Book Review: The Physician by Noah Cole

The Physician (Cole Family Trilogy, #1) by Noah Gordon
Narrator: Mark Meadows
Published by Time Warner on August 7, 1986
Genres: Historical Fiction
Pages: 714
Length: 27 hr and 28 min
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads

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.

This was one of the books that’s been on my TBR the longest. I was only 7 years old when it came out, but I remember a Spanish translation that my father had at home. I probably didn’t read it due to a rebel streak and because when I was a teenager, I was mostly into sci-fi and fantasy (nowadays, my favorite genre is still sci-fi, but I’m more picky regarding fantasy, and I expanded my horizons to other genres).

I listened to the audio version, and while I found the narration on the monotone side, it was good enough to follow the story and identify the most important characters.

The physician is a coming of age story, where we witness Robert J. Cole’s journey from his desperate beginning to adulthood, traveling all over England in his youth, and to Persia later in life, where he’ll learn many secrets from Avicena (although Avicena’s chronology in the book is not entirely correct).

Despite its extended length, I can’t say the pace of the book is slow. It covers a great number of years, with multiple locations and experiences. I confess to being bored at some points in the story, during parts where not much is happening. This is a slow burn that pays off in the end.

I found many of the general historical facts very interesting, and two of the things that I enjoyed the most were seeing friendships that transcended religions and cultures, and the hunger for knowledge Rob displays from beginning to end, not letting anything stop him from reaching his goals. There’s a lot of courage in his journey, but also selfishness and stubbornness; but how can a person reach those goals that no one else has achieved without being different and leaving other things aside? We also learned the value of friendship, transcending religions and cultures.

As a book set in the Middle Ages and written by a man, this story is mainly masculine. We get a tiny glimpse into Mary’s view of things, how Rob is not the only one sacrificing things, but he’s the one getting the most out of it.

A must-read and a modern classic, The Physician is a book that I would recommend to almost anyone who won’t be put off by its length.