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Doctor Olaf Van Schuler's Brain (2008)

by Kirsten Menger-Anderson(Favorite Author)

3.51 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1565125614 (ISBN13: 9781565125612)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Algonquin Books

review 1: this is essentially a survey through medical history. the quality of the writing deserves more stars but the way the book is set up (each short chapter is a different generation of the family) there's no plot. The author is talented enough that at the end of every 7 or 8 pages (approximate length of each chapter) i'm engrossed in the story of that generation and eagerly turn to the next chapter for the continuation but I'm jerked 20 years into the future instead. in the end i didn't finish it.
review 2: Very original book: short stories that are connected in that they follow one family through 12 generations of doctors in NYC. The first story begins in 1664 and the last is present day. Each story involves a doctor's interest or obsession with the current "medic... moreal miracle" of the day, and each also involves a character (oftentimes the doctor) who ranges from full-blown lunatic to slightly odd. All of them were very well written and I loved all the links, the family history, and tracing NYC from small town to big city. Highly recommended. less

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