This is a novel of adventure and romance, intrigue and betrayal, culture and religion, politics. Gordon weaves an interesting story, and all his characters are well-developed and believable but flawed, still very likable. His descriptions of life in the Middle Ages are vivid.

The Physician can easily be ranked as one of the most racist, prejudicial, erroneous, and contradictory novels, yet to be written on the East (the Others).

Islam and Persia are grotesquely sexualized. Domes on the mosques are described as body parts. Inappropriate sexuality is described as acceptable, desirable, “very sensible,” to the Persians, when the king recalls a childhood memory with a tone, frighteningly close to fondness (380). One would question the author’s motives in making the King so promiscuous and such a devil. The answer seems to be that the author is trying to create another “mysterious” East (the Others).

The majority of the jargons, transliterations, simple Persian vocabulary, locations, historical figures, historical events, and Islamic terms are wrong throughout the novel! One would expect a historical novel, even if imaginative, to have a bit of research, editorial review, and educational preparedness. The author’s goal has justified “any and every” misinformation and exaggeration.
Read the following statements on how Persians and Islam are described throughout the book. All are racist, prejudicial, stereotypical, and clearly untrue. These are just a few examples:

t“Zaki’s skin had been dark, an advantage under a hot sun. Karim’s skin needed the yellow slave; it was the color of light leather, the result, Zaki always said, of a female ancestor being f… [the author uses the full word] by one of Alexander’s fair Greeks. Karim thought something like that probably was true. There had been a number of Greek invasion and he knew light-skinned Persian men, and women with snowy breasts” (403).

The climax of hatred and animosity toward the Persian land (Persia) is grotesquely depicted when Rob enters Persia and reaches a lake (Urmiya). The land, the air and everything in Persia is “salty”:

- ““Take a pinch of salt [of the lake] and place it on your tongue.” He did, gingerly, and made a face. Lonzano grinned. “you are tasting Persia”…”We still have long days to ride.” But first Rob pi… into Lake Urmiya, adding his English Special Batch to Persia’s saltiness”” (266-267).

- “Freckles were Allah’s just punishment on someone so shameless she didn’t wear the veil” (493)

This book is planned to become a major motion picture in Hollywood and hit the movie theaters in 2013. One should only hope that this will not result in another biased, false, and shallow movie, one that only increases the distance between Us and Them, and pushes love and compassion further away.

A fabulous book that I bought at a discount, Until I saw an add for this book I had never heard of the author and now I want to read more. The author does a great job transporting the reader back in time to the 11th century and shows the difference between medicine and medical knowledge in England and Persia. Well drawn characters, an interesting premise and a very easy and fast read. Highly recommended.

Šioje knygoje yra vaizduojama vieno žmogaus istorija Viduramžiais, kuomet devynmetis berniukas likęs našlaitis tampa barzdaskučio - chirurgo mokiniu. Vėliau - jis pats perima šią profesiją, kol galų gale, pajautęs pašaukimą ir nenumaldomą norą, leidžiasi į kelionę į kontrastingąją Persiją, kur gydytojus ruošia itin plačiai žinomas ir išgarsėjęs Avicena.

Pati knyga su pagrindiniu veikėju, taip pat puikiai pavaizduoja apie žmogaus augimą, ,,evoliuciją", nuklydimus ir pakilimus, primenančius, jog žmogus nėra tobula būtybė.

Be to, išsirašiau šias dvi dėmesio vertas citatas, kurios turėtų nuolat priminti gydytojui apie jo paties kilnią ir pasiaukojančią profesiją, kylančią iš pašaukimo. Nepamiršti jos unikalumo. Kitaip tariant, omnium artium nobilíssima medicína est.


,,Lengva numarinti žmogų. Palaikyti gyvybę - kur kas sunkiau, dar sunkiau išsaugoti sveikatą. Štai apie ką turime nuolat galvoti."

,,Medicinos gali mokytis net ne vieną, o kelis gyvenimus, bet vis tiek pas tave ateis žmonių, kurių ligos tau bus paslaptis."

I had such great hope for this novel and although it started out well, it continued into a quagmire of long and drawn out story telling. While the premise was fascinating, the author just dragged the story out and included many banal details which slowed down the reader and made one feel like they were crossing the desert to a finish line that kept on getting further and further away.

I never really fully accepted nor found Rob, the main character, very appealing. Granted his life was hard and one does always have admiration for those who find their way, I just could not work up much empathy for him and the characters he came in contact with. It all seemed to matter of fact and not so much empathetic feelings seemed to be portrayed by the author.

Sorry to say, that as much as one can look forward to reading a certain book, they can be bogged down by rhetoric and rhetoric is certainly what ruined this novel for me.

For the first third of this book, I thought I'd found the book that I never wanted to end. Absolutely perfect, could have ended right there and five stars. But then it went on to have some picaresque in foreign climes and with a nice, but only nice, love story. So disappointing, and the denouement on a sheep farm, for God's sake, why has he studied so long? Where is the conflict he transcends or is consumed by? A completely awesome first act, deflated by the final two thirds, which is all the more frustrating.

¡Magnífica novela de principio a fin! ¡Mi favorita de todos los tiempos!

"El médico" es una novela de ficción-histórica ambientada en el siglo XI que cuenta la historia de Robert J. Cole, un barbero cirujano inglés, que se queda huérfano tras la muerte de sus padres por una extraña enfermedad, lo que lo hace descubrir su don de percibir si alguien está próximo a la muerte con solo tocarlo, lo que lo llevará a realizar una épica travesía por la Europa medieval hasta Persia (hoy Irán), en pos de estudiar en la escuela de medicina más importante de la epoca.

Esta novela la he leido dos veces en mi vida, la primera vez cuándo adolescente y luego cuando adulto, y aún a la fecha me parece una obra maestra insuperable. La prosa de Gordon es sencilla, instructiva y sus capítulos tienen el balance perfecto entre descripción y desarrollo, transmitiendote de manera perfecta todo el amor a la medicina que siente su protagonista, cómo su enorme resiliencia al verse enfrentado a un mundo, que en lo que en cuanto a medicina se trataba, vivía sumido en la ignorancia y superstición. Es un libro que a pesar de su extensión recomiendo al mil porcien leer ya que en ningún momento se hace pesado o aburrido, la cantidad de retos y vivencias que enfrenta nuestro protagonista son tales que siempre hay algo que logra mantener nuestro interés.

Por otra parte, sé que tambien se hizo una pelicula de ésta novela, aunque de ella no puedo hablar mucho debido a que nunca la he visto. Siempre he sentido temor de que me termine manchando la gran estima que le tengo a esta novela.

¡Para mí una obra maestra en toda regla!

¡Recomendadísima!

Prompted by Ilse, my GR friend and writer of wonderful reviews, I thought I should take a few minutes to say that I enjoyed reading The Physician and am not at all surprised that she found many copies in accommodations in Nepal and India during her travels 25 years ago.
It has all the ingredients for a best seller - an attractive hero, a love story, trails and tribulations, a long journey across unfamiliar lands and cultures and a challenging quest achieved.
For four days it took precedence over my other current reading, which I know I’m going to rate much more highly because they are changing the way I see the world (Braudel) and making me stop and think (Jacobson, Levy).
Hence the three stars.
It’s good light entertainment.
Thank you, Ilse.

Nos “obligaron” a leerlo en la Universidad (estudié Farmacia) y me alucinaba que mis compañeros leyeran taaaaan poca literatura porque yo me lancé a por él y lo recuerdo con tantísimo cariño, que el profe se convirtió en mi favorito siempre.

Y fuera de los recuerdos moña, es que es buenísimo cómo describe los inicios de la medicina forense y lo prohibidísimos que estaban los avances y el miedo quedaba lo diferente por estar todo bajo las supersticiones y religiones.

Esta es una de mis novelas históricas favoritas de todos los tiempos, ya no recuerdo cuántas veces la he leído y me sigue pareciendo fascinante.

La trama comienza con la infancia y adolescencia del protagonista, en la Inglaterra del siglo XI, que lucha por sobrevivir y salir adelante. Se convierte en el aprendiz de un cirujano-barbero, Barber, y recorren los pueblos haciendo espectáculos, vendiendo elixires y "curando" a la gente. Es absolutamente grandioso todo lo que se aprende de la vida y la cultura de la Edad Media. Las descripciones son tan vividas que sientes asco, dolor, amor, miedo.

No conforme con esto, el protagonista, Rob J. Cole, viaja a Persia, y aprendemos mucho de las religiones y las diversas culturas (judíos, musulmanes, cristianos). Vemos cómo trataban las enfermedades en aquella época: era pecado dibujar cuerpos humanos o abrir un cadáver, la gente se moría de apendicitis, luego vino la peste; no tenían ningún tipo de concepto de lo que era la higiene.

El protagonista nos guía por su propio aprendizaje de la medicina, las religiones y las culturas, y de paso nosotros vamos aprendiendo con él. Además, descubrimos algunos personajes que existieron realmente, y son fascinantes, como Avicena, quien fue médico, filósofo, científico y escribió cerca de 300 libros sobre diferentes temas, algunos de ellos a los 12 años. A los 16 años ya dirigía a médicos famosos.

Lo más interesante de todo es que, a veces, como Occidentales, nos creemos el ombligo del mundo y los inventores de todo, pero aquí se abre ante nuestros ojos una potente cultura, que estaba a años luz de la cultura Occidental de aquella época, y cargada de una sensualidad y exotismo totalmente deslumbrantes.

Es una historia que cautiva, absorbe y transporta. Sin duda está en el Olimpo de las novelas históricas.

Ein tolles Buch, das mich in eine absolute fantastische Welt des Mittelalters entführt hat. Für mich auch eine neue Erfahrung diese Zeit nicht aus der Sicht von kämpfenden Rittern und Königen zu erleben, sondern im Gegenteil zu sehen wie versucht wird das Leben zu erhalten statt zu töten, Grenzen zu überwinden statt aufzubauen und auszuweiten.

Leider ist das Buch nicht 100% geschichtlich akkurat, deswegen sind die Fun Facts, die ich daraus nehme mit Vorsicht zu genießen :D

Noah Gordon is my new favorite author. I read The Physician after I read The Last Jew. Both were phenomenal.

The Physician is long, but I read through it quickly. I could hardly put it down! The novel is set in the middle of the eleventh century. Gordon transports readers to another time, setting an ambience that feels authentic to the time period. The novel covers a wide span of geography, beginning in London, taking the reader throughout England and ultimately across Europe through Constantinople to Persia, then India, and back to London and ultimately to Scotland. The main character, Rob J. Cole, is orphaned in London and taken in by "Barber", a Barber surgeon, which is a doctor of sorts for the lowest classes. Rob J. also has a special gift, which he discovers just before his parents die - he can sense when people die. He struggles in his new role as a Barber surgeon (he has a hard time mastering juggling, which is vital to draw crowds) but eventually he becomes obsessed with the idea of healing people after he meets a Jewish Physician who can perform cataract surgery. After Barber dies, Rob J. decides to study in Ispahan, where the Jewish Physician studied, and learn from Abicenna, the premier physician of the time. The complication is that the Catholic Church prohibits Christians from studying in "heathen" institutions, so Rob J. must disguise himself as a Jew. Rob J. learned some Jewish ways during his travels and studies Persian and ends up passing as a Jew ignorant of the Jewish traditions. Eventually Rob J. becomes a physician only to discover that his skills are not wanted/respected in London, where he is suspected of possible witchcraft and he flees to Scotland where he can practice medicine in peace.

This novel is not only entertaining, but also makes the reader think. It raises many issues of religion and science and the relationship between the two. The reader also develops a strong sense of the fragility of life in this time period, of the difficulty of travel, of how much our world has progressed in 1000 years. Also, unlike most novels of this period, it gives a sense of the role of Jews in the Middle Ages. The Jewish system of travel is fascinating.