I received this book from Cannongate books as part of their Myths give away. I felt slightly greedy as I’d already had one of the other ones. (Binu and the great wall).

My earlier thoughts were : why did I not request this one 1st ?

I liked the style of writing all the way throughout The only thing was, I found it difficult to remember where i’d left the conversation between reads., So how poor Freud coped between visits i’ll never know.

By chapter 4, I wondered briefly Who Freud was talking to or more accurately who was talking to Freud? But then I dismissed the thought. does it really matter?

How long was Freud dying for? His death seemed very prolonged, which it probably was.

I had a question about page 186/187, Is the repeated lines supposed to be there?
“To tolerate life is the hardest of all its duties. So he didn’t die?”

I didn’t know If it was a misprint of more a symbol of Freud’s end being near?
At the end of the book, When his visitor reveals himself to be……., I was still none the wiser on who he actually way, maybe that’s just me.

A dream is an unconscious reality, a reflection.

I enjoyed this fresh glimpse of both Oedipus and Freud

In this spirit I came to Where Three Roads Meet, a story of Freud’s last illness, where Tiresias the seer, one of the participants in the Oedipus myth, visits his sickroom and in instalments re-tells the story from his point of view, with Freud interjecting and commenting.

This is most beautifully done, with Vickers evoking the stifling sickroom, Freud brought low from his lionised public persona, and Tiresias relating events as they unfolded, revealing their meat little by little. Its the classic talking cure, the issues teased out, the analyst questioning, probing – but here with Tiresias asserting his right to the original mythic view, while Freud is intent to classify, define what happened in scientific terms.

A thoughtful, atmospheric read with the contrasting (and converging) mythic and psychological views of the Big Stuff – death, sex, guilt. Recommended.

To my mind, linking this reworking with Sigmund Freud was inspired. With hindsight, now that she’s written it in this way, it seems an obvious thing to do. The two are so interwoven in the public’s mind that you can’t think of one without the other – but it was a brilliant idea on her part and one that was beautifully executed.

I’ll admit to a bias in that I’ve read other novels by Salley Vickers and love her writing style. Her way with words echoes something within me and I found Where Three Roads Meet well up to the standard that I’ve come to expect from her.

As Freud lies seriously ill and later dying, Tiresias appears and slowly uncovers the true history of Oedipus, challenging some of his own interpretations and giving the reader new insights into this well-known story. We all know Oedipus as the man who killed his father and married his mother. Here we meet him as a real person, living out his destiny, which may or may not have been under his control.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed this intriguing account of the Oedipus myth as related to Freud by one who was there and took part in its unfolding.