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 Past Catches Up July 1, 2008
A probing psychological study of a man's deterioration is the subject of this novel. Charles Weir is a successful but troubled psychiatrist, brought up in a dysfunctional family on Manhattan's upper West Side. His older brother, a successful artist, is more of an antagonist than a supportive sibling. His mother favors Charles' brother, creating conflict. The ne'er-do-well father leaves the family.
Charlie, after leaving Johns Hopkins, takes a prestigious position at a hospital treating Vietnam veterans. His reputation grows. The sister of one of the patients befriends Charlie; ultimately they marry and have a daughter. Then her brother commits suicide and everything begins to fall apart. Seven years later Charlie is introduced by his brother to a beautiful woman; they form a relationship until it too falls apart. When Charlie's mother dies, his ex-wife offers solace, and he begs her to return. These relationships and more are explored in depth by the author in this psychological thriller.
Subsequent events plunge Charlie into a mental abyss as past remembrances and traumas are unveiled. Written with deep insight into the human psyche, the author delves profoundly into the egos and development of the various characters with a penetrating eye. Recommended.
 Dashed off? June 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're hoping for a soul-baring by one of McGrath's fascinatingly damaged narrators, think twice before buying Trauma. As a fan of Dr. Haggard's Disease, Spider, and Asylum, I looked forward to more of the same sort of psychological study in Trauma. It actually belongs to a different genre from McGrath's other books -- not modern gothic (though there is a brief nod in that direction at the end), but a more mainstream exploration of an American psychiatrist struggling to live and work under the burden of a repressed childhood trauma. As the story progresses we're given clues to the nature of the damage, but when the moment of revelation came I found myself only mildly interested. Though Trauma is well plotted and written (I doubt McGrath could do less if he tried), it seemed to me that its author, too, was only mildly interested. Mistakes in the text (e.g., confusion between "lie" and "lay", & between saints Stephen and Sebastian) strengthen the impression that both writer and editor gave less attention to Trauma than they might have done. I'll always be a McGrath devotee, but this particular book fails to grip.
Slow Moving, Moody and Well....Not Up to Snuff May 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked up Patrick McGrath's latest book because I'd read and enjoyed "Spider", but this book is not nearly as interesting. The prose, while mostly quite beautiful, is also so dark, so dull. It's a good thing it's not a very long book at 200 or so pages. I believe Mr. McGrath should have given us a few hints about the ending of this book, even though it was quite predictable. It just would have been a more entertaining book had he dropped a few crumbs along the way. I also had a problem with the editing of this book. Was the heavy prose that hard to slog through that at least one glaring mistake could be over looked? On page 27 these words are written: "She turned toward me......propped her head on her chin to gaze at me." Huh? Propped her head on her chin? I know what McGrath meant, but come on, that's just wrong. I like complicated, psychiatric plots, so I will probably read Mr. McGrath again......but not too soon.
Predictable, but Well Written May 20, 2008
Trauma is Patrick McGrath's latest novel about a New York psychiatrist whose specialty is helping Vietnam Vets deal with, what is now known as, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. A common thread emerges pretty quickly that seems to effect every character - whether they are suffering from the main psychological diagnosis or not. The story is predictable and somewhat basic in the psychiatric descriptions. McGrath explores a human defense mechanism that is probably one of the scariest. Repressed Memories. One of the main themes in this story is the complication of dealing with repressed memories, and the consequences delving into repressed memories can bring.
Some books invoke fear when delving into psychological problems, Trauma is not one of them. The novel could have benefited from a more in depth exploration into the treatment and psychological effects of dealing with the treatment. Unfortunately, the predictability of the story lent itself to ending with the psychiatrist going mad from his own trauma.
Trauma is well written, and the character development was solid; but is not an enthralling story.
"It is always happening now, for the first time." April 12, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
McGrath has created an evocative, shadowed mystery all the more compelling for the fact that it is born in childhood experience, young Charlie Weir the heir of a dysfunctional family that ultimately casts him in the role of caretaker. With parents that lash out at one another and a gregarious brother who seeks his identity outside their troubled home, Charlie is the de facto caretaker of his alcoholic, depressed mother, who pens somewhat successful mysteries in her later years, ever praising older son, Walt, a successful artist, while denigrating Charlie's efforts to bring a modicum of peace and order to his mother's self-destructive days. While Fred Weir abandons his family for a younger woman and a wasted life of philandering, Charlie is the only one willing to step into the breech and protect the family from complete disintegration. It is no surprise, then, that in the 1970s Charlie should become a doctor who specializes in treating the mental disorders of returning Vietnam vets suffering from PTSD.
One of these damaged vets, Danny, is the focus of Charlie's professional energy, the young man severely traumatized by what he has seen- and done- while in service to his country. Danny's sister, Agnes, is an unexpected gift to the young doctor; Charlie and Agnes marry and have a daughter, Cassie, embracing the tormented Danny as a part of their small family. But Danny's slow disintegration ultimately takes a toll on the marriage, Charlie unable to comfort Agnes when she most needs him. His work becomes salvation until his mother's death, when Charlie's careful house of cards comes crashing down: he assumes her chronic depression, a cloak of dread that weighs upon every aspect of his life. Charlie finds brief respite in Agnes' kindness and a chaotic romance with an equally-damaged Nora Chiara; but Charlie soon realizes that the needy Nora, while thrilling and seductive, is an emotional burden he cannot carry.
In an effort at self-preservation, Charlie changes jobs and location, drawn to a familiar place to confront his family drama. Subconsciously searching for safety, Charlie comes face to face with his own truth. His protagonist the heart of this complex psychological thriller, McGrath exposes the layers of denial and pain that have shielded Charlie Weir from the memory he fears. The human mind as dark and many-chambered as any nightmarish crime scene, this illness is far more subtle and pervasive, turning a well-meant life into a series of painful episodes that batter Charlie's psyche and leave him unable to navigate the world. Facing his brother, Walt, and an indifferent father in a heart-stopping moment of reckoning, Charlie's harrowing confrontation with the past is long overdue, his path strewn with loss and disappointment. A broken man, Charlie must find the strength to save the child he once was from a long-buried memory, to return to a life worth sustaining. Luan Gaines/ 2008.
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