Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks

I had nothing better to do so I guessed I'll just blog a little bout this book I'm now reading. It was introduced by Yi Liang two days ago to me to kill my boredom... I'm half way reading it (not exactly half) but it is quite interesting for now. If you love everything bout philosophy, then you will definitely love this book. This is the first book written by him that I read. I'll definitely add him into my list of fav author.

The cover

The review:
The evolution of psychiatric treatment is explored through the intertwined lives of two 19th-century men.Faulks's epic is as daunting as the path of his main characters. Frenchman Jacques Rebiere, fascinated by science, is brother to Olivier, whose slow descent into madness from middle childhood drives Jacques's search for answers. Englishman Thomas Midwinter is desperate to escape the life planned out for him by his domineering parents. Early in their period of discovery, the two cross paths in a chance meeting precipitated by Sonia, Thomas's older sister. The men's conversation through their language barrier is the start of a long and productive partnership. Faulks (On Green Dolphin Street, 2002, etc.) takes great care in constructing his latest work to fit the narrative style of the period of which he writes. He uses lengthy scenes and a vast array of characters. Perspective shifts occasionally seem awkward: third-person narrative, letters, journal entries, first-person perspective, speeches. The story tracks the nascent profession across Europe and around the world. Each man is on an individual search for meaning, and their experiences run the gamut of dramatic moments. There are loves lost and found, career successes and failure, times of camaraderie and of estrangement. Behind the players, Faulks explores the evolution of thought about . . . thought. The time period covers the shedding of the old ways of thinking and the shift to a new respect for the power of the human mind. The change was arduous at times. The central theme for the author seems to be the delicate balance between the strength of the human spirit and the frailty of human emotion. Logic and reason will be challenged by love in all its forms. Though the work is somewhat confined by the period framework, Faulks paints a tableux of 19th-century life that is remarkably revealing.Epic in scope, this is an imaginative look at the rise of medicine for the mind.

His other works of perfection:

A Trick of the Light Bodley Head, 1984
The Girl at the Lion d'Or Hutchinson, 1989
A Fool's Alphabet Hutchinson, 1992
Birdsong Hutchinson, 1993
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives Hutchinson, 1996
Charlotte Gray Hutchinson, 1998
The Vintage Book of War Stories (editor with Jorg Hensgen) Vintage, 1999
On Green Dolphin Street Hutchinson, 2001
Human Traces Hutchinson, 2005
Pistache Hutchinson, 2006
Engleby Hutchinson, 2007
Devil May Care Penguin, 2008

If you want to know more bout Sebastian Faulks, visit http://www.sebastianfaulks.com/. Try it, and you will love it!

P/S~ I just realised that Charlotte Gray was his work too. The movie is awesome. This make Human Traces the second of his work I seen. I think Birdsong will be nice, so for those with extra money, buy me one ya!

Love,
yin