The Bottom Line
Trauma, the latest novel by Patrick McGrath, tells the story of a New York psychiatrist who specializes in helping Vietnam vets suffering from trauma. As he learns more about his own family life, though, he finds himself caught up in his own trauma, and fighting the madness he knows is approaching. McGrath’s paints a dark picture of 1980s Manhattan as a backdrop for the human suffering Trauma explores.
Pros
- 'Trauma' reveals its secrets and twists slowly, allowing the characters to develop fully
Cons
- Somehow, the story of Charlie Weir isn’t inventive or gripping for the reader
Description
- Charlie Weir is a New York psychiatrist who specializes in treating recently-returned Vietnam vets
- Weir married the sister of one of his patients, but her brother’s treatment still haunts him
- Now divorced, Weir copes with missing his ex-wife and the chaotic new woman in his life
- 'Trauma' by Patrick McGrath first published by Knopf in April 2008
Guide Review - 'Trauma' by Patrick McGrath
Charlie Weir is a Manhattan psychiatrist specializing in the emerging field of trauma. His early patients were mostly recently-returned veterans of the Vietnam War, and he married the sister of one patient. Her brother’s trauma still haunts him, though, and they are now divorced. His own family relations are also under strain, and the death of his mother brings his ex-wife back to comfort him.
In Trauma, McGrath uses the emerging psychiatric understanding of the trauma pathology to paint a harrowing portrait of how the veterans suffer from what they experienced during the Vietnam War. Weir’s own struggles seem more superficial but they’re bleak in their own way, and he begins to show his own symptoms of trauma.
Despite McGrath’s adept revelation of certain memories and secrets at various points, Trauma fails to engross the reader. It’s an interesting and well-crafted story, but somehow doesn’t wield the emotional impact it potentially could.
