The Physician | Noah Gordon

The Physician | Noah Gordon | MUST READ

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The Physician

	The Physician Noah Gordon Little, Brown Book Group, 2001 - 720 pages average customer review:based on 69 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In the 11th century, Rob Cole left poor, disease-ridden London to make his way across the land, hustling, juggling, peddling cures to the sick?and discovering the mystical ways of healing. It was on his travels that he found his own very real gift for healing?a gift that urged him on to become a doctor. So all consuming was his dream, that he made the perilous, unheard-of journey to Persia, to its Arab universities where he would undertake a transformation that would shape his destiny forever.

Amazing book!

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.

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MUST READ

This is what reading is ALL ABOUT. This was absolutely INCREDIBLE and so is The SHAMAN.

Engrossing exciting tale of adventure

This was one of those novels that sucked me in from the very first page. Rob J. Cole ends up an orphan and after all his younger brothers and sisters are torn away from him and sent to seperate families, Rob is adopted by a travelling barber surgeon. The surgeon takes him under his wing and teaches him his craft.

Rob has bigger aspirations and finds himself wanting to know and learn more about the art of healing. He wants to be a true physician rather than a second rate barber surgeon. He learns of a medical school in the Middle East that is the best in the known world. The problem is Rob is a Christian and the school, run by Muslims, does not allow Christian's. Further complicating matters, the Pope has also forbidden Christian's from attending. So Rob does what he must and disguises himself as a Jew.

This novel was so action packed and filled with adventure. Gordon showed himself to me to be a master story teller. This is a long book but I devoured every page of it! So why did I give it four stars instead of five? First, there is a bear baiting scene where a pit bull is described as having locking jaw's, even after being killed by the bear the dog's jaws are still locked around it's neck! If only the author would've done some research. It is a myth that pit bull's jaw's lock. They are not even any stronger than any other dog with a similar head size! This is my favorite breed of dog and they are currently so maligned that I cannot allow such a mistruth to go unchallenged.

Second, the sex scenes were appalling. Maybe it's because they were written by a man but they left me saying, "Eeew"! Please, just a little more finese, Mr. Gordon! Third, I'm no historian but I had some doubts as to the authenticity of some of the story. For example, "Rob J." seems like an odd choice of name for a man living in England in the 900's.

Those flaws aside, it really is a great story and I highly recommend it. It's exciting and takes you on a grand adventure from England all the way to the Middle East. I can't wait to read the sequal, Shaman!

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Across the Known World in Search of Knowledge.

My good friend Mario strongly recommended me this book, even if he knew a physician's life wasn't my cup of tea.
I'm grateful he convinced me to read this book; it is a very good one to be sure!

First I'll point out the less successful aspect of the opus: the historical period reconstruction doesn't sound fully accurate. I'm not sure why this happens, may be due to very modern view point of the main character, to some characters name and/or some doubtful historical issues.

That said, nevertheless, "The Physician" is a valuable and gripping read and once you start with it you can't stop!
The story, situated around year 1050, follows Robert J. Cole's life from boyhood until he is around 40 years old.
Rob & his brothers are orphaned while they were very young. Carpenter's Guild helps them finding new homes. Rob is left in charge of Barber, a barber-surgeon, as his apprentice and joins his new master in his wandering life.
In a way that makes me remember Gelsomina in Fellini's movie "La Strada", Rob learn how to perform as entertainer, medicine seller & surgeon.
He also discovers he possess a strange Gift, he is capable to sense when a person, apparently ill or not, is nearing death.
Some experiences in this nomadic life, awake Rob's desire to become a physician in order to help suffering people better.
He learns that in Ispahan (Persia) exists a great teaching place with Avicenna as its most conspicuous doctor.
There is only on big obstacle: Persians are Muslims and confronting Byzantine Christians, son no Christian will be admitted. What to do? Rob decides to go there and pass as a Jew, as Jews are tolerated.
After Barber's death he starts a two year journey traversing all Europe and learning how to pass as a Jew. He will soon discover that is not so easy to be a Jew.

Here starts the most fascinating part of the story with a gripping cavalcade thru an exotic world!

A recommended read for those interested in historical subject and more specifically in medieval life and medicine.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

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Entertaining Historical Epic Adventure and Romance

The Physician is an entertaining though very long tome. It is 720 pages of very small print. Those who easily get eye strain should be forewarned. Buy a magnifiying book mark. This is a good vacation read about an orphan, Rob Cole, who decides to beome a physician upon reaching adulthood. He chooses to study in Persia at an advanced medical school of the 11th century. He travels for two years and disguises himself as a Jew in order to attend the institution. There the physicians knew how to perform cataract operations in order to restore sight and how to properly set bones. At the time Christians were forbidden to attend non- Christian schools upon pain of death so he disguised himself as a Jew learning the prayers, dress and rituals from Jewish tradesmen traveling in his caravan. He meets with superstition and backward thinking even in his adopted homeland of Ispahan. Medical schools study anatomy from old Greek texts, because is was against the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions to desecrate a body by doing an autopsy or dissection. Rob secretely performs dissections to learn that the human body is not exactly like a pig's. Thus, he discovers the cause of the "side sickness" which was appendicitis. He never gives up his Christian faith and is a Jew in appearance only. I have read the critisizms of some reviewers who claim that the book is not historically accurate. It probably isn't. However, the clashes between religions and religion and science probably are. The book provided a view of the horrible superstitions and hatreds of the era. Some of those hatreds and fears persist. Non- Jews still fear and have suspicions about Jews which are not true. Middle Eastern cultures are particularly guilty of this today. Now as then a great deal of misinformation is spread. Those who love to read anything about the Jewish experience will probably love this book. I found enough suspense to make me want to continue to read, and it was easy entertainment. It is not a book that requires a great deal of thinking or analysis. However, it is not great literature, and there are better uses of literary time.

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