The Physician - Noah Gordon

Title: The Physician
Author: Noah Gordon
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 720
Date read: July, 2010

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.

I think this is the 5th or 6th time I read this, and I enjoy it every bit as much as on my first read-through. It's a long book, but there's a reason for the length, as it allows the author (and the reader!) to dwell on the atmosphere of the different places Cole visits, on the things he learn and on the people he meet. Not that it's slow-moving - quite the contrary, I have a very hard time putting it down once I've started it.

I don't know much about England or Persia in the 11th century, so I have no idea how accurate the descriptions are, but they fascinate me nonetheless, and I love reading about the life of a physician of that era.

It's one of those rare books that draw me in completely, and where I have a very hard time letting it go even after I've turned the last page.

Dystopia - Dennis Jürgensen

Title: Dystopia
Author: Dennis Jürgensen
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
# pages: Audiobook ~18hrs, 636 pages
Date read: July 2010, May 2012, February 2025

"There are more worlds than there are stars.
They can be ruled by Light or Darkness.
Their inhabitans can be civilized thinkers or primitive killers.
Two kingdoms can lie on opposide sides of Eternity, and still have borders that cross each other, without the worlds ever meeting.
But if fate so decides, the barriers of time and space disappear.
And the borders fade together and open gates..."
Dalixam's Book

Dystopia is one of those amazing fantasy books, that - though I remember I love them - I forget from time to time just HOW good they are. I love the universe that Dennis Jürgensen creates, and the detail he puts into the description of it.

Even though I more or less know the story by heart by now, I still lose myself completely in the universe of Dystopia, and the fates of the eudaimons and the two humans. It's the age-old fight between good and evil, but with some delightful twists that make it seem new and original.

Unfortunately it's never been translated into English. It's well worth learning Danish to read it though! ;)

Rumo - Walter Moers

Title: Rumo: And His Miraculous Adventures
Author: Walter Moers
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 688
Date read: July, 2010

Rumo is a little Wolperting - a domesticated creature somewhere between a deer and a dog - who will one day become the greatest hero in the history of Zamonia. Armed with Dandelion, his talking sword, he fights his way through the Overworld and the Netherworld. He meets Rala, a beautiful Wolperting female; Urs of the Snows, who thinks more of cooking than of fighting; Gornab the Ninety-Ninth, the demented king of Netherworld; Professor Ostafan Kolibri, who goes in search of the Non-Existent Teenies; Professor Abdullah Nightingale, inventor of the Chest-of-Drawers Oracle; and, worst luck, the deadly Metal Maiden.

Walter Moers is a fairly new discovery, but so far I've loved everything I've read by him. This was no exception, although it started out a lot more slowly than the other books, so took me longer to get thoroughly hooked. However, by the time Rumo made it to Wolperting, there was no looking back.

I love Walter Moers' quirky humour, and the way he lets the book medium help him tell a story and set an atmosphere. Rumo was a lot darker than the two other books, and it seemed like Walter Moers tried to combine more plotlines and tangents than he perhaps should have. The reasons for some of the digressions sometimes didn't become obvious until several hundreds of pages later.

A terrific book, and I came to care a lot for the characters and the universe both. Fortunately I still have one Zamonian book left to read.

84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff

Title: 84 Charing Cross Road
Author: Helene Hanff
Genre: Memoir, non-fiction
Rating: 5/5
# pages: 230
Date read: July, 2010

It all began with a letter inquiring about second-hand books, written by Helene Hanff in New York, and posted to a bookshop at 84, Charing Cross Road in London. As Helene's sarcastic and witty letters are responded to by the stodgy and proper Frank Doel of 84, Charing Cross Road, a relationship blossoms into a warm, charming, feisty friendship.

This edition contains both 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, and I'm glad, because I don't think either would have been complete without the other.

I had this book recommended to me because I loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I can definitely see how the later was probably inspired by this one, but apart from a similar start, the two books are very different in both genre and atmosphere.

The book is labelled "an unmitigated delight from cover to cover" by the Daily Telegraph, and I would have to agree, although for me the real charm came in the diary that makes up The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street rather than in the letters that make up 84 Charing Cross Road (the last four letters did bring tears to my eyes though). It was such a delight to follow Helene Hanff's pure joy in finally getting to visit London - especially since I knew many of the sites she visited.

It did surprise me how many fans she made through 84CCR though. Certainly, it is good, but I think it would be a book I'd soon forget, if it wasn't for the follow-up. I was very surprised by how short it was too! Not even 100 pages.

It's well worth reading though. Very charming and very enjoyable. I finished it in a day.