Vapid--always vapid

"Wie­sel’s narrative turns out to be uncomfortably simplistic. Doriel may be a difficult patient, and in the course of treating him Dr. Goldschmidt may question her professional abilities, but enlightenment for both is just a few heart-rending sessions away. These stilted therapy scenes read as if Wiesel wrote them with a textbook at his side. (“Transference,” we are told at one point, “is a common occurrence in analysis: the patient becomes enamored of the analyst.”)"