`DR. NERUDA' PUTS READERS THROUGH A GRUELING TEST.

Byline: Deborah G. Guadan Daily News Staff Writer

Title: ``Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil''

Author: Rafael Yglesias 

Data: 694 pages, Warner Books; $24.95

Our rating: Two Stars

Evil - the very word conjures up fears shoved into recesses of the mind. And once those fears are stirred, anything can happen.

Knowing that, and indeed reveling in it, writer Rafael Yglesias raises disturbing issues in his rather obnoxiously titled ``Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil.''

Enveloped in the form of a report on victim psychology and the symptomatology of evil, Yglesias' latest novel studies the life, disasters and triumphs of Dr. Rafael Neruda.

Divided in to three sections, the novel covers Neruda's painfully shattered youth as the son of Francisco, a pro-Castro journalist, and Ruth, a rebellious Jewish-American woman. The second section traces the therapy sequence of Neruda's patient Gene Kenny, who commits a vicious crime. Finally, part three attempts to diagnose and cure evil as Neruda researches Gene's life.

At times stunningly heartbreaking, ``Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil'' suffers from a case of self-absorption. While Yglesias creates a believable yet annoying central character, there are sections of the novel where the reader simply will want to scream ``Enough!''

Usually that would be enough to warn the reader off. But Yglesias' technique thrusts the reader into the scenario so well that the lines blur. He knows how to play head games.

The novel opens with Neruda discussing himself. But he has a purpose, because as a therapist he believes:

``What the analyst feels is as crucial as the analysand's sorrows. Thus it follows that there is a fatal flaw in all scientifically presented case histories because they are solely concerned with the patient's life and character. To understand why the treatment proceeded the way it did one must also know the doctor - his brilliancies, his mistakes, and his own psychology. The true story of a therapeutic exchange begins not with the patient's present problem but with the healer's past.''

Neruda's path to becoming a brilliant therapist who works with abused children begins in his tattered childhood.

In 1960, 8-year-old Rafael Neruda accompanies his parents to one of Francisco's radio interviews. After being dogged by the interviewer on his Castro leanings, the ever-charismatic Francisco smoothly alters the conversation. A proud family heads home. On the way, they are attacked, and Rafael witnesses the assault of his mother. All for their politics.

This situation leads to Francisco leaving the family for Cuba. Although it is supposed to safeguard the family, it really begins their unraveling. By the time the Cuban Missile Crisis ends, Ruth is dead.

Rafael's loyalties are further tested by family members.

After getting himself in the good graces of his rich Uncle Bernie Rabinowitz, Rafael is whisked off by his father, who has a new, pregnant wife. If this seems like a pingpong match, that's accurate. Finally, Rafael is returned to Uncle Bernie and, after a mental crisis of his own, begins his education in earnest.

All of these experiences provide insight for his incredible survival instincts and guilt.

By the time the reader gets to Gene Kenny, his situation just doesn't seem to compare in Rafael's mind:

`` `Many people prefer to talk while lying on the couch. Would you like to lie on the couch?'

``He frowned. His eyebrows were thick and jet black against the pallor of his skin. They were expressive and let me know he certainly did not want to. They crossed together in a frown, reared up in surprise, and then scanned the couch with an unmistakable look of fear and disgust.

``I was about to tell him he could stay in the chair, when he said in a mumble, `Okay.' He hurried to the couch, never looking in my direction. He sat on the edge, head hanging, and waited, as if ready to be punished.

``This was the moment when I experienced a strong feeling of dislike for Gene. It shocked me. I had never felt anything like it as a doctor.''

Gene's problems at age 15 hit too close to home because they involve unresolved issues Rafael has with his father. Gene goes on to become a computer whiz, but returns to Rafael 11 years later. Now, he has adult problems that Rafael attributes more or less to the yuppie lifestyle.

So when Rafael loses Gene, he goes in search of answers. And that, quite frankly, is where the novel gets truly bizarre. As crises mount in Rafael's personal and professional life, he takes desperate measures.

Ethics aside, the reader will question the sanity of Rafael's move into Gene's workplace. There Rafael methodically, and in a rather frightening way, plays the ultimate therapy game with himself part of the experiment.

Here Yglesias certainly seems to test the bounds of reality. Perhaps that is his point. Unfortunately, that's not very satisfying for the reader.

Like many classes in college, ``Dr. Neruda's Cure for Evil'' is an exercise that will leave the reader feeling tested. It may not be what the reader needs, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

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