[.ca] The Fig Eater (ISBN 0316785261)

From Amazon.com:
Penzler Pick, May 2000: It is 1910 Vienna, and a woman's body has been found in the Volksgarten. She is Dora--Freud's famous patient. The Inspector (whose name we never learn) is painstakingly trying to put together the circumstances of her death with the help of the principles outlined in the 1901 book System der Kriminalistik, the first tome to attempt a psychological approach to understanding crime. The Inspector's wife, Erszébet, meanwhile, is drawn to this murder for reasons she doesn't understand and decides to investigate using her own methodology, derived from the Gypsy folklore she grew up with in Hungary. What separates The Fig Eater from ordinary mystery fiction is the look it offers at detective work in the early 20th century, as the methods used moved from folklore and ignorance to the scientific. Photography of the era often resulted in the loss of fingers. Forensic methods so familiar to us now were unheard of, and the use of psychological profiling to capture killers was a young science unknown by most of the general populace. Shields introduces the reader to Dora's family and acquaintances, giving depth to the characters only briefly discussed in Freud's case study of Dora. She takes liberties with the historical record (this is, after all, a novel) but creates a plausible scenario of what might have happened while depicting a brooding turn-of-the-century Vienna replete with gorgeous details of food, fashion, botany, and manners. The film rights have been optioned by Miramax, and if the author had her way, she says, it would star Liam Neeson and Judi Dench. --Otto Penzler

not a cozy mystery:
If you are interested in the book but discouraged by the one star reviews, click to "Search inside this book." The beginning seems representative of the work. The narrator maintains a distance between the reader and the characters. (Contrary to what a reviewer said below? above? the author does not jump between narrators; the narrator is omnipotent. The narrator's focus changes.) The lines are spare. There is police procedure. This is the best first novel I've ever read, as far as I recall. I do love mysteries, though. "If he'd asked her, Erszebet would have told him that his wish for a conclusion is delibab. Magical thinking. A mirage" (203).

not a cozy mystery:
If you are interested in the book but discouraged by the one star reviews, click to "Search inside this book." The beginning seems representative of the work. The narrator maintains a distance between the reader and the characters. (Contrary to what a reviewer said below? above? the author does not jump between narrators; the narrator is omnipotent. The narrator's focus changes.) The lines are spare. There is police procedure. This is the best first novel I've ever read, as far as I recall. I do love mysteries, though. "If he'd asked her, Erszebet would have told him that his wish for a conclusion is delibab. Magical thinking. A mirage" (203).

Who Gives A Fig?!?!?!:
As someone who loves mysteries, and adored "The Alienist" particularly, this book was a huge disappointment to me. There were too many loose ends which Shields deliberately left undone. It was pretty mystifying wondering why Shields chose to weave the story together the way she did...it's not a satisfying way to construct a novel at all. I re-read the last few pages over and over again wondering at first "Did I miss something here?" However, the way Shields evoked Vienna made me want to visit. She has a real talent for bringing a place to life even though most of her characters seem pretty wooden and aren't filled out enough. It also made me want to read more about Freud's "Dora" which was a more interesting character then the sketched out murder victim in this novel.

What About the Fig?:
This book was such a disappointment. It revolves around the murder of Dora (I didn't see any resemblance to Freud's Dora) in a fin-de-siecle Viennese park, the famous Volksgarten. The Inspector (his name is never given), a young police officer named Franz and Egon, a very strange photographer, officially set out to find her killer. One of the biggest clues seems to be that she had eaten a fresh fig very shortly before her death. The Inspector likes to talk about his work at home and his Hungarian born wife, Erszebet, who is of Gypsy ancestry, loves to listen. In the case, of Dora, she does more than listen, however. Disagreeing with her husband's methods, Erszebet decides to find the killer herself. She's assisted by an enigmatic Englishwoman, for reasons that are just as enigmatic. As Erszebet goes in one direction in an attempt to solve Dora's murder, her husband goes in another, and it's anybody's guess as to who will find the killer first and how. THE FIG EATER isn't a conventional mystery, which was fine with me because I really don't like mysteries; I bought this book because it takes place in Vienna, a city I visit often and love very much. And, it is extremely evocative of Vienna. I wasn't in 1910 Vienna, but Shields gives us so many details in THE FIG EATER that I really felt like I was. I think this wonderfully atmospheric setting, as well as the strong characterization of Erszebet are THE FIG EATER'S greatest strengths. Unfortunately, they are its only strengths. Structurally, THE FIG EATER is a mess. If this is supposed to be a fictionalized account of Freud's patient, Dora, then Shields didn't provide enough authentic details, yet she peppered her book with far too much gratuitous gore-gore that didn't exist in the "real" case of Dora (and strangely, as far as this book is concerned, the facts surrounding the "real" Dora were far more interesting). Most of the time, the book trailed off into meaningless plot strands that were never developed or never resolved. There were far too many red herrings. I know a red herring isn't going to lead us to the truth, but it does lead somewhere, or at least it's supposed to. In THE FIG EATER, however, it doesn't. The red herrings in this book aren't there to tantalize or serve any other useful purpose; they just annoy the reader. Shields hasn't learned to control her narrative and because she hasn't her plot is scattered and, ultimately, meaningless and unfulfilling. And what about the fig? Why go to all the trouble? I gave THE FIG EATER one star for its atmosphere and one for the characterization of Erszebet, but I can't recommend the book at all. It's a totally unsatisfying reading experience. I wouldn't even read another novel of Shields. She's lost my trust for good.

Sinking into 1910 Vienna:
This is not a book that everyone will like or persevere through. There are several reasons I like it. When I finish a book, I ask myself "Am I glad i read this book" or "I wish I hadn't picked it up." I did enjoy the book.. I have always been fascinated by the turn of the century in Europe. The author really settles the reader into the Vienna of 1910: the sounds, music, food (espeicially the food), the people and their traits, the city itself. She even provides a map. The book is a mysery, one that evolves in a very gradual, languorous manner. Two people are trying the discover the murderer, the Inspector and his Hungarian wife. He is very methodical, mindful, sifting through every bit of evidence using the latest thinking of the criminologists of his time. She is impulsive, imaginative, emotional and very much a believer in "signs" and in the folklore and divinations of her Hungarian culture. This dual track of solving the crime I found fascinating. The novel has an almost dreamy quality about it. The reader may feels her is floating on a drifting barge immersed in the life and time and beliefs of 1910 Vienna. The book's evocation of atmosphere and characters interested me at least as much as the mystery. ( I usually don't try to figure out mystery.) As for the ending, it is one of those that leaves the reader a little mystified. Something I like.