A Memory of War

by Frederick Busch

A multilayered love story that affirms Frederick Busch's reputation as a writer of "sublimely dark work of almost unbearable beauty" (Wall Street Journal). Psychologist Alexander Lescziak savors a life of quiet sophistication on Manhattan's Upper West Side, turning a blind eye to the past of his Polish émigré parents. Then a new patient declares that he is the doctor's half-brother, the product of a union between Lescziak's Jewish mother and a German prisoner of war. The confrontation jolts Lescziak out of his suddenly, his failing marriage, his wife's infatuation with his best friend, and the disappearance of his young lover and suicidal patient, Nella, close in on him. Lescziak escapes into the recesses of his imagination, where his mother's affair with the German prisoner comes to life in precise, gorgeous detail. The novel unfolds into a romance set in England's Lake District in wartime, as Busch shows how our past presses on the present.

Genres: Fiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Frederick Busch (1941–2006) was the recipient of many honors, including an American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, a National Jewish Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award. The prolific author of sixteen novels and six collections of short stories, Busch is renowned for his writing’s emotional nuance and minimal, plainspoken style. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lived most of his life in upstate New York, where he worked for forty years as a professor at Colgate University.

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got a little more than halfway through this tedious story of a self-absorbed psychiatrist who zones out obsessing over his petty affairs rather than listening to his patients and is not intrigued in the least when his half brother, whose existence he knows nothing of, shows up as a patient.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I enjoy Busch's writings, but this one came up a clunker for me. It is the story of a Polish emigre pyschologist Alex of dubious professional and private ethics. In the midst of a crumbling marital relationship and an affair with a patient. a half brother of German descent who is a Holocaust denier (the protagonist is Jewish). The is the makings of a good story here, but this one s told in disjointed memories and conversations that pop up during actual conversations. Though he has good reasn to talk to himself, as a narrative voice, it is annoying. I struggled through the book and ultimately the plot could not redeem the telling.

[JudithAnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't finish this book. I tried for a long time and got to about halfway, but it couldn't hold my interest.

The book is about a psychologist and his clients. Most of the book (at least what I read of it) takes place in his office, where the psychologist receives his clients. While these clients are talking, the psychologist often thinks about completely different things, for instance, looking back on past events. This was confusing, especially in the beginning, when it often wasn't clear whether what was happening was a real-time or remembered event.

What was mysterious and somewhat interesting, was a client who claimed to be his half-brother. The psychologist only half believes him but keeps treating him as a client, and therefore does not make any attempts to find out more about this alleged brother and whether his claims are correct. That was weird. I did want to read on to find out whether this was really his brother, but didn't find the other story lines interesting enough to keep going.

Well written, very introspective, a bit weird and confusing. I may try another of Busch's books at some point, but this one didn't keep my interest.

[Linda C · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. Do not be fooled by the synopsis. All the characters were extremely unlikable and it insulted the intelligence of the reader to believe that, as an example, the main character would encounter a long-lost brother and continue to view the man as his patient. Equally unbelievable was the fact that the main character's mother, a Jewish woman who escaped Hitler, but presumably lost most or all of her family to the Nazis, would begin a love affair with a Nazi POW. There are so many wonderful books to read-- don't waste your time with this one.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept surprising me in delightful ways. There is a lot to like in a story about a NY pschotherapist gradually losing (or is it finding?) his mind. The most amazing passages in the book have to do with the way the author smashes through the usual boundaries of time and brings the reader on a roller-coaster ride of sights and sounds from a life, sometimes collapsed into a single paragraph. Busch is a master.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely novel. It's sophisticated in very subtle ways, yet still readable without having to stare at a single page for hours on end trying to work things out. The modulations of POV and memory are exquisite.