Aunque me ha gustado menos que El m��dico, he disfrutado bastante con esta nueva aventura de dos m��dicos Cole contada por Noah Gordon. Me encantan los autores que se documentan hasta la saciedad para escribir sus novelas, haciendo que tareas rutinarias del siglo pasado cobren vida en tu imaginaci��n hasta el ��ltimo detalle. Lo ��nico que no me ha gustado demasiado de este libro ha sido la parte en la que Rob J. Cole relata todas sus experiencias como m��dico del ej��rcito durante la Guerra de Secesi��n, que se me hizo un poco pesada y repetitiva. Aparte de eso, es una historia genial y una buena lectura para los aficionados a Noah Gordon.

One of the best books I read all year. Loved it even more than The Physician.

Shaman is the sequel to the Physician by Noah Gordon. But it is an unusual type of sequel. 800 years pass between the first and the second book. One of the descendants of Rob Cole in the first book is now a physician in Boston and then the frontier of Illinois in the 1850's. The physician in this book is also named Rob Cole and he names his son, Rob Cole. The son is nicknamed Shaman by a native American who serves as the elder Rob Cole's nurse/homeopathic healer. This book is Dances with Wolves combined with Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women with a touch of How the West Was Won. All told with a 20 century sensibility..This is a good, fast easy read that incorporates frontier medicine, the Civil War, and the first use of anesthesia. Good book for someone looking for a fun read. Sometimes, the book is a little too centered in today's time with its politically correct, judgmental view of many of the political controversies of the 1850's and 1860's.

4 stars - English Ebook

Review follows later.

No tan mal, ni tan bien. Empecé con bastante entusiasmo porque me fascinó el contexto histórico, la guerra de secesión de EEUU, pero en general se me ha hecho largo. Para mi gusto le sobran por lo menos la mitad de páginas. La historia no está mal, es casi biográfica, en general entretenida (y casi siempre dramática) pero muchas veces se hace lenta y es fácil perder el interés. Me pareció bastante más floja que El Médico.

Na niektorých miestach je to trochu podrobnejšie a preto uz na konci nezostal cas trochu rozvíjať viac dej.

Lo leí hace mucho tiempo. Lo recuerdo como uno de los mejores libros que he leído

Iako su romani u ovoj trilogiji o generacijama lekara iz porodice Koul povezani likovima koji nose isto prezime, svaki roman je završena, nezavisna priča. Prvi deo – „Medikus“ me potpuno kupio radnjom i podacima iz istorije medicine vezane za XI vek u kome je smeštena radnja. Drugi deo – „Šaman“ me gradacijski potpuno „razbio“. Radnja se odvija osam vekova kasnije u odnosu na prvi roman, i smeštena je u Americi, baš u vreme rata između Severa i Juga. Bez obzira na to što mi američka istorija nije niti zanimljiva, niti me zanima da pretražujem detalje vezane za tu tematiku, Noa Gordonovo pripovedanje me potpuno zainteresovalo da i te delove pročitam pažljivo. Fasciniran sam Gordonovim pripovedanjem. Bez obzira na to što roman ima oko 600 strana, tok priče sve vreme drži pažnju i način pripovedanja je takav da se čitalac toliko upozna sa likovima da na kraju (bar sam to primetio kod sebe) počinje da proživljava njihove patnje i da oseća njihovu setu ili tugu. Nema prežvakanih fraza, nema dosadnih, nesuvislih dijaloga, nema nebitnih delova. Dok je u prvom delu Gordon pisao o začetku primenjivanja načela asepse i antisepse kod lekara onog doba, kao i (za to vreme) o komplikovanim operacijama slepog creva i hernija, toliko je ovde pažnja usmerena na pionirsku upotrebu kondoma i njihovu izradu od ovčjih creva, te začetke upotrebe etra i azot-monoksida kao anestetika pri operacijama. Takođe, razrađena je i tema seksualnih tabua onoga doba, kao i tema o brakovima između dva staleža koji pripadaju različitim religijama. Priča je ispričana retrogradno, tako da čitalac tek postepeno stiče uvid o kom dobu pisac govori i ko su nosioci radnje za dati trenutak. Takođe, kvalitet Gordonovog pripovedanja je u tome da on, u određenim delovima, nekako subliminalno, naglasi neki detalj ili prikaz, koji se ureže u sećanje, i kasnije, kada ga poveže sa nečim što je bitno, i nastavlja se na taj detalj, čitalac se, jednostavno, složi sa tim da je već imao naznake o tome, i da je bio upozoren šta će se dogoditi iz tih usputnih detalja. „Šaman“ je teskobna porodična priča jednog od Kolovih naslednika koji je trbuhom za kruhom napustio Irsku i otišao u Ameriku da nađe posao. U spletu različitih okolnosti, oženivši se udovicom koja je već imala dečaka iz prvog braka, dobija sa njom sina, koji nakon preležanih boginja ostaje gluv. No, borba za život mu nije bila uskraćena ni posle te nezgode, te je uspeo da se izbori sa životnim teskobama, da se obrazuje i nasledi oca. A otac mu je u amanet ostavio da otkrije uzrok jednog stravičnog ubistva njegove prijateljice indijanke koju je jednog jutra našao mrtvu u njenoj kolibi. Na prvi pogled, na osnovu naslova, mislio sam da će biti reči sve vreme o indijanskom plemenu i njihovim običajima. Međutim, Šaman je samo nadimak malog gluvog dečaka koji mu je nadenula ubijena indijanka. Stravične scene sa ratišta i slike vojne bolnice su toliko verno opisane, da mogu da osetim smrad truleži gangrenoznih udova, gnoj i zadah tela ranjenika. Ne pamtim da me je neki roman ovoliko podstakao na razmišljanje i ovoliko teskobe probudio u meni u skorije vreme (osim „Izdaje“ Nebojše Petkovića, ali tematika je posve druga u tom romanu). Iz pogovora se saznaje, što je bilo i očekivano, da je Gordon nekoliko godina istraživao iscrpno detalje vezane za građanski rat o kome je pisao, kao i za medicinske novotarije iz toga doba. Tako nije izostalo i pominjanje čuvenog hirurga Fergusona i mađarskog doktora Semelvajsa, po kome Univerzitet u Budimpešti danas nosi naziv. Na kraju, odnos između oca i sina koji je Gordon razradio i njihove međusobne povezanosti je toliko dobro psihološki razrađen, da, kao što rekoh, imam utisak da sam obojicu poznavao i da su mi bliski prijatelji.

Što tiče ono dvoje koji su potpisani kao prevodioci, trebalo je da ih označe kao „prepisivači“, budući da su doslovce isprepisivali hrvatski prevod Divine Marion, uz transliteraciju na ekavicu i neke izmene novohrvatskih reči. Jezive tekovine savremenih knjižara.

If I DNF'd books, this one would not have survived. Warning for series spoilers.

Book 1 was amazing. This fell far short.

Book 1 introduces the Cole family, focusing on the life of one man in medieval England. That man, Rob Cole, happens to be extremely interesting. He has a supernatural gift/extra sense that tells him when a person is dying. This gift is passed on in the family. He's orphaned at a young age, loses track of all his siblings, gets apprenticed to a barber surgeon, and travels England as more of an entertainer/charlatan than actual healer. Then he meets someone who had cataract surgery. Cole tracks down the Jewish physician who performed the surgery and demands to be trained. He learns that the physician trained at an Islamic medical school—which is a problem. Christians face excommunication from their own church if they attempt to study in Islamic institutions (and Islamic institutions won't accept Christians). Cole travels overland across Europe and through the Middle East, learning new languages and eventually assuming the identity of a Jewish Englishman. The book is a masterpiece. It shows the struggles of Jewish merchant communities to survive and thrive in a hostile world. The love story is compelling. There's a group of medical students sent into a plague- ridden city, a military campaign to capture elephants... I will probably read book 1 again.

This book brings in none of the beauty of the first book. It jumps ahead several centuries to a descendant of the original Doctor Robert Cole, who is also named Dr. Robert Cole. The first half focuses on the father and the second half focuses on the son, aka "Shaman" (you guessed it, he's also named Dr. Robert Cole).

The father's story is rambling ineloquence. He travels from Scotland to New England and eventually heads West. The development of medicine where he establishes himself is interesting (disagreeing frontier doctors in one generation give way to the founding of a real hospital in the next generation). Most of the elder Dr. Cole's life is narrated in extremely dry prose. His time in New England (including his love affair with the woman who miscarried and told him before the wedding so he doesn't have to marry her) could have been cut out without any further edits. Of course Dr. Cole is ahead of his time advocating for modern medicine and basically providing amazing care while his colleagues are barbaric.

Cole's time with the indigenous people near his Illinois homestead is...uncomfortable. He falls in love with a female medicine woman who he admires. She can't consummate their relationship because doing so would mean losing her ability, so she finds him another native woman. Gordon writes about the "greasy black hair" of that woman while Cole is having sex with her. Part of my disappointment with this book is that the description talks about the Cole family "absorbing the culture" of the tribe they live near (... and having read book 1 in which the original main character extensively studied Judaism and changes his whole life...). I was waiting for that culture absorbing. It never comes. Cole basically lets his wife resent his friend and uses her to help care for his patients (and as a babysitter) and at the very end, the son goes to visit a town founded by the descendants of the tribe that was driven out. Cole's friend is cut off from her people after they leave (and later on, you learn about how when she dies, the next shaman doesn't get completely trained and the tribe loses its religion).

Cole becomes a white savior by providing the medicine woman, Makwa, a place to live on his land when her people are expelled. Cole marries a white woman with a young son. His wife is extremely jealous of Makwa and people widely believe that Makwa is Cole's mistress. Makwa horribly violated and murdered. Cole performs a post mortem examination on her, noting the damage to her body. This leads to a creepy paragraph about how Dr. Cole likes women's "hinds" and how he has anal sex with his wife without injuring her. The way he views the dead woman he loved and the living woman he is married to is gross. It felt like it was trying to be preachy (like the message was supposed to be anal sex is an enjoyable experience that isn't tied to morality) but it came off as the main character being unable to view the women in his life outside his own gratification.

Cole looks for the murderer, and he thinks he has a suspect: a traveling preacher he treated for syphilis. No one in government cares, so the investigation dies off and is passed to Cole's son in his journal after he passes. I enjoyed the part about the nun intelligence on the anti catholic secret society.

Cole's son, nicknamed Shaman, goes deaf after a childhood illness. His education (learning signs, being prevented from signing, learning to read lips, speech drills, etc) is mostly told from his father's point of view. Eventually it shifts and Shaman becomes the main character. Shaman also has the family gift and becomes a doctor (surprise).

Another reason I was disappointed is that I thought the American Civil War would be a larger part. It doesn't occur until near the end. Cole was a pacifist which comes out when he is naturalized as a citizen. Cole's step son, who has been using a different last name, is located in a p.o.w. camp. Cole has passed away, and Shaman has read his father's papers. He asks around about Makwa's murder before going to retrieve his brother. They end up killing a man in self defense after he breaks into their rented accommodations and tries to kill them.

After killing their attacker, Shaman cares for a hired man who managed the elder Dr. Cole's farm for decades. In his delirium, the man says something that leads Shaman to understand what really happened. The hired farm man was a member of the same group as the preacher/ suspect, as was the would be assassin. The farm hand claims that he came across the men right before they killed Makwa. The murder weapon is discovered when his cabin is razed. Shaman ends up with a list of local men who are also members of this secret society. He destroys the list rather than read it (or pass it on to the nuns who helped his father) because he says he's going to have to care for those men and doesn't want to judge them.

The Jewish community reappears in this book, but unfortunately it receives the same superficial treatment that Makwa's tribe got. Shaman falls in love with a Jewish girl. His father explains he never had a chance because they won't marry outside their faith. The girl ends up returning as a war widow with 2 young children. Her parents are trying to get her remarried to someone acceptable. She and Shaman carry on an affair. He convinces her to marry him... then he threatens her father with never seeing her or her children again if they follow tradition (by going into mourning and declaring someone who left the faith dead). There is no exploring/ learning/absorbing. It's all about what Shaman wants. The announcement about Quaker-ism at the end was abrupt.

Now I'm trying to decide if book 3 is worth reading.... I ordered #2 and #3 while reading #1. #2 is such a drop in quality that I don't want to waste time but #1 was so amazing that I'm worried about missing out.

“Šamanas” — iš tų knygų, nuo kurių sunku atsitraukti skaitant, o užvertus — mintys apie jos personažų gyvenimo vingius neapleidžia. Įdomios stiprios asmenybės, istorinis koloritas, dramatiškas siužetas su detektyvine intriga — tai, ko ir reikia geram romanui.

Ich musste jetzt doch 5 Sterne geben, weil das Buch eine volle, gut entwickelte Geschichte erzählt und immer etwas interessantes vor sich geht. Das Buch fühlt sich extrem groß, extrem voll an, nicht nur wegen der Seitenzahl. Ich hätte mir aus dem Titel erhofft, noch mehr über Behandlungsriten indigener Völker und deren Lebensweisen zu erfahren, allerdings lag der Fokus auf der Geschichte des Arztes und den USA. Generell ist der Roman sehr gut recherchiert und man ist wirklich tief drin, dafür dass es eine so andere Zeit ist. Der Schamane ist ein mehr als würdiger Nachfolger für den Medicus.

Goodness knows how many years Noah Gordon’s ‘Shaman’ had languished in my book stacks, remaining unread until just recently.

I’m pleased to say it was worth the wait to read it, through long nights and even stolen moments during my working day.

‘Shaman’ is the story of two generations of doctors – Rob J. Cole the elder, and his son, Rob J. Cole the younger a.k.a. ‘Shaman’.

Dr Cole senior arrives from his native Scotland and journeys to Indian country in Illinois. Here he settles to raise a family and provide medical services to the local pioneering community.

Though strictly a man of science, Cole accepts that the Sauk Indian medicine woman Makwa has healing abilities he cannot explain, but which he is content to use.

When a brutal tragedy occurs on the Cole family farm, first Cole senior and years later, his son Shaman are determined to discover the truth about what happened.

The family saga endures conflicts between pioneers and Indians and the Civil War between north and south. The latter sees friends and communities close to the Coles divided by ideologies and loyalties. But in the end, all that matters is survival.

A novel of over 650 pages could be expected to flag in interest or intensity at some stage. This one seldom does, and just when I started wondering if there was any drama left in the tale, another event or revelation grabbed my attention afresh.

At the end of it, I felt I’d been on a journey through half a century of 19th century American history – and it was well worth the trip.

Review by Kerry Hennigan
12 March 2016