This book and the first book in the series, The Physician, are two of the most well-researched and immersive historical fiction books I’ve read. They are similar to The Pillars of the Earth in that they both have those qualities. I highly recommend these two books to anyone who likes thorough historical fiction, especially medical history. The books aren’t boring, btw.

Un libro que sigue a la dinastía médica de la familia Cole trasladándonos esta vez al Estados Unidos del s. XIX, aportando como telón el maltrato a los nativos indios americanos en la 1ª mitad y la Guerra de Secesión en la 2ª.
Una vez más, el estilo del autor te mete de lleno en la novela, haciéndote querer continuar constantemente para ver qué es lo que pasa, mezclando anécdotas de la vida cotidiana con acontecimientos más relevantes y a "gran escala" que no sólo repercuten en la vida de los personajes.
Tanto Rob como Chamán son excelentes protagonistas, cada uno aportando su estilo particular de ver la vida y su personalidad, pero con unos valores compartidos, que te hacen admirar su integridad y capacidad de esfuerzo.
Por último, y esto ya es más personal, me ha gustado mucho cómo trata el tema médico, ver cómo eran las cosas en aquella época y las diferencias con la medicina actual, que obviamente son abismales.

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.

Mi-a plăcut foarte mult acest volum.
Am fost foarte curioasa de istoria Americii.
Știu ca aceasta carte este o poveste; dar se bazează pe o istorie adevarata.
Nu ma așteptam la evenimentele care au urmat; unele pasaje au fost probabil descrieri lungi istorice, altele au fost foarte interesante.
Deabia aștept sa citesc și volumul 3.

it is an amazingly written book and i really did like it but it just doesn't live up to the first one

I really enjoyed this book. The story unfolded slowly, but the characters were totally compelling. The book was well researched historically and I felt I learnt a lot about the period, always an added bonus. I think I will definitely be interested to tackle the other two books in the trilogy at some point.

Ya me había leído El médico, un libro muy fácil de leer, pero que consiguió entretenerme mucho. Y con este me ha pasado lo mismo. Hay personas que solo darían estrellas si es literatura compleja o de estilo elaboradìsimo. Si un libro de entretenimiento entretiene, ?qué hay de malo?

This is the second in the Cole Family Trilogy, the story of a family of physicians. This book covers the Rob Coles, father and son who are now in the United States and most of the story takes place before and during the American Civil War. The father has emigrated from Scotland and makes his way via Boston to Iowa to set up his medical practice, in part due to his fascination with the Native American culture. He has made a personal pledge of non-violence due to an early experience with political agitation gone sour that led to his flight from Europe. Both father and son have “the gift” which is a family talent for feeling physical vitality in a spiritual way when treating a person who is gravely ill. The son gets tagged with the name “Shaman” because of his intense interest in healing and his closeness to the Native American medicine woman who resides on their land and works with his father. The son develops profound hearing loss when he contracts measles as a small boy. He is able to learn to read lips and dreams of also pursuing medical training; however, he is discouraged at every turn. The brutal rape and murder of the medicine woman overshadows that entire family. Shaman’s medical training, the civil war and resolution of the unsolved crime all keep the reader deeply involved in the book. A long term love also plays a part.
Great book for a book club or anyone interested in medicine and history.

Desde un principio le tomé un especial cariño al libro El Médico, primera entrega de la trilogía de Noah Gordon. Por ello, compré apresurada esta segunda parte que, a pesar un par de siglos después, mantiene una interesante armonía con el estilo del libro anterior.

En un principio no me estaba gustando demasiado el libro. Me resultó largo de leer no sólo por la extensión de la obra, sino también por lo densa. La muerte de Makwa es explicada muy pronto en el libro, por lo que me quedé ante la dificultad de asimilar que tenía dos tercios de libro por delante.
El afán del autor por ser explícito, tanto en sus descripciones médicas como sexuales, cortaban el hilo de la narrativa, y en varias ocasiones forzaban la lectura.

Por otro lado, los personajes conquistan, la descripción es detallada y minuciosa pero ayuda a imaginar por completo el universo de Chamán y su familia.

Éste es un libro que tras terminar la ultima página me dejó con unas terribles ganas de seguir leyendo.

Oooo! This, the second book in Gordon's Cole Trilogy is even better than the first, "The Physician." There is an 800-year time lapse between the two books; so you don't need to read the first book in order to appreciate "Shaman." Maybe I enjoyed "Shaman" so much because it covers a period of U.S. history that I'm familiar with. Shaman is the son of Rob J. Cole, who immigrated from Scotland. When he dies we learn of his life through diaries which Shaman finds. There is much interesting data about early medicine and frontier life. Rob befriends some Sauk Indians and works along side their Shaman, Makwa- Ikwa, a woman. When Rob's son is born, he spends much time with Makwa- Ikwa, and earns the name "Little Shaman." Shaman becomes deaf due to a childhood disease, but he perseveres and achieves his dream of following his father's profession. The latter part of the book covers Shaman's life. The book is very informative not only in the area of medical history, but also details of the Civil War and what a terrible experience it was for the men involved. I've read some reviews that say the third book of the trilogy isn't very good. But I will give it a try. Gordon has an easy style of writing and develops characters that the readers take to heart.

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.

This 2nd book in the Cole Family trilogy, follows the descendants of the original RJ Cole 850 years later(they all have the initials RJ). Many of the sons have been physicians with the "gift" of prognosis by holding hands. The RJ Cole in this novel leaves Scotland because of political problems to seek a new life in the US & ends up in Boston where he practices for little or no salary in the slums. This doesn't satisfy him & he moves out West to Illinois where he sets up in a small community Holden's Crossing, where he will settle. There he will befriend a Jewish family-the Geigers, with whom he becomes very close.He becomes involved with a patient Sarah who believes she is dying of cancer, but actually has kidney stones which he will treat successfully, rehabilitating her, falling in love & marrying her. She has a son by a previous union,but gives birth to a new son who will lose his hearing from scarlet fever at age 5. He will overcome this disability with great determination, and against his father's advice will also become a physician with the "gift". RJ the elder becomes acquainted with a Sauk Indian woman shaman who is gifted in herbal lore & assists RJ in his practice-she will name the son "Little Shaman". The book deals with the shabby treatment of the Indians as they are pushed out of their traditional grounds & locked up in reservations. It also deals with the horrible death toll of the Civil War & how it divides families & states. With the abolition of slavery, the murder of Lincoln,& the victory of the North, the Union is preserved, but RJ goes on to die, and Shaman succeeds him in his practice & marries Rachel the Geiger's daughter with whom he was infatuated since childhood, who was previously unhappily married but is widowed, against the wishes of her parents who want a Jewish husband & family, but who will finally accept him.