Snow Country: SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

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In August 2014, Faulks was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. [15] There are few books that I earmark for a re-read but this, along with Birdsong, will be one of them. Aspiring journalist Anton arrives in Vienna where he meets Delphine, a woman of deep secrets. Anton is entranced by the light of first love, until his country declares war on hers. Faulks appears regularly on British TV and radio. He was a regular team captain on BBC Radio 4's literary quiz The Write Stuff (1998–2014). [10] The quiz involves the panellists each week writing a pastiche of the work of a selected author; Faulks has published a collection of his efforts as a book, Pistache (2006), which was described in The Scotsman as "a little treasure of a book. Faulks can catch, and caricature, another writers' fingerprints and foibles with a delicious precision that only a deep love of writing can teach". [11] In 2011 Faulks presented a four-part BBC Two series called Faulks on Fiction, looking at the British novel and its characters. [12] He also wrote a series tie-in book of the same name.

review: Snow Country, by Sebastian Faulks - The Scotsman Book review: Snow Country, by Sebastian Faulks - The Scotsman

Mark Forrest’s guest in the Scala Book Club on Thursday 2nd September was the British novelist, journalist and broadcaster, Sebastian Faulks with his brand-new book, Snow Country. Both Anton and Lena are to find help with their mental health issues from the strong and independent therapist, Martha Midwinter, the daughter of one of the founders of the Schloss, with Anton aided by learning what happened to Delphine, and Lena finally overcoming her sense of shame over her time in Vienna. Austrian psychiatry had moved on from the early mistakes of the influential Freud, his unhealthy and unhelpful obsession with hysteria, and it is Martha who embodies the forefront of the profession with her more compassionate, less judgemental talking therapies, and the hope it offers for a wide variety of prevailing mental health issues. They provide people with the potential of moving on and being able to live and love in a Europe and Austria that seem determined to be at war, damaging, killing and destroying the lives of countless millions in the run up to WW2.Fans of Faulks will find many of his trademark qualities in his new book: lucid prose, a keen interest in psychiatry, a sure touch in affairs of the heart … well-crafted piece, full of shrewd insights. Rudolf – an earnest young lawyer whose political views prove to be at odds with his country’s ruling party.

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks review – the collective

The historical context is done well, we get a real sense of places and their atmosphere and the political changes are conveyed clearly. There are some good fairly brief scenes in the trenches and some quite graphic medical scenes which shows the frantic and difficult conditions of field hospitals. Through the Schloss the focus switches to treatments and views on mental health and this is interesting. A particularly strong element of the writing are the beautifully written descriptions of the area in and around the Schloss and these are so easy to visualise. The stories of Lena and Anton are beautifully described as they journey through their pre-middle age lives encountering adversity in upbringing, the horrors of war and loss, but making a place for themselves in the world nevertheless. Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks is a deeply introspective novel set largely in Austria during the social and political upheaval of the first decades of the 20th century. It focuses on the lives and loves of Anton and Lena, both complex and sensitive characters with elaborately imagined thoughts, emotions, desires and mental health issues which are compassionately explored.Freud not mentioned in Human Traces. Too overwhelming a person. He cited a cancer diagnosis as proof of hysteria problems Fascinating… impeccably researched… At the heart of this rich, dark story, however, is not politics but psychology. Specifically, the early 20th century’s conflicting theories of the mind…. Faulks’s committed fans will be left looking forward to the next instalment of this thought-provoking trilogy. The action moves between Vienna and a psychiatric hospital, where the new theories of Freud are a strong influence on treatment. Lena encounters both Rudolf and Anton in Vienna, moves to work in the hospital where (somewhat improbably) they both end up visiting for different reasons. I must admit I like Sebastian Faulks and his writing style - this book does not disappoint. I did not realise that this was the second book in a trilogy (though it can be read as a stand alone which is just as well as I had not read the first). MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window)