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Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks

Description: ISBN 0099458268 / Author: Sebastian Faulks / Genre: Fiction

Newest Review: ... is forced, reluctantly at first, into medicine by his father and by the friendly concern of his elder sister Sonia. He is at ... more

... first more interested in literature, and approaches medicine, then psychiatry, from a humane, psychological standpoint. Jacques and Thomas meet in Deauville, fall intellectually in love and promise to join forces in their life's work: an attempt to understand the mystery of the human mind and in particular the meeting of thought and flesh. Jacques studies under the great neurologist Charcot in Paris; Thomas sees madness close up as a junior doctor in an English county lunatic asylum." I couldn't go...more

Read Reviews for Human Traces - Sebastian Faulk...

Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks: Faulks can do no wrong! (707 words)
by - written on 12/11/09 (Very useful, 13 readings)
Rating:

This amazing novel had me gripped from the very first line! I'm a massive fan of Sebastian Faulks, but had been put of this novel by reviews which said there were passages which were too long winded and scientific. Lesson one - read it yourself and make your own opinion! This is an incredible book, not quite up there with Birdsong (my favourite book of all time - so far) but still amazing. I can't describe the story better than Fauks himself so: "The story begins in the 1870s with the lives of two young men: Jacques Rebière, a peasant's son in Brittany, and Thomas Midwinter, a merchant's son in Lincolnshire. Jacques has a naturally scientific ... Read the complete review

Touring The Human Brain (662 words)
by - written on 24/03/09 (Very useful, 159 readings)
Rating:

English author and former literary editor of The Independent Sebastian Faulks is possibly best known for his intriguing First World War novel `Birdsong` published in 1993. In 2005 another of his novels was published, this being `Human Traces`. Yet again Faulks has set his sights on providing readers with another captivating if not complicated tale that is set back in the mid 1800`s. Human traces centres around the lives of two young men who not only have their own personal issues with life but feel that they can make significant inroads into introducing change in how mental illness is perceived and dealt with. Jacques Rebiere , the son ... Read the complete review

Human Traces - Sebastian Faulks: Not a beguiling comedy of manners (543 words)
by - written on 16/07/07 (Useful, 137 readings)
Rating:

This is a beautifully written book. As well as that, its depth of scholarship is, in so far as it clearly involved, inter alia, a great deal of research into the causes and symptoms of mental illness, quite remarkable for what is, after all, a fictional work. The story is about the lives of two men, both who, through their childhood experiences, are drawn and indeed impelled towards a career in medicine, in particular towards psychiatric medicine Their aim, essentially, is to find a cure for madness. This quest takes each of them on a long and, at times, despairing journey. But bear in mind that this is not a story about a pair of doctors in any ... Read the complete review