The Alienist

Apart from the exciting adventure of hunting down a serial killer, what aspect of the book does the review point out as its significant accomplishment?

The Alienist

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Many people in the psychological world at the time this novel is set do not support Dr. Kreizler's beliefs. These people believe that Kreizler is misguided and that his approach to psychology will eventually be disproven, causing Keizler's fall from grace. However, as the reader makes their way through this novel, they soon come to realize that many of Kreizler's beliefs are the basis for modern psychology. Kreizler looks to a person's childhood to see what made them the adult they have become and how that childhood causes a person to act in a specific way. This is very much like modern psychology in that many psychologists look to a criminals childhood to guess as to how a criminal will act and respond to specific events or actions. For this reason, changing times is a theme of the novel.

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The Alienist