Peter Nicholls, “The Science in Science Fiction”, 1982 was the topic of an earlier blog post.
Here I present: Borys Surawicz & Beverly Jacobson, “Doctors in Fiction”, 2009.
INTRODUCTION.
The book is about medical doctors as fictional characters in literature. The “table of contents” of the book is shown BELOW.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: EARLY DOCS.
Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar in Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin.
Dr. Stephen Maturin in The Aubrey-Maturin Chronicles by Patrick O’Brian.
Dr. Tertius Lydgate in Middlemarch by George Eliot.
PART TWO: IDEALISTIC DOCTORS.
Dr. Martin Arrowsmith in Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.
Dr. Andrew Manson in The Citadel by A.J. Cronin.
Dr. Lucas Marsh in Not as a Stranger by Morton Thompson.
Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Doctors on the Island of Capri.
Dr. Axel Munthe in The Story of San Michele by Axel Munthe.
Dr. Elisabeth Moor in An Impossible Woman: The Memoirs of Dottoressa Moor by Elisabeth Moor with an introduction by Graham Greene.
Dr. Bernard Rieux in The Plague by Albert Camus.
PART THREE: DESTROYED CAREERS.
Dr. Antoine Thibault in Les Thibault by Roger Martin du Gard.
Dr. Ravic in Arch of Triumph by Erich Maria Remarque.
Dr. Yuri Zhivago in Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak.
PART FOUR: NOVEL PSYCHIATRISTS.
Dr. Dick Diver in Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Dr. Howard Berger in Ordinary People by Judith Guest.
Dr. Johanna Von Haller in The Manticore by Robertson Davies.
Dr. Jonathan Hullah in The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies.
PART FIVE: DISPIRITED DOCTORS.
Ward No. 6 and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov.
Physicians in the world of Graham Greene: A Burnt-Out Case, The Human Factor, The Honorary Consul.
PART SIX: ABORTION.
Drs. Wilbur Larch and Homer Wells (alias Dr. Fuzzy Stone) in The Cider House Rules by John Irving.
Dr. Henry Wilbourne in The Wild Palms by William Faulkner.
PART SEVEN: SATIRIZED DOCTORS.
Satire from the 17th to the 20th century The Flying Doctor by Molière: The Doctor in Spite of Himself by Molière Pygmalion and Three Other Plays by George Bernard Shaw: The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek.
PART EIGHT: DOCTORS IN DRAMAS.
Doctors in the plays Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya and The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov.
Dr. Thomas Stockman in An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen.
PART NINE: CONTEMPORARY DOCTORS.
Dr. Benjamin Rubin in Open Heart by A.B. Yehoshua.
Dr. Henry Perowne in Saturday by Ian McEwan.
Here I presented: Borys Surawicz & Beverly Jacobson, “Doctors in Fiction”, 2009.
COMMENTS.
Medical practitioners are key actors in many well-known works of fiction and literature, presenting a vital insight into the social, medical, scientific and ethical concerns of their authors and readers. However, medical professionals are often left little time to explore such cultural perceptions of their profession, and by extension themselves, despite the extent to which the views of their patients and society have been – and still are – shaped by them. Doctors in Fiction explores and analyzes representations of medical practitioners in fiction, encompassing classic and contemporary literature, popular fiction, and authors from many nations and traditions. These include among others: Albert Camus A* Anton Checkhov A* Robertson Davies A* Graham Greene A* George Eliot A* Ian McEwan A* F. Scott Fitzgerald A* Jaroroslav Hasek A* Henrik Ibsen A* John Irving A* Patrick O’Brien A* Boris Pasternak A* Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn This book will be of interest to those with an interest in the medical humanities, and to students of cultural history and literature. It will also be of particular interest to medical practitioners of all kinds who enjoy literature and wish to understand and reflect upon wider perceptions of their profession.
