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The Vision Of Love Through Salvation "Thomas takes us beyond Freud, beyond Eros and Thanatos, and thus challenges the very substance of the Freudian text. Within the analyses and, he suggests, buried within her individual neurosis, is the subtext of history--the Final Solution. And beyond the horror is the transcendent vision of salvation through love in the mythical state of Israel. In this bold, intellectually challenging novel, Thomas goes beyond both history and historical fiction: he explores the shadowy realm of perception and perceiver with breathtaking vision and artistry." Reviewed by Daniel Weiss, Virginia Quarterly Review 'The White Hotel' is an extraordinary book. It was given the highest recommendation by my best friend, and it is a read I will never forget. It is taken from the case history of Lisa Erdman, an early patient of Sigmund Freud; the book explores her case of sexual hysteria and finds the way to self destructiveness. The scenes with Lisa and Dr.Freud are fascinating. They take her back into childhood and into her dreams. Lisa's erotic dreams are almost visions. They are premonitions to Lisa of death and destruction. Freud helps Lisa to resume her normal life as an opera singer, and we are brought into the world of opera as Lisa finds it. She remarries and settles in the Ukraine with her husband and step-son, and then the unraveling begins. Their harrowing adventures will leave you on the edge. As life as Lisa knows it begins to crumble, so do we. "Lisa's story is told three times. Once, as a long letter of erotic ramblings by a psychotic, once in image steeped poetry, and finally, as narrative prose, in the dry tone of a doctor discussing a case, complete with musings and asides. By the end of the third rendition, the reader begins to understand something the eminent psychologist never will. That Anna is not only a product of, but a metaphor for the collective fall of European consciousness into madness that still scars the entire century." T.Rex 'The White Hotel' is much like a mystery, and we are part of the unraveling. I was filled with melancholy and a dream like stance while reading this book. I have not read a book that is so well written. and at the same time lays groundwork of the extraordinary. A trip for Lisa becomes a trip that we will not soon forget. Highly Recommended. prisrob 2-18-07 Can one say "I loved this book"? Not much to say that hasn't been noted already by those who also give it five stars. I read it many years ago, and still - not simply because I'm a Jungian therapist - it's impact is with me. All I can emphasize, as have others, that if one has the courage to stick with it, to the extraordinary and visceral ending, you will be changed forever. I don't care if others insist Thomas "stole" from everybody. Has anyone listened to classical music and NOT recognized material from other composers? All artists, of whatever genre, communicate with each other across the centuries, on another level. I can only thank this great writer for bringing so much of our collective unconscious into the light - if we dare to look at it. an excellent novel, an ugly, uninspired cover i read this years ago and was looking to pick up a new copy. an excellent, disturbing novel. moving, thought provoking. but i have to say, if the publisher bothers to read these reviews, i think the cover is ugly and uninspired, and a disservice to the novel. i'll pick up a used copy somewhere. Disturbing and Fantastic Thomas spends most of the book geeting you intimately involved with the heroine's life and mind. So much so, that the final impact of the book comes as an horrific shock. I had nightmares, but reading the book is worth it. Louis Fried, author of "Other Countries/Other Worlds" A story to change your life. I just finished this extraordinary book. I know that I will read this book several times again, pulling new information from it each time, always in a different light somehow. I can't say that I "enjoyed" the vivid mental anguish and vicious horrible brutality at the end but I CAN say that D.M. Thomas has evoked such emotional response from me that I am forced to give this book 5 stars. I highly recommend it to someone with an open heart and mind otherwise you may not appreciate this work of pure genius. See also:
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