Book Review
Apr. 20th, 2005 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Physician
by Noah Gordon
This novel is the story of Rob, a medieval English peasant who travels to Persia to study medicine with Avicenna. It's very well done as far as pacing and characterization go. The story itself was absorbing enough that I was more than willing to excuse the few but blatant historical inaccuracies - I really doubt that 11th century English peasants had last names that weren't direct references to their occupations or villages of origin, for example. The best thing about this book is the exploration of subject matter not often addressed in historical novels set during the middle ages: medical knowledge and practice, the pre-Crusades middle east, Jewish culture and communities in both the west and the east.
by Noah Gordon
This novel is the story of Rob, a medieval English peasant who travels to Persia to study medicine with Avicenna. It's very well done as far as pacing and characterization go. The story itself was absorbing enough that I was more than willing to excuse the few but blatant historical inaccuracies - I really doubt that 11th century English peasants had last names that weren't direct references to their occupations or villages of origin, for example. The best thing about this book is the exploration of subject matter not often addressed in historical novels set during the middle ages: medical knowledge and practice, the pre-Crusades middle east, Jewish culture and communities in both the west and the east.
