Perlman's Ordeal: A Novel

by Brooks Hansen

New York Times Notable Book of the Year

One evening in London in 1906, Dr. August Perlman--classical music lover, hashish devotee, and a scrupulously scientific pioneer of "clinical suggestion" (or hypnotism)--is about to leave for the symphony when a hysterical teenage girl is brought into his office. It seems that another girl's personality is living inside her. Eventually, in a time just before the age of Freud, a charismatic imposter (Madame Barrett, a "spiritualist") and the pioneering doctor must fight a heated battle over this teenager's soul. This novel, as The New York Times Book Review so aptly put it, is "extravagantly, even bewilderingly inventive . . . [and] crammed with the stuff of dreams."

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Brooks Hansen is an American novelist, screenwriter, and illustrator best known for his 1995 book The Chess Garden. He has also written one young adult's novel. He lives with his family in Carpinteria, California. He attended Harvard University and was the recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005.

Reviews

[Michelle F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of science versus spiritualism, set in the early 1900's. Dr. August Perlman is a pioneering practitioner of 'suggestive therapy': using habits and associations with the aid of hypnotism to help patients take control of ailments and pain. He is not sure if he will be able to help Sophie, a severely dehydrated adolescent brought unconscious to his clinic. Early attempts to rouse her are unsuccessful, but some suggestions to her subconscious finally settle her down. It is not Sophie who awakens however, but Nina, who has brought along an imaginary friend; and they have a story to tell.

There are a lot of aspects to this story that appeal: Perlman is a complex character, with his atheism and his vices and his passionate devotion to musical experience. His new high-society acquaintance Madame Barrett is equally intriguing: she is assured and enigmatic, the sister of a deceased composer, a spiritualist with grief and gently scandalous suggestions in her past. The ruminations on music alone are deep and rambling, but there are many under-running threads of commentary too.

All of these interesting factors – presented with a solidly comfortable writing style – should make for a satisfying experience...but it doesn't quite get there. Something about cohesion, I think, and perhaps some confusing descriptions. The bits just don't stick together properly.

I was noticeably not engaged.
I was still passively entertained, though.

[Karyl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book so much. I have been fascinated by Victorian England, spiritualism, and classical music (with an emphasis on the Russians) for much of my adult life, and I figured this book would be right up my alley. However, though I devoured the first hundred pages within a short time, the rest of the novel began to drag. I found it so incredibly vague that I had a hard time following what was going on, and indeed, it made it difficult to even care.

I admit part of my problem may be that I somehow am in possession of an advance reader's edition. There are many places in the beginning with footnotes, and some footnotes aren't even complete. There's a feeling that the book is far from complete, which hopefully was resolved in the final edition, making the novel far more clear to its readers. I almost want to go to the library to check out a final edition to see if it reads better.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times, a fragile spiral of a shell, holding attention, but allowing a scrutable "dissection." I found myself both deeply involved and at a distance from the life of the doctor. Mr. Hansen's word choice is beautiful, and worth the read simply to roll them around the mind. His description of music by the doctor early in the book is as well-written a selection as I have ever come across. Hansen brings the story to an end both mysterious and predictable. His doctor leaves the story a different man, yet not too different. One can see that Mr. Hansen weaves his stories as a mental tapestry which he takes time to study and describe to us. The story is possibly not always as clear as we may wish, but reads as an oral tale, told with a cherishing tongue. Thanks, Brooks.

[Rod · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more than I did, especially since The Chess Garden was so sublime. Perlman's Ordeal at least held my interest enough for me to finish it, but it didn't stick with me the way The Chess Garden does to this day.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a weird story. It is set back in the early 1900's when hypnosis was beginning to be used in treatment. The book was somewhat hard to follow. I'm not sure I liked it. A little girl is brought in for treatment and she appears to be possessed.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hypnotist, spiritualist, and a schizophrenic explore music, incest, religious conflict, and the fall of a civilization. Fire and water, sun and moon, trances and rude awakenings abound. In Hanson's hands it mostly works.

[Ken Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like reading about someone listening to classical music, or wordy seances, this is your book.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hansen may take responsibility for the fate of his characters, but the meaning of those fates is, finally, ours to determine. When the performance is over and the lights have come up, we are left not with a comprehensive spiritual vision but instead with a quiet image of two estranged friends glimpsing each other through a cafe window. Yet one admires Hansen for the same reticence one faults him for: his refusal, in the end, to play God. It is not his world, Hansen seems to say, but ours, and in the end we must interpret it for ourselves. His deeply suggestive creation is merely an offering to that world, a celebration of its mysteries." --Alice Truax, NYT Book Review, 1999

[i only wish there had been more ruminations about music, i want to read his notebooks!]

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alas, I didn't get it. I loved the characterizations and the descriptions. I appreciated much of the dialogue and dynamics. The rest of it went right over my head, and I was left at the end completely baffled and a little headachey.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did I not read this years ago when we got our copy?!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting work. Like Toole and The Neon Bible, it is hard to fairly assess a work when it looms in the shadow of the true greatness of another of the author's own works. I struggled between 3 and 4 starsfor this; probably 3.5 for me, but the benefit of the doubt must apply here due to the fact that this same man wrote The Chess Garden.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why doesn't everyone just read Brooks Hansen all the time. I admit a preference for "The Chess Garden," but this was still astounding and lovely. I mean, do you prefer "Top Hat" or "Shall We Dance?"

It also may be the Perfect Abigail Storm: troubled 13-year-old girl, Victorian England, supernatural events, fin de siecle spiritualism, and random & eloquent art criticism.