Shaman

Before I actually read "Shaman" I was a little confused. How could a book have a sequel that was at all successful or keeping in the spirit of the book when the sequel is set eight hundred years after the first book. Reading it however I came to appreciate that I could not expect the book to be anything like "The Physician" really. On top of all the characters being different, the world had changed. New continents had been discovered in the interim and enormous life changing advances had been made in the field of medicine (which the much later generations of Cole's still practiced) and all of this changes the canvas the story was to be written on in many ways. "Shaman" is really the story of two Rob. J. Cole's, father and son. The senior came to America fleeing political unrest and became a small town doctor in a newly settled Indiana town and formed close relationships with the Indian people who were displaced. The junior was his son, called Shaman by the Indians and who became deaf at the age of five but didn't let it stop him in his quest to be a doctor. Because of the timeframe of the novel (the time before and just after the civil war) there is a great deal of the politics of the time which is one of the best aspects of the book. I learned more about the civil war and what were the real reasons behind it and the horror of it from this book than any history class I've ever taken. I was especially surprised to learn that many American Jews sided with the south. I had always thought that as a group that is traditionally persecuted that Jews would find a bond with and side with other disenfranchised groups but it seems that like a kid being picked on by a playground bully, there is more relief then a sense of camaraderie when the bully finds a new target. Also the civil war was so little about slavery and so much about economics and not having a weak union. The medical advances and theories of that time were also fascinating because they are inching closer to what we now enjoy as standard practice and are miles away from what the original Rob J. went so far and risked so much to learn, but are still primitive compared to today's standards. Cleanliness is just being considered to have an effect on health, vaccines are just cropping up and hospitals are often more dirty and contributing to disease than anything else. Keeping with one of the themes of "The Physician" "Shaman" does have a faith aspect. Rob J. is a pacifist and swore never to hurt another human being and becomes deeply involved in the religion of the Indians and Shaman, with his love for a Jewish neighbor brings on a controversy of a mixed race marriage. I loved this book just as much as the first and more in different ways. Noah Gordon is truly a talented author who combines history, science and faith to come out with a novel that is an astounding read. I really wish there were more in the series. (hint to the author-there were eight hundred years between these books Go back and fill some of that in!) Five stars.

This book is the Sequel to The Physician. As I'm sure you know by now, The Physician was set in 11th Century England and Shaman is set in 1840s through 1860s frontier America, so this is not a sequel in the traditional sense. Indeed, aside from a few anecdontes about a Cole dynasty of physicians in Scotland and the inheritence of the "gift" of sensing when patients are about to die, The Shaman is a free standing novel. The Shaman is about Dr. Rob J. Cole, who is forced to immigrate to America after becoming involved in political protests in his native Scotland that resulted in the hanging death of a friend. He first arrives in Boston and is taken under the wing of Oliver Wendell Holmes, a famous Boston doctor who is the father of the even more famous Supreme Court Justice. While in Boston, Rob J. lives in a boarding house and lives a hand to mouth existence as a doctor to the poor. Ultimately, he decides that Boston is not for him and decides to move west. He travels and works his way to Illinois, where he settles in the small town of Holden's Crossing, in the Quad Cities area. While there, the reader meets members of the local Indian tribe - particularly a shaman named Makwa-Ikwa, whom Rob J. befriends and with whom he develops a close working relationship. We also see the developments of the xenophobic Know Nothing Party and the underground railroad in Illinois, and the civil war through Rob J.'s eyes, as the bulk of the novel is narrated through Rob J.'s journal. The second central character in the novel is Rob J.'s only natural son, also named Rob J., but who is called "Shaman." Shaman became deaf due to a boyhood illness and adeptly learns to navigate his world as a deaf child and later as a deaf physician. This novel is a fascinating look at the development of America. The reality of the civil war and the racial tensions that infected American politics in the era leading up to the war are told in detail, without white-washing. Indeed, the sections on the civil war are at times long and dull, but at other times are shocking in their detail. Gordon is a gifted writer with a talent for creating a complex understanding of a period in history. While Shaman was less interesting at times than The Physician, the characters were no less developed and the ability to create a 'historical mood' no less compelling. I rate this novel 4.5 stars.

This book is the story of a doctor who emigrated from Scotland to America in 1839. After practicing for a short time among Boston’s poorest, he decides to leave for frontier territory (Southern Illinois) to start a practice. With that backdrop, the excellent writing allows the reader experience the frontier life of that time. And given the book’s time period, the story also touches on both the Civil War and on the Indians who were pushed further and further from their original lands. I found The Shaman to be an engrossing story that was also historically accurate. Note: Although touted as the second book of the Cole trilogy, The Shaman mostly takes place in southern Illinois from about 1840 to 1865. Since the first book (The Physician) takes place in Europe and Persia starting around 1000 AD, it is not at all necessary to have read The Physician before reading The Shaman (though The Physician is also an excellent book, and so also well worth reading).

Good book on doctors during the Civil War we’ll research and well written!!!!

第1作，Physicianに続くCole 三部作の２作目．舞台は南北戦争前後のアメリカ，イリノイ州シカゴ近郊の田舎町，前作のRob J. Coleの末裔，ShamanことRob Coleとその息子の物語． Coleは人徳ある開業医．息子のColeは幼少期の熱病で聴力を失うが，それでも医師をめざす．背景には，西部開拓に伴う先住民インディアンへの迫害，当時の白人至上主義的，移民排斥的な政治風土，悲惨な南北戦争の実態が描かれる．医学史的には，消毒法，麻酔法の発見時期にあたり，当時の医療，医学教育のようすを知ることができて興味深い．前作ほどの迫力はないが，ぐいぐい読ませる良質の歴史エンタテインメントである． 三作目は20世紀，差別とたたかう女医の話らしいが，一貫して書評が低調なので見送りとした．

This book was brilliant and as soon as I finished it I was desperate for the third book, the story of the Cole Clan kept me glued to my Kindle from start to finish.

Ce deuxième volume de la saga, toujours aussi bien documenté, présente une histoire touchante, bien racontée, et qu'on n'arrive pas à quitter. Suivre ainsi une dynastie de médecins à travers les siècles, c'est vraiment original. Le plaisir de la surprise et des découvertes est au rendez-vous! A recommander sans hésiter.

Una gran lectura y al ser en formato de bolsillo es muy cómodo para leer en cualquier sitio.

This book was every bit as good as The Physician. Noah Gordon is a master storyteller who makes his characters come to life and the story so interesting that you feel you are there. I'm looking forward to the third book in the series with great anticipation.