THE PHYSICIAN, by Noah Gordon

Literature, Historical Fiction -- 3 1/2 stars


It is the Middle Ages and Arab madrassas are the only place to train to become a physician.  An English orphan boy is taken in by a traveling barber/surgeon; but he wants more.  Christians are barred from Arab schools, so he disguises himself as a Jew, travels to Persia, and gains admittance.  Really, this book should have been a real page turner--the subterfuge, the view of period medicine, the Persian court, the Jewish culture--and the story really was good.  But to be really, really good, you need more than a history lesson.  I know this is the first book of a best selling trilogy, but somehow the characters all seemed cut from cardboard.  They did interesting things, found themselves in interesting situations; but something was missing.  Maybe it paled because I was hoping for a book to rival Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth.  I was entertained, but not transported.