. And the rich detailing of historical characters and settings reminded me of my favourite aspects of the Time wars series. To make it absolutely perfect I would make the ending less typical of a murder mystery, but it's great just as it is.

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Very sloppy and unconvincing. Only the end of each section is somewhat gripping, both in the sense of the idea presented and the prose style. The rest reads like trash.

The Interpretation of Murder is a great murder mystery that deftly wraps in the history of New York (where it is set) along with the psychological theories of Freud (one of the characters) and even a dash of Shakespeare. I don't normally read murder mysteries but I doubt many of them are written

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with this much intelligence and scope. At the same time, I do get the feeling that Rubenfield is trying to show off his skills a bit in his debut novel. He did his undergraduate thesis at Princeton on Freud and studied Shakespeare while at Juliard. Now he is a law professor at Yale. So he's a bright dude and I think he wants us all to know it. But I learned quite a few interesting tidbits while reading this book because of his eagerness to 'share' in his knowledge. The story is both interesting and engrossing.

The mystery is revealed and unraveled quite quickly at the end of the book but I'd imagine that is quite common in the genre. The murder plot gets a bit complex so it'll probably one of those books where you quickly forget exactly what happens at the end soon after reading it but The Interpretation of Murder will definitely leave an impression.

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Six out of ten.
In the early 20th century, Sigmund Freud made his one and only visit to the US. In later years, he often talked of his dislike for America and the savages who lived there. This is the story of what happened during his visit.
A decent thriller but slightly trashy.

I believe that this book is not meant for everyone to like unless you're familiar with psychoanalytical concepts such as Oedipus complex and mechanism of repression etc. A thriller incorporating well explained psychoanalytical concepts is an amazing accomplish! A fast paced, well written novel. Set

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in Manhattan, New York, a story of 1909 Sigmund Freud's visit to America along with his protege and rival Mr. Carl Gustav Jung. When a wealthy young debutante died, discovered in an elegant luxurious apartment near the city. She was found tied bound, whipped and strangled and another second victim narrowly escaped but could not recover the events of what happened. Authorities calls upon Freud to help with the investigation and to recover the victim's memory.Through out the book you will notice that Mr. Carl Gustav Jung was depicted as self-absorbed, treacherous, racist in which I don't know why. Jung-bashing aside the novel is a worthy read.

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The storyline itself was not bad, but it seemed to be limited by the existence of Freud. In trying not to travel too far from actual historical facts, the character Freud came across as flat and nearly non-existent and the storyline sometimes felt forced and disconnected.
Having said, the book

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itself is an interesting read with a fair enough plot.

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The start is promising. The name-dropping is convincing. The description of New York City is engaging. The end, however, is disappointing.

A slow start, but quite interesting, especially the information about New York. Very complicated plot.

Super dandy literary murder mystery set in turn-of-the-century New York City. Freud and his followers figure prominently. A possible serial murderer is targeting young women of high society. Great period detail, excellent pacing, wonderful characters, terrific all around!

After all the hype I was a bit disappointed with this. At one point there were just too many random threads and I found this very frustrating. Also wasn't that impressed with the ending. Still it was a good idea and the author has obviously done a lot of research. I was really impressed with the

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author's note at the end explaining what was historically accurate and what wasn't.

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Really enjoyed reading this, in fact found it hard to put down! An intricate plot, interesting characters and some excellent twists. My only criticism would be that it was a little confusing and rushed towards the end, but otherwise it was great. I am glad I had already read Ragtime by EL Doctorow

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as it helped to set the context.

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Really enjoyed the mystery and the historical detail. That I did not guess the culprit, which I usually do, gave me an added element of suspense. This book is not for everyone. The details of early psychoanalysis and the inclusion of rivalries between various medical specialities and psychological

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approaches verged on distracting.

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An entertaining mystery set in early 20th century New York, where the hero attempts to solve a murder and an attempted murder with the help of an amnesiac debutante, a frustrated city coroner, an enterprising young policeman, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Enjoyable.

Boy, this book sucks.

It seems promising, in that it involves New York, Freud, Jung, psychoanalysis, murder, sexual obsession, high society, all of which are topics I find interesting...but it really doesn't engage.

I read a third of the book and then flipped to the end to find out what happened,

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and was relieved I hadn't wasted any more time.

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I only quite enjoyed this book. It has a lot of flaws. I enjoyed the description of 1909 New York - its massive change and energy. But I found the characters a bit flat and the change of point of viewconfu sing.
I didn't guess the twist but I knew it wasn't the obvious candidate. I liked some of the

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psychological history aspects but I found the Hamlet discussion irrelevant. I suspect the author had a view that he desperately wanted to make and so shoehorned this aspect in. And heobviously doesn't like Jung much.
The supposedly stupid detective actually solves the mystery, when you expect the narrator to do so.
In the foreword, the author claims that he is trying to explain why
Freud called Americans "savages" but in the end the book singularly
fails to do this.
The ending is actually quite confusing and complex, I'm still not sure who actually killed the girl.
In many ways, the author tries to show off his knowledge a bit too much.

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A well written and very different book. Partly a whodunnit, partly a fictional look at Freud's physcoanalysis. I particularly liked the evocative scenes of early 1900s New York

In 1909, Sigmund Freud paid his one and only visit to the US, when he went to accept an honorary award from Clark University. On his way to Massachusetts, he stopped briefly in New York. But not much is known about the visit, or why Freud vowed never to return. In this novel, Jed Rubenfeld tries to

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fill in the gaps.

Accompanying Freud is Dr. Karl Jung; waiting at the pier in New York to greet them is Dr. Strathan Younger, a young doctor loosely connected with the wealthy elite of New York City.

On the day after Freud’s arrival, a young woman is found murdered in a penthouse uptown. Later, another young woman, Nora Acton, is attacked, but she can remember nothing of the attack or her attacker. Freud uses his psychoanalytic powers to help solve the crime, with Dr. Younger at his side. Similar in scope to Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, The Interpretation of Murder focuses on the upper stratum of New York society, whereas The Alienist focuses on the poor and the seediest underbelly of New York crime.

Rubenfeld’s descriptions of early 20th century New York are fascinating—I was especially struck by his descriptions of the subway system, so different today from what it was 100 years ago (believe it or not, the stations actually had chandeliers in them!). Also intriguing are the descriptions of how the Manhattan Bridge was built. It’s clear that Rubenfeld has done his historical research. The murder is intriguing and the way the crime is solved is ingenious. But Dr. Younger isn’t a very intriguing narrator; at least, not as interesting as The Alienist’s John Schuyler Moore. As with all first novels, the book is clunky in some places, especially the ending—the denouement is more of a tell-all than a show-all.

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Although I could see how this novel could be tarred with the taint of The Da Vinci Code I found it to be a fascinating and inventive crime novel that weaves together the biographies of Freud and Jung with the history of early twentieth century Manhattan, pscyhoanalysis and a critical theory of

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Shakespeare's Hamlet.

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This story was good, but not great! There were some good twists and it was, in the main, entertaining. BUT I felt there were too many “red herrings” and the book overlong because of it. The characters were well developed, if a little odd.

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

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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.

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The book has an interesting backdrop with Freud in New York in the early 1900's with his thoughts and theories being used to solve a number of murders. That was engaging I just felt that in the end the plot was a tad contrived which detracted from what, otherwise was a very enjoyable read.

Dr. Stratham Younger, a young physician and budding new psychoanalyst waits on the New York shores as the steamship George Washington pulls into the Manhattan dock in 1909. Disembarking down the gangplank are famed psychiatrists Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, arriving to the glittering Victorian city

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for a series of speeches they will be presenting to universities in Massachusetts.

The day after they arrive, murder and mayhem strike deadly as two society girls are attacked. Both strangled with silk ties, whipped, and lacerated with knife cuts. One dead, the other rescued at the last minute but left severely traumatized unable to speak, not capable of informing the police who the perpetrator was, due to sudden post-traumatic amnesia. As Younger is called in to assist the mayor, coroner, and local police detectives as consulting physician, he enlists the assistance of Freud and Jung as they are certain their therapeutic skills of psychoanalysis can help the girl recall what happened and eventually reveal the murderer’s identity.

Surrounded with the engaging history of New York’s Gilded Age, and back grounded with famous members of Manhattan’s elite such as the Astors, Vanderbilts, Sir William Randolph Hearst, and Mayor George McClellan, The Interpretation of Murder has an intense diabolical and complex plot any reader will find hard to put down. Action, humor, romance, murderous chills and thrills, sexual tension, incest, political espionage, and an early introduction to the world of psychiatry which at the turn of the century was rather thought as quackery, this suspenseful debut has all it takes to keep the pages flying.

The county coroner is a hilarious Columbo-like sleuth himself with his own ideas and methods of solving this heinous crime, and a rather green-around-the ears young detective tries his hand at the art of deduction as he chases around the streets of New York, sloshes through the rat filled wharves and alleyways, secretly slips into penthouse suites and crawls into Chinatown’s opium dens, all in the line of duty to successfully crack his first case. Freud and Jung are at each other’s throats literally analyzing each other’s motives instead of helping the case, and our young doctor Younger falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful surviving young woman despite everyone’s warning that she might be delusional and ready for Bedlam. As Rubenfeld deftly whisks you around town and pushes and pulls you hither and yon leaving your head spinning as to who the murderer could be, you will be left out of breath, on the edge of your seat, and briskly racing to the finish line as all the players act out a sensational game of cat and mouse from introduction to conclusion. I found the author’s writing very polished, his characters delightful, and the plot very inventive and accomplished. Two thumbs up for this shocking story heaped with scandal and mischief, this is a Victorian era mystery at it’s very best!

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