From Publishers Weekly Five monologues constitute this slight first novel, which begins promisingly but grows fussy and pedantic as it traces the methods of 18th-century physician Franz Anton Mesmer, father of hypnosis. In three of the novel's sections, Mesmer ruminates on his theories of animal magnetism and the scorn of rivals who charge him with quackery. He discourses on his healing practices, conducted in shrouded rooms where he strokes the thighs of patients to coax out their "universal fluid" while hired musicians (here, young Mozart) soothingly play. Mesmer grows entranced, even sexually obsessed, with his 18-year-old patient Marie-Therese Paradies, a skilled pianist suffering from blindness and melancholia whose cure he claims to effect. The remaining monologues belong to Marie-Therese and her father. The patient muses on her affliction, her trust in her doctor and her friendship with Mozart; Josef Paradies expresses concern for his daughter and fumes at the "fakery and nonsense" of "the pernicious Dr. M." Drawing on Mesmer's own treatise, the novel opens a window on a narrow vista of Viennese life but lacks the action and dramatic tension needed to excite the reader. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal In the Viennese imperial court at the end of the 18th century, a young blind woman undergoes treatment by Dr. Anton Mesmer, discoverer and promoter of the new science of "animal magnetism" (hypnotism). The patient's father, jealous of Mesmer, sets out to destroy the doctor but in the process ruins his daughter as well. Intriguingly conceived and exceptionally well written, this first novel compares favorably with Allen Kurzweil's A Case of Curiosities ( LJ 11/1/91). Both describe the same period, but they differ in their literary affiliations: Kurzweil's novel is picaresque, stepchild to Diderot and Restif; O'Doherty's is an odd hybrid of gothic romance and Enlightenment memoir. It's also extremely good, filled with strikingly beautiful synesthetic images in which light, memory, reality, imagination, new and old mingle as one domain of experience.- David Keymer, SUNY Inst. of Technology, UticaCopyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews
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从主题的深度和广度来看,这本书探讨了人性中一些永恒且令人不安的主题。它没有提供简单的善恶对立,而是将灰色地带展现得淋漓尽致。它关乎身份的建构与解构,关于社会期望如何像无形的枷锁一样束缚了个体的真实自我。更令人深思的是,它触及了记忆的不可靠性——我们记忆中的“事实”,究竟是历史的真实记录,还是我们为了自我保护而精心编织的谎言?在故事的收尾部分,那种处理方式极为克制,没有歇斯底里的控诉,也没有大团圆的安慰,只留下一片令人回味的、关于“存在”本身的哲学疑问。它不是那种读完就能立刻放下的书,它会像一根细小的刺,时不时地在你平静的生活中微微作痛,促使你重新审视自己与世界的互动方式。这绝对是一部值得反复品味,每次都能从中咂摸出新意的杰作。
评分这本书的封面设计简直是一场视觉的盛宴,那种深沉的蓝与不经意间流露出的金色纹路,立刻将我拉入了一种十九世纪末的、带着一丝腐朽气息的迷人氛围之中。纸张的质感也出乎意料地好,厚实且带有微微的韧性,仿佛每一次翻页都是在揭开尘封的秘密。我刚拿到手的时候,就忍不住在昏黄的灯光下细细摩挲,那种触感让人联想到老式图书馆里那些被无数双手抚摸过的经典著作。作者的叙事节奏掌握得极为精妙,初读时,你会感觉自己像个局外人,站在街角观察着一切,但随着情节的深入,那种被卷入漩涡中心的无力感和好奇心会油然而生。尤其是在描绘那些错综复杂的人物关系时,笔触细腻得令人发指,每一个眼神的交汇,每一个犹豫的停顿,都似乎隐藏着比台词更丰富的信息量。这本书无疑是为那些钟情于氛围营造和心理刻画的读者准备的,它不急不躁,像一位老练的魔术师,在你以为看穿了把戏时,又抛出了一个令人瞠目结舌的新角度。
评分我对这本书的配乐想象力方面给予最高评价。虽然它只是一本印刷品,但我阅读时,脑海中自动浮现出了一套极其和谐的背景声景。也许是维也纳金色大厅里略带忧郁的大提琴声,也许是雨夜里石板路上马车轱辘缓慢滚动发出的回响。作者对于场景的描绘,绝非仅仅停留在“在哪里”的层面,而是深入到了“那种感觉是什么”。无论是对某栋宅邸内部陈旧的香水味、壁炉里木柴燃烧时发出的噼啪声,还是清晨雾气中城市苏醒的微弱喧嚣,都通过精准的感官词汇被具象化了。这种强烈的沉浸感,让角色们的痛苦、困惑和短暂的狂喜,都仿佛成了读者亲身经历的情绪波动。我甚至能“闻到”那种时代特有的、混合着煤烟和昂贵香粉的味道。
评分坦白说,我一开始对这类题材抱持着一种审慎的态度,毕竟市面上充斥着太多故作高深却内容空洞的作品。然而,这本书的对话部分,展现出了惊人的文学功力。人物的口吻并非那种刻板的复古腔调,而是自然而然地流淌出那个时代上流社会特有的那种带着礼节性疏离感的交流方式。我特别欣赏作者对于“未说出口的话”的处理,那些省略号、那些戛然而止的句子,比任何激烈的争吵都更能体现人物内心的挣扎与压抑。读到某些关键的场景时,我甚至会不自觉地停下来,在脑海中回放那段对话,尝试从他们谨慎的措辞中解码出更深层次的动机。这不仅仅是一部故事,更像是一份精密的语言学样本,展示了在特定社会结构下,语言如何被用作武器、屏障,以及最终的救赎。它要求读者必须全神贯注,任何一次分心都可能错过构建整个叙事迷宫的关键一砖一瓦。
评分这本书的结构布局给我留下了极其深刻的印象,它并非采用线性叙事,而是像一个多面体,从不同的证人或视角碎片中折射出核心事件的全貌。这种碎片化的处理方式,一开始略显挑战,需要读者主动去拼凑和推理,但一旦你适应了这种节奏,那种“自己动手揭开真相”的参与感是无与伦比的。作者高明之处在于,即使信息是断裂的,但每段文字之间又存在着微妙的、几乎无法察觉的逻辑链条,像极了细密的蛛网。我时常需要合上书本,在脑海中绘制一张人物关系图和时间线,去确认某个侧面的陈述是否与另一个看似无关的细节产生了共振。这种阅读体验已经超越了单纯的消遣,更像是一场智力上的辩证,是对读者观察力和逻辑推演能力的极致考验。它迫使你质疑你所读到的每一句话,包括叙述者本人的可信度。
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