Human Traces was published initially in Great Britain to mixed reviews for good reasons. The novel is overly long. The California and Africa chapters and the extended account of Daniel in World War I could have been judiciously edited to a few paragraphs and their dramatic impact would have been greatly enhanced. The chapters that are lectures or papers on aspects of mental illnesses are often pedantic. In one (which, ironically, is meant to be "bad"), for example, some of the people in the audience walk out. Imagine your worst college professor droning along oblivious to the quiet departure of his students.
Character development is minimal. None of the characters grow significantly in the course of the novel. Their purpose and motivation throughout is to develop some method of identifying the causes of mental illness and effecting a cure. The characters are little more than a vehicle to teach us about the state of psychiatry in its infancy. Within that limitation, we do receive a remarkably accurate portrayal of how a progressive alienist of that time may have thought.
Character development is minimal. None of the characters grow significantly in the course of the novel. Their purpose and motivation throughout is to develop some method of identifying the causes of mental illness and effecting a cure. The characters are little more than a vehicle to teach us about the state of psychiatry in its infancy. Within that limitation, we do receive a remarkably accurate portrayal of how a progressive alienist of that time may have thought.
Finding Freud
That having been said, Human Traces has a great deal to offer. Despite the dullness of some of the "papers," I found the extended thread of mental illness, its treatment - especially dementia - and the developing thought of the early pioneers in research quite interesting. Real books by real alienists (as the early psychiatrists were called) lend verisimilitude to the story. Bucknill and Tuke, Chiarugi, and Reil (Rhapsodies in the Application of the Psychological Method of Cure in Mental Alienations) are cited, but where is Freud in all this? There is a character with some of his theories, but he never appears by name. This seems a curious omission, especially since there is so much discussion of hysteria.
That having been said, Human Traces has a great deal to offer. Despite the dullness of some of the "papers," I found the extended thread of mental illness, its treatment - especially dementia - and the developing thought of the early pioneers in research quite interesting. Real books by real alienists (as the early psychiatrists were called) lend verisimilitude to the story. Bucknill and Tuke, Chiarugi, and Reil (Rhapsodies in the Application of the Psychological Method of Cure in Mental Alienations) are cited, but where is Freud in all this? There is a character with some of his theories, but he never appears by name. This seems a curious omission, especially since there is so much discussion of hysteria.
Olivier Rebière has become a lunatic (19th Century language) in his teenage years as the novel opens in the 1870s. His family keeps him locked in a barn. (When I was a boy in the 50s, there was a family with two boys whom I now know were profoundly mentally challenged. Their family occasionally brought them to town chained to the bed of a horse drawn wagon so they could not get into traffic. Two levels of chicken wire surrounded their house, deep in the woods, so they could at least run free in the yard far from prying eyes. Not much change in 80 years!) Olivier's younger brother Jacques still finds that trace of humanity in him and vows to discover some way to help him. An illiterate Breton farmer with no prospects, he learns to read and write, becomes a psychiatrist, and begins his research into how the mind works and how it affects the body in subtle ways. Along the way he meets Thomas Midwinter, an Englishman of good family, whose interests lie in literature and who gravitates to the study of the mind. Jacques falls in love with and later marries Thomas' sister Sonia.
Normal?
Human Traces is, of course, an extended metaphor for the core of human normality that remains buried within those afflicted with severe mental illnesses. How does the physician "trace" back to find the person who has been lost in the mist, like "smoke under a door"? It was and is an imprecise science where much remains unknown. Both Thomas and Jacques reflect this imprecision. They do make progress; they do learn; they do have successes. Yet, they are frequently hounded by self-doubt and concerned whether they are actually making a difference.
Thomas and Jacques reflect a new world rising. They are exploring the furthest reaches of the human mind as physicians who are trying to bring scientific methodology to their work. They are also skilled businessmen who found an asylum, then create and build a better one. Each has a supportive wife who surpasses the limitations of the Victorian Era. Each is a full partner to her husband beyond what either husband recognizes, and the various love stories are nicely rendered. Jacques' love for his brother gave impetus to his rise from illiterate peasant to renowned psychiatrist. Ultimately, then, it is love - of brother, of husband and wife, of humanity - which drives the plot.
Human Traces is, of course, an extended metaphor for the core of human normality that remains buried within those afflicted with severe mental illnesses. How does the physician "trace" back to find the person who has been lost in the mist, like "smoke under a door"? It was and is an imprecise science where much remains unknown. Both Thomas and Jacques reflect this imprecision. They do make progress; they do learn; they do have successes. Yet, they are frequently hounded by self-doubt and concerned whether they are actually making a difference.
Thomas and Jacques reflect a new world rising. They are exploring the furthest reaches of the human mind as physicians who are trying to bring scientific methodology to their work. They are also skilled businessmen who found an asylum, then create and build a better one. Each has a supportive wife who surpasses the limitations of the Victorian Era. Each is a full partner to her husband beyond what either husband recognizes, and the various love stories are nicely rendered. Jacques' love for his brother gave impetus to his rise from illiterate peasant to renowned psychiatrist. Ultimately, then, it is love - of brother, of husband and wife, of humanity - which drives the plot.
