By Martin Winckler. Translated by Linda Asher. 432 pp. New York, Seven Stories Press, 2000. (Originally published in French, 1998.) $27.95. ISBN 1-58322-056-9.
The experience of illness and the intimate world shared by doctorsand their patients have inspired a large body of literatureby authors from widely varied backgrounds. In "A Doctor's Visit,"Anton Chekhov, one of history's more notable physician authors,tells the story of a physician whose ability to listen soothesa young woman who suffers from anxiety and isolation. Leo Tolstoydepicts the psychological agony of a terminally ill man in "TheDeath of Ivan Ilyich." These themes have also been exploredin 20th-century fiction by such authors as John Berger, WilliamCarlos Williams, Richard Selzer, and Susan Mates. . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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