Snow Country: The epic historical novel from the author of Birdsong Paperback – 2 Jun. 2022

What a story tellerThis is a wonderful book. Great, easy to read, full of stories within the story, credible and incredible characters. I enjoyed this book a much more than I expected.

Snow Country is readable and well worth the reading. But somehow the novel in its entirety does not fulfil its promise. There are any number of promising themes and strands - the inner life of Anton H; the nascent industry of psycho-analysis and psychiatric therapies; the gadarene rush to the unimaginable slaughter that was WW1; the doomed polyglot Habsburg empire; the rise of fascism and then there is Lena. Some themes are well-developed but others like the psycho-analysis strand appears - to me at least - didactic and anything but seamless.Faulks is an outstanding writer. He needs no lessons from the likes of me but it's fun to be a critic.

This novel, set mainly in Austria, is the second of a trilogy, the first part being Human Traces published several years ago. It isn't necessary to read Human Traces to read this book - it rather stands on its own although it references some of the same characters. Snow Country covers the period from before WWI to the beginnings of the rise of fascism in Austria, and centres around love, loss, and the choices people make.As ever with Sebastian Faulks, the book is delivered with the skills of a great writer.Unfortunately, however, it seems that this book has been rather dashed off - the characters are wafer thin and not particularly engaging. The story starts well and I thoroughly enjoyed the first part, the story of Anton and Delphine in pre war Vienna. Thereafter the story loses the tautness of the narrative. When the book returns to Anton, he is much changed, as might be expected by those who have endured war, but also much less engaging. Lena is not a particularly convincing character. The story of the clinic to where most paths of the story lead to and from, has promising moments which come and go - almost like good scenes in an otherwise tedious movie. Finally the ending, whilst happy, just doesn't ring true.Disappointing really. I am big fan of Sebastian Faulks. Some of his books are amongst my favourite novels, but not this one, which is for me far from his best work.

I put that as the heading as I started reading this and felt that there was a back story which was important. You can read it as a stand alone and it is absorbing and beautifully written, but if you want to start at the beginning, then get the rest. They are all out in paperback, so it won't cost you a fortune.

Faulks returns to his theme of the sanatorium in Austria and the multiple connections to people it sustains. There is no return to the development of psychiatry but rather the fascination with chance events and encounters and how they influence the course of a life. We feel the rise of extremism at the periphery of events and the story moves to the edge of the coming abyss without quite alluding to what comes next for the characters. I suspect the concluding part (if indeed what comes next does conclude matters) will be pitched into something more challenging for the senses as the possibilities of that next period are too rich for a master craftsman like Faulks to pass up the opportunity to inhabit the nightmare. Read it to prepare for the finale.

Another cracking Sebastian Faulks novel.

It's not his greatest work, but still quite enjoyable.

Like several other reviewers, I have long been a fan of this author and pre-order his books in the knowledge that I will want to read what he writes. This proved the case with Snow Country but I would agree with those who think it not as good as some of his others. For me, it was the difference between this book and Human Traces, its predecessor. The former was a broader sweep through European history entwined with the development of psychological medicine, told through complex characters and while this has similar themes, it appeared on a smaller scale. That in itself is not necessarily a bad thing but even although it is a long time since I read Human Traces, I found myself comparing the two , to the detriment of the current novel. Without spoilers, I found the ending on one level (sentimentality) satisfying and on another, surprising as I have never pegged SF as that kind of romanticist.I didn’t find the psychological diversions at all tedious, as some have noted -perhaps because my day job was in that arena. Indeed, I could have read more about the development of those ideas, especially in the wake of the First World War. Overall, definitely a worthwhile read, just not one of his best.

Some incredibly brilliant parts where I just couldn’t put the book down but feel there were times when the plot meandered too much. However definitely recommend and worth a read.

An excellent book.

L'ultimo romanzo di Sebastian Faulks è all'altezza dei suoi migliori.Scrittura piana ma efficace, Coesione fra i periodi storici che si intrecciano.Libro molto bello, avvincente dalle prime pagine attraversa mezzo secolo di storia soprattutto austriaca ma con squarci su la costruzione dello stretto di Panama, un famoso processo a Parigi e una Trieste post I guerra mondiale.Se non fosse per la fine che non mi ha convinto del tutto, meriterebbe il massimo punteggio.

There is so much going on in this book that I don't know how to sum it up. It is set in Austria in the years leading up to WW11. Politics, love, world history from the Panama Canal to the rise of Hitler, Freudian theories, psychiatric treatment, abandonment, loss and a range of interesting characters are all intertwined in an easy-to-read book. I needed to put it down from time to time to think about it all.

Still superb writing but he has become obsessed with psychology and psychotherapy