TEST 2
I thought perhaps the easiest way to synthesize my feelings towards this book was to answer the following 5 questions:

When did the story take place: The first half of the eleventh century.

Who were the central characters: Rob J Cole, his friends and employers and later his wife (Mary Cullen).

Where did it take place: England, Scotland, a trip across Europe to Isfahan, Perisa and even a short episode in India!

What was the point of the book: I believe the book was written to inform readers in an engaging manner about the time period and how it really would have felt to live then and in these specific places. The book does this well. You do learn what all aspects of life were like. You get the details concerning food, clothing, hardships and joys, both pagan and religious(Christian, Jewish and Muslim) beliefs and how medical problems were viewed, treated and looked upon by various groups.

How was the book written:: OK, here is the problem! It was didactic. There were so many details that you were swamped. A chapter was spent on how one can learn to juggle...... Yes, it was actually quite revealing, but only to a point. It went on too long. This can be said in relation to many, many points. You learn how to correctly place phylacteries according to the Jewish faith, how to prepare kosher food, how to make the the medicines then available...... Parts, for example how the school in Isfahan, Persia was organized, were very interesting. Probably different parts will appeal to different readers, but to no one will ALL of it be interesting. Let me repeat, it was very didactic, to a fault! The language was clear and informative, but that was it - no sparkle what so ever!!!! I guess that is my biggest complaint. It felt like you were reading YA literature, even though some of the episodes were quite rough.Always you felt like it was trying to teach the readers. The writing was simplistic. Only very, very rarely did it encourage the reader to pose philosophical questions. It just presented the facts. By the end of the book I was finally engaged in the characters and had to find out how things would end. However for the majority I was slugging through the pages. Rarely did I laugh. I cannot remember in fact if I ever laughed.... I will not be reading another book by this author. There are better books out there that BOTH inform and capture my imagination.

My head tells me the book deserves more stars, but I am sticking with my gut feelings. Most of the time was thinking this book is OK. That is how I felt, not how I was thinking. The point of this review is to try and figure out for myself and perhaps others why I felt the way I did.

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.

The Physician (Cole Family Trilogy #1), Noah Gordon

The Physician is a novel by Noah Gordon. It is about the life of a Christian English boy in the 11th century who journeys across Europe in order to study medicine among the Persians.

Part One: Barber's Boy: It is the year 1020. Rob Cole is the eldest of many children. His father is a Joiner in the Guild of Carpenters in London. His mother, Agnes Cole, is his father's wife. Robert has a particular Gift: he can sense when someone is going to die. When his mother and father both die, the Cole household is parceled out to various neighbors and friends. The Cole children are parceled out likewise. ...

Part Two: The Long Journey: Rob travels, as a Christian, from London throughout Europe to Constantinople. Here he becomes Jewish in appearance, and travels eastwards with a group of Jewish merchants, learning their ways as best he can. ...

Part Three: Isfahan Rob arrives in the city of Isfahan, in the heart of the Abbasid Caliphate (in present-day Iran), and tries to enter into the school of physicians there. He is not allowed access. He struggles to survive in the city, homeless, while searching for a way to enter the school.

Part Four: The Maristan: A chance encounter with the Shah of Persia opens for Rob the door to the school of physicians (Bimaristan). Here he begins the study of medicine—the first formal study he has ever had in his life. At the same time he immerses himself in the life of a Persian Jew.

Part Five: The War Surgeon: Comparable to a surgical residency or similar term of practicum, Rob goes to a war-torn (and plague-torn) land to practice his medical knowledge. His journeys with the Shah's armies take him as far as India, where he encounters elephants, spices, and Wootz steel. He makes friends among the Muslim students of the school. ...

Part Six: Hakim: He is passed as a physician and helps to instruct new physicians in the school. Rob and Mary's son is named Robert James Cole. She, at one point, is visited by Ibn Sina, who tells her that the Shah requested her presence, otherwise he'd kill Rob. Mary understood that it meant that the Shah intended to have sex with her, and goes to him. After having sex with Shah, she gets pregnant. When the child, named Thomas Scott, is born, the Shah sends him a rug, and Rob realizes that Thomas is not his son. Mary, however, tells him that she kept them both alive, and leaves his bedroom. However, when Mary beats him for thinking that he had been with prostitutes, the two are able to tell the truth and reconcile themselves.

Part Seven: The Returned: Rob struggles to locate his lost brothers and sisters, likewise to make his place amongst the terribly ignorant physicians of London. Despairing, he returns with his wife and family to Scotland, where he acts as physician to his wife's people high in the hills.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «حکیم - از لندن تا اصفهان در محضر ابن سینا»؛ «پزشک: روزهای ابن سینا از سرگشتگی تا شکفتگی»؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز سوم ماه اکتبر سال1999میلادی

عنوان: حکیم - از لندن تا اصفهان در محضر ابن سینا؛ نویسنده: نوآ (نووا) گوردون؛ مترجم: جواد سیداشرف؛ تهران، زرین، سال1375؛ در687ص؛ موضوع ماجرای ابن سینا از نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده20م

مترجم: طاهره صدیقیان؛ تهران، روشنگران، سال1388، در784ص؛ شابک9789641940067؛

با عنوان: پزشک : روزهای ابن سینا از سرگشتگی تا شکفتگی؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، قصه پرداز، دبیر، سال1379، در632ص؛ چاپ دوم سال1387؛ شابک9789646916487؛

هشدار اگر داستان را نخوانده اید این نوشتار ممکن است داستان را افشا کند؛

داستان حکایت جوانی «انگلیسی» است، که از شهر «لندن» به «ایران» و شهر «اصفهان» میرود؛ تا در پیشگاه «حکیم الحکما ابن سینا» علم طب فرا گیرد؛ او پا به پای حکیم به درمان بیماران میپردازد، و تا پیش از درگذشت «ابن سینا» همراه ایشان بوده است

چکیده داستان: سال1020میلادی است؛ «راب کول» بزرگترین فرزند خانواده است؛ پدرش عضو اتحادیه صنف نجاران «لندن»؛ و نام مادرش «اگنس کول» است؛ «رابرت» یک ویژگی دارد: او میتواند آنگاه که کسی میخواهد بمیرد، آن را حس کند؛ وقتی مادر و پدرش هر دو میمیرند، خانواده «کول» بین همسایگان، و دوستان پذیرش میشوند؛ «رابرت جریمی کول» شخصیت اصلی داستان، در کودکی، با یک دلاک دوره گرد، همسفر میشود، و مدت هفت سال، با وی میماند؛ در این زمان شعبده بازی، تردستی، اندکی نیز طبابت، میآموزد؛ با آن دلاک دوره گرد، سراسر «انگلستان» را، زیر پای میگذارد، و رویدادهای گوناگونی را میآزماید؛ پس از مرگ آموزگارش، تصمیم میگیرد پزشکی بیاموزد؛ آوازه ی «پورسینا» پزشک نامدار «ایرانی» او را وادار میکند؛ به دیدار او برود؛ اما نه «مسلمانان» میتوانند، در کشورهای «اروپای مسیحی» زندگی کنند، و نه «مسیحیان» حق آموزش و زندگی، در کشورهای «اسلامی» را دارند؛ به ناچار خود را به شمایل یک «یهودی» درمیآورد، و نام «یسوع ابن بنیامین» را برمیگزیند؛ به «ایران» میرود، و مورد لطف و عنایت «پادشاه» قرار میگیرد، و خلعت شاهانه دریافت میکند؛ او را در مدرسه ی «علم طب» میپذیرند؛ با اشتیاقی ستایش شدنی، به فراگیری علوم میپردازد، و در کمتر از سه سال، به مقام «طبیب» نایل میشود؛ در شرایطی که کالبد شکافی از نظر هر سه دین «اسلام»، «مسیحیت»، و «یهودیت» جرم است، او پنهانی به کالبد شکافی میپردازد، تا از راز بیماریها پرده بردارد؛ چند سال در «اصفهان» میماند، و در این مدت ازدواج میکند؛ در پایان عمر «شیخ الرئیس»، در کنار ایشان مینشیند، او پس از درگذشت استاد خویش، عزاداری میکند؛ اما دیگر کاری در «ایران» ندارد؛ با همسرش به «لندن» بازمیگردند؛ و سرانجام هم به «اسکاتلند» میروند، و زندگی آرامی را آغاز میکنند؛ گفتگوهای میان شخصیتهای داستان، بسیار زیبا، ژرف و عرفانی است؛ شگفت آور است، که نویسنده، این چنین توانسته «ایران کهن» را، به تصویر واژه های خویش بکشاند

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 23/03/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 28/12/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

4.5*

Long but beautifully written. It was time well spent.

5 Estrellazas ¡Qué novelón! Me ha encantado. Hacía años que no leía una novela histórica, a secas. Gracias a un reto literario me animé a leer éste libro, una de las novelas históricas más sonadas del mundo y me ha fascinado entera.

Supongo que el haberla tenido relegada durante tanto tiempo han sido las 900 páginas que tiene, un tocho enorme para haberla leído en formato de bolsillo. Y pese al poco tiempo que tengo para leer, he hecho el esfuerzo de continuar capítulo a capítulo y sin desanimarme porque cuanto más leía, más me gustaba.

A su vez también es lo primero que leo de Noah Gordon, y su prosa, tan directa e impersonal me ha gustado bastante para el desarrollo de la trama. Hace muchos años, vi la película en el cine, pero no me pareció gran cosa y aún así mi madre me animaba a leerlo por eso de que el libro es mejor. ¡Y vaya si es mejor!

Noah Gordon nos lleva a la Inglaterra del siglo XI, antes de la conquista normanda. Rob J. Cole es un niño de Londres, hijo de un carpintero, pero en él mora un poderoso don: es capaz con el tacto de saber cuánto le queda de vida a una persona, y éste don entra en él cuando su madre muere de parto. Posteriormente muere su padre, y en ésa época tan convulsa y cruel para los huérfanos, Robert es separado de sus hermanos cuando estos son adoptados por otros vecinos.

Para no acabar como esclavo o algo mucho peor, con 9 años, Robert conoce a Barber un cirujano barbero, más de charlatán y chantajista que de médico, que lo adopta para tenerlo como ayudante y aprendiz.

En sus primeros años junto a Barber, Rob no está realmente decidido a ser médico, se conforma con ir de pueblo en pueblo junto a su mentor, vender sus pócimas curativas, sacar dientes y reparar pequeños cortes. Pero poco a poco Robert se irá interesando más por la sanación, sobre todo cuando conoce a un judío capaz de obrar milagros, y le habla de su mentor, un famoso médico de Asia llamado Ibn Sina, o Avicena.

Con dieciocho años, Rob emprenderá de nuevo un viaje épico que lo llevará a atravesar medio mundo, desde Inglatera y toda Europa hasta Constantinopla y de allí a adentrarse en tierras de los musulmanes para llegar hasta Isfahan, y conocer a Ibn Sina, el Príncipe de los Médicos.

Pero el camino no será fácil. Casi dos años para llegar a destino, muchos apuros y sacrificios, pues en ésa época un cristiano tenía prohibido estudiar medicina musulmana, harán que Rob se haga pasar por judío para ser admitido en la madrassa de Isfahan y poder estudiar medicina.

Son muchas las cosas que pasan en éste libro y no puedo contarlas todas, pues creo que es de esas novelas que hay que leer al menos una vez en la vida. Y creedme, la película no le hace justicia, de hecho, ni siquiera se parece la historia, pues está todo inventado.

Y sí, el libro es muy largo, pero para nada se hace denso o pesado, pues los capítulos son cortos y siempre están pasando cosas. Tanto la historia como los personajes me han encantado, sobre todo el grato recuerdo que deja Ibn Sina en su erudición y su ayuda y afecto hacia Rob.

En general he quedado encantada con el libro y animo a todo el que tenga interés en leerlo que lo haga. Por otro lado, estoy segurísima de que continuaré con los Cole y su saga médica y no tardaré en leer "Chamán".

Lectura finalizada en Noviembre de 2023

Esperaba un libro diferente.

No ha estado mal, pero tampoco ha estado cerca de ser una de mis lecturas favoritas. El médico, de Noah Gordon, fue una lectura provechosa que me ha concientizado sobre las dificultades que se presentaban en la Edad Media con respecto a la medicina. Existieron muchos tabús, ignorancia y una tendencia al conformismo que impedía el progreso en esta área tan importante de una sociedad; un contexto excelente que alimenta la curiosidad del lector al hacernos teorizar sobre las formas como el protagonista —que tiene incorporada la chispa de la rebeldía— va a romper las reglas. Ese es un aspecto muy valioso del libro.

Sin embargo, y tristemente debo decirlo, pienso que la prosa del autor es el problema real de la obra. Su historia siembra la curiosidad, pero sus palabras erradican el interés. No me arrepiento de leer este libro, pero finalizo con la sensación de que me hubiera gustado conocer esta historia con las palabras de otro escritor.

Reseña completa más adelante.

Leído hace millón y medio de años (año arriba, año abajo)

Fue un best seller, cayó en mis jóvenes manos, lo leí y me encantó.
Todos sabéis de qué va. Si no lo sabéis, mejor, porque ya tenéis algo ligero para leer este verano.

Es el primero de la trilogía que se completa con Chamán y La doctora Cole. Leí los tres y me gustaron los tres.

(La review de esos sólo va a decir que leáis esta y sí tras leer el libro os engancha, pues eso)

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.

Me cuesta mucho hacer una reseña de este gran libro, decidí releerlo porque quiero seguir con la trilogia, y hace tiempo que lo lei.
La historia nos cuenta la vida de un joven, Robert Jeremy Cole, desde la primera pagina el libro te engancha por como empieza, la muerte de sus dos padres en un corto periodo de tiempo y la adopción por parte de otras personas de sus hermanos, hacen que se quede solo, y que gracias a ello inicie un viaje para luchar por lo que mas quiere, y mas desea, ayudar a las personas, curandolas y sanandolas.
El libro esta dividido en siete partes, en las que cada una contara una parte de la vida de Jeremy, iremos creciendo con el según avanzamos en la historia. Comenzará con nueve años, siendo un cirujano-barbero, con un tutor que le enseñara de todo y que aprenderá de el a vivir, viajando por pueblos para ganarse la comida, haciendo espectáculos, y sanando…
Pero cuando su maestro muere, decide que el quiere seguir creciendo y que su sueño es ser médico, el mejor y aprender del mejor, lo que emprenderá un viaje a Persia, donde estará el mejor médico y la mejor escuela. Un viaje peligroso, lleno de aventuras, lleno de aprendizaje…
Lo mejor del libro es la gran ambientación, pues Rob comienza su viaje en Londres, y para llegar a Persia tendrá que viajar por infinidad de países, los cuales están super bien descritos, contados con hechos históricos y religiosos, lo que hará que aprendas y te empapes de muchos datos super interesantes.
Algo mas a destacar son los personajes, es cierto que hay muchísimos personajes, pero los principales son los que se te quedan, con los que empatizas, con una gran variedad cultural, viviendo con ellos lo que era el racismo por ser lo que eras, y las diferencias entre ser un cristiano, un musulmán o un judío en aquella época.
Me quedo con la moraleja de este gran libro, y es que si quieres algo luches por ello, cueste lo que cueste y el tiempo que se necesite porque todo tiene su recompensa. Asique recomiendo este libro, a todos, te guste o no la literatura histórica, un gran libro para aprender y para disfrutar.

Mi querido padre, que es muy amante de la novela histórica, me recomendó hace muchísimo tiempo que leyera este libro, pero viendo las casi 800 páginas que lo componen, me daba "pereza-miedo-vaguería"
Pensaba que iba a ser un aburrimiento en mayúsculas por el tiempo en que Noah lo escribió, mucho drama, mucho sufrimiento y tal.
Pero terminado, sólo puedo decir:

Este libro es una oda a la superación, a la lucha constante de un hombre para conseguir cumplir su sueño, que es dedicarse a la medicina.
Y es que, pese a todos los obstáculos, las diferencias éticas, religiosas y culturales que Rob se encuentra en su camino, no hacen otra cosa, que alentarlo para cumplir su objetivo.

I’m a modern military history buff, and until I read this book I hadn’t had the slightest intrest in medieval social portraits. Well, Noah Gordon opened my eyes. I travelled through medieval Europe with Rob J. Cole (as I would later do with his descendant Shaman in America) all the way to Persia. How people dressed, ate, how they lived, the relationship with the Jewish community. The remarkable writing style ensured that the length of the book merely made it more appealing. The longer I spent reading it, the more I enjoyed it. So much so that I was saddened when the book was drew to its end. Gordon’s ability to bring his characters and era to life has been a source of wonder and inspiration for me. It definitely ranks among my favorite books of all time

I generously give 3.5 stars despite the often farcical historical howlers this tale is flooded by because the storytelling is very good. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK and expect to be informed about the era allegedly covered.

I had read it many years ago, around age 10 I think and it was this book that generated my lifelong interest in the history of medecine. To be fair to the author I believe the parts covering Judaism and Arabic medicine of the period are broadly accurate but probably no more than that, despite NG's apparent research. Ibn Sina did exist but died in 1037.

I do note the date of publication and historical fiction at that time was apt to have less expected of it, to my mind.

So, a few of the errors I encountered:

Rob J Cole - the main character has a name that would never have been used in England at that time. Even Robert was rare, middle names did not exist for the masses and even today I have never met anyone using their name as a shortened first name plus middle initial in Britian - that is an Americanism. Finally, humble people also did not have surnames but were known by what they (or their father) did. Rob J's father was a carpenter so where did Cole come from? This absolutely basic set of errors sets the tone for the whole book!

Witch pricking and the whole set of beliefs about witches sounds straight out of the Salem witch trials! There is little record of witchcraft in historical record and most of them were wise women, not barber-surgeons, which was an actual profession, albeit ineffective. I think the fear that he and Barber would be thought witches was overstated and the incident from Barber's past was unlikely. The whole issue belonged more in the 16th century or later. An accusation of heresy was a more likely threat if their practice stepped outside the accepted domain.

The language Rob J studies so diligently is no Parsi but Farsi. A Parsi is actually from India and is a Zoroastrian.

Travelling barber-surgeons did exist in England, being first recorded at exactly the time of the novel. However Barber carried out the job more like a travelling quack in the US in a much later era.

The basic premise of the story was impossible - there is no way Rob J could have impersonated a Jew at that time and for that long and without really knowing how to be a Jew! Rob J thought like a modern man not a man of the 11th century. To have even conceived of doing what he did was beyond unlikely. NG also imputed an impossible freedom to women and Mary's father would never have considered a marriage between them as she was socially above Rob J.

Finally (but far from exhaustively!) he would not have been able to practice back in England/Scotland BECAUSE HE WAS A CHRISTIAN and the reason medicine back then was so basic in Christian countries was that vivisection was considered heresy (which was true for many more centuries). The merest hint that he had looked inside a body would have probably ended in him being killed as a heretic.

Here endeth my narrative!