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A review by beledit
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
4.0
This is a well-written story that kept my interest throughout. But overall it's a muesli book. Too many different themes and storylines in parallel that don't quite work together.
I was disappointed because I bought the book on the understanding that it would be more about the psychotherapy (I'm interested in Freud and Jung), as the blurb focused on the visit to the psychiatrist in Vienna. In fact, the psychiatrist is specialised in an obscure form of therapy and Rief is "cured" quite easily. This whole aspect of the plot feels like bait to get readers, and/or a way to suggest that the woman he meets early on is nuts, but it is dispensed with quickly.
The story encompasses a hint of a bohemian life in Vienna, a bit of psychology, a touch of the first world war, a love story, a betrayal story, a spy story, a mystery... it's all over the place.
I give it 3.5-4 stars nonetheless because it is well told, keeps a steady pace and is a pleasure to listen to (Audible version).
I was disappointed because I bought the book on the understanding that it would be more about the psychotherapy (I'm interested in Freud and Jung), as the blurb focused on the visit to the psychiatrist in Vienna. In fact, the psychiatrist is specialised in an obscure form of therapy and Rief is "cured" quite easily. This whole aspect of the plot feels like bait to get readers, and/or a way to suggest that the woman he meets early on is nuts, but it is dispensed with quickly.
The story encompasses a hint of a bohemian life in Vienna, a bit of psychology, a touch of the first world war, a love story, a betrayal story, a spy story, a mystery... it's all over the place.
I give it 3.5-4 stars nonetheless because it is well told, keeps a steady pace and is a pleasure to listen to (Audible version).