A “what if” pedagogical novel where Nietzsche meets Breuer and they talk a lot. Guess it turned out a bit too pedagogical for me; I abandoned it after roughly 80 pages. It reads like a lecture — which would not be a problem if it wasn’t sold as a novel. The dialogue is there just to introduce the next information/quote dump. “Show, don’t tell” approach is barely if ever employed to demonstrate the greatness of the main characters. What is shown is, for example, the detailed (fictional) thoughts of Breuer about his erections caused by a patient in his care. This is not something I want to read about one of the founding fathers of psychoanalysis. Long discussions of Nietzsche’s many troubles with digestion are also not of much interest to me.

I better find a non-fiction book about this.

★★☆☆☆

(310 pages, ISBN:9780061748128, Worldcat, Open Library)