Absorbing

Very good readers. It felt fresh and different- weaving real and fiction daringly so that - like the protagonists - truth was questionable

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Fantastic

I was thoroughly absorbed by this book. Elegant, addicting, and humorous prose, and brilliantly clever story and character development. I am certain I will turn to this book for repeated enjoyment in future and look forward to what the author does next.

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Fascinating and a great book to listen to

I loved this book ,l listened to it in 2 days. The story is very well written with superb characters . The narrators do a great job and sound as I would imagine the people in the story would . I would wholeheartedly recommend it .

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting but not sure what the point was

Listened to the book in about 2 days. While it was interesting I am not sure about what the point of it was. I expected more interconnection between the notebooks and the psychiatrist. Still I would recommend.

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2 people found this helpful

Narrators fantastic story only ok

lovely narrator's, spoken so clearly. The book itself was interesting but went no where unfortunately. I loved his previous books but this one just fell a little flat for me

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Interesting, but not particularly special.

The three previous Burnet books that I read were very good and I automatically assumed that this would be another memorable tale. Unfortunately, it felt like a let down and, whilst not badly written, didn't draw me in, as the others did.

Clever authors like Burnet don't write bad books but their genius has limits and we can't expect each novel to be a five star sensation. Many will like this book (I didn't dislike it) so take this review with a pinch of salt and judge for yourself.

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4 people found this helpful

interesting idea

I really struggled to finish this book. If it had not been a bookclub read it would have been consigned to the ether after about 20 pages. For me it just didn't feel like 60's London.

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Cunning, Comical, Compelling

So good I listened twice. It may even get another airing because Case Study’s layered complexity is suffused with wit and wisdom and totally merits a third listen.

If you’re new to GMB you’ve a treat in store. His 2015 novel, ‘His Bloody Project’ is an absolute gem and many of the tropes; found documents, characters teetering on the brink of insanity, glorious attention to historical detail and lashings of black humour are brilliantly evoked in Case Study.

Set largely in 1960s London, Case Study explores the relationship between a young woman ‘Rebecca Smyth’ and her avant garde therapist, Collins Braithwaite. Rebecca is an assumed name. “Perhaps on account of Mrs du Maurier’s novel, Rebecca had always struck me as the most dazzling of names. I liked the way its three short syllables felt in my mouth ending in that breathy, open-lipped exhalation. Why should I not, for once, be a Rebecca?”

Along with the name, she fabricates a persona. Believing Braithwaite to be responsible for her sister’s suicide she’s intent on investigating further by posing as a ‘nutcase’ in need of therapy. Her unworldliness and strict beliefs on what constitutes normality lead to a series of bizarre and frequently hilarious observations, most of which are far more outrageous than alter ego Rebecca’s.

As with all the great books there’s plenty of shade to offset the light. The recent loss of Rebecca’s mother and sister are never openly discussed but form a melancholy backdrop to her life and, more poignantly, her father’s. The tight-lipped formality of the father and daughter, both deeply wounded, is beyond tragic.

At its heart this is a novel about identity. How we see ourselves, the versions of self we project and the blurred lines between reality and fiction. To this end GMB has included historical figures such as psychotherapist R D Laing and actor Dirk Bogarde, and others who may or may not be real; therapist Collins Braithwaite; actor Jane Gressingham. I’ve spent way too long trying to work out who’s real and who’s imagined.

Cunning, comical and deeply compelling, Case Study is superb: it didn’t tug at my heartstrings but gave me more proper laughs than any novel this year. Loved it.

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1 person found this helpful

Engaging

I really enjoyed this although not as much as case of murder. There is something really alluring about the intermingling of historical fact with fiction. I feel inspired to find out more about RD Laing too…

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Psychological 20th century drama about therapy

it had yo be good as I properly believed in the characters. so much so I googled the therapist- like he really was a contemporary of Laing I'd never heard of. a lost late 1950s beatnik wild child.

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