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6th out of 18 books
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Doctor Olaf Van Schuler's Brain
by
Kirsten Menger-Anderson (Goodreads Author)
In 1664 Dr. Olaf van Schuler flees the Old World and arrives in New Amsterdam with his lunatic mother, two bags of medical implements, and a carefully guarded book of his own medicines. He is the first in what will become a long line of peculiar physicians. Plagued by madness and guided by an intense desire to cure human affliction, each generation of this unusual family i...more
Hardcover, 290 pages
Published
October 9th 2008
by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
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What a fascinating collection! Menger-Anderson takes readers through a vivid journey of medical history that begins in 1664 when Dr. Olaf van Schuler flees the Old World and arrives in New Amsterdam with his lunatic mother. The vignettes that follow continue through to the present day and introduce readers to subsequent generations of this eccentric family. As a student of psychology, I was familiar with many of the practices explored in this book, including phrenology, animal magnetism, electri...more
Doctor Olaf Van Shuler's Brain is a compelling collection of short stories which begins in 1664 with Doctor Olaf Van Shuler and continues into the present with chapters chronicling his many descendants. All these descendants become doctors. Treating an extremely diverse variety of illnesses. In this sense, the book acts not only as a strong work of fiction, but as an interesting, detailed and educational history of New York. All of New York's citizens are represented, from the rich right down...more
I very very much wanted to like it, a big fancy New York Times review and everything all whetting my appetite for crazy old-time brain experiments, all hearkening back to the Mutter Museum and you find yourself with one hand on your skull when you've finished reading the review, Find me a computer I must reserve this book at my local library branch AT ONCE!
It is a terrible letdown. The idea is pretty fantastic, so alluring, but the execution isn't there. The stories are kinda-sorta c...more
It is a terrible letdown. The idea is pretty fantastic, so alluring, but the execution isn't there. The stories are kinda-sorta c...more
Indigo Editing/Ink-Filled Page
marked it as to-read
Kirsten Menger-Anderson has an endearing smile and shy eyes. How could any reader not love this humble manufacturer of our chosen drug? Her story chronicles generations of doctors and each time period's medical breakthroughs--or so they seem at the time. Menger-Anderson's characters call out to be read just as their patients plead for their sanity. I didn't even get a complimentary copy of Doctor Olaf Van Schuler's Brain, which says a lot that I'm willing to buy it when I have so many free books...more
This book is a collection of short stories with the vague link of occurring in separate generations of one family. The author tries to show a history of quack medicine through the eyes of one family but really the link to the single family is vague at best and does nothing to make the stories better or make them more interesting. Each chapter is a separate story that has little or no relation to the prior story so they either stand alone or not. For the most part they do not.
The first ...more
The first ...more
Sometimes, I read novels. Other times I read short stories. This time, I read a short story-format novel.
Well, Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain is a collection of short stories, but it centers on two themes: the family of Dr. van Schuler and his descendants who inhabited New York from 1664 to 2006; and brains. All of the short stories are about a person in a generation, and every generation seemed to have a doctor in them. And almost all of the doctors dealt with brains.
The fi...more
Well, Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain is a collection of short stories, but it centers on two themes: the family of Dr. van Schuler and his descendants who inhabited New York from 1664 to 2006; and brains. All of the short stories are about a person in a generation, and every generation seemed to have a doctor in them. And almost all of the doctors dealt with brains.
The fi...more
When I picked this book up at the local bargain book fair, the inside flap looked interesting. A family of doctors doing brain experiments, spontaneous combustion, and something about animal magnetism. Sounded cool.
When I started reading, I was initially disappointed that there didn't seem to be a coherent link between chapters. Each dealt with a different generation (generally), but there was little overlap in actual story. I mean the second doctor didn't even know his father,...more
When I started reading, I was initially disappointed that there didn't seem to be a coherent link between chapters. Each dealt with a different generation (generally), but there was little overlap in actual story. I mean the second doctor didn't even know his father,...more
A thriller that spans five centuries, Doctor Olaf Van Schuler’s Brain is entertaining and thought provoking. Thirteen generations of eccentric New York City doctors navigate genius, madness and morality. This book is eerie, smart, unique, and very delicately crafted, telling many stories in every layer of time.
The Van Schulers and Steenwycks are a family of eccentric, genius, medical people, mostly doctors, some more on the fringe than others, some mad. Each has his unique specialty. T...more
The Van Schulers and Steenwycks are a family of eccentric, genius, medical people, mostly doctors, some more on the fringe than others, some mad. Each has his unique specialty. T...more
This beautifully written novel-in-stories follows the lives of twelve generations of New York City physicians who are trying to better the human condition, each in his or her own misguided way. I have to say Dr. Olaf van Schuler’s Brain is the most profoundly satisfying book I’ve read in a very long time. Kirsten Menger-Anderson has a real gift for choosing the perfect resonant detail, creating prose that is both evocative and elegantly spare. Racism, feminism, poverty, the pain of the immigr...more
"Doctor Olaf van Schuler, recently arrived in New Amsterdam with his lunatic mother, two bags of medical implements, and a carefully guarded book of his own medicines, moved into a one-room house near White Hall and soon found work at the hospital on Brugh Street. There, surrounded by misshapen bottles containing tinctures of saffron, wild strawberry, maple, and oil of amber, as well as more common tools of his trade -- amputation saws, scalpels, sharpened needles, and long, painstakingly p...more
Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain is certainly a unique collection of related short stories; however, I feel that the foundational concept/idea is greater than the actually stories themselves. The book begins in 1664 and is set in NYC focusing on the eccentricities of the descendants of Doctor Olaf van Schuler. Basically, each chapter/short story focuses on a descendant of the van Schuler family from 1664-2006. The psychological representations of characters as well as topics ranging from psycho...more
I found this book to be awful. You can tell this was the author's first book. It was boring and didn't seem to have a point. It is a series of vignettes wrote about one family. It's about their struggles throughout medicine and dealing with different mental health problems. The book is a little under 300 pages with ten generations. Each vignette is about 10-15 pages. The first couple stories are incomplete and hard to understand and care about the characters. The last couple however are good and...more
This fantastic debut by Kirsten Menger-Anderson is the best book I’ve read in the past few months. In addition to using language to potent effect, the author plays with an unusual format of linked short stories – each chapter delves into the life of one person from the Steenwyck family tree starting in the 1600s and progressing to the modern day. Each generation carries on the legacy of the original patriarch, Dr. Olaf van Schuler, by pursuing the medical profession. Odd lore from the history of...more
Fantastic read - a great look at both "quack" medicine over the centuries, the lengths some people go to to try and end suffering, and the all-too-human problems medicine can't fix.
I really enjoyed this quirky collection of short stories. They start with Olaf van Schuler, who moves to America with his mother, a motley collection of surgical implements, and a love of dissecting brains.
The stories that follow trace the family's history through several hundred years of near-medical science, mental instability and rising and falling fortunes.
You get a free history lesson too. Menger-Anderson covers a wide range of "quack" medical strategies, l...more
The stories that follow trace the family's history through several hundred years of near-medical science, mental instability and rising and falling fortunes.
You get a free history lesson too. Menger-Anderson covers a wide range of "quack" medical strategies, l...more
A cool look at medical zealots through time. And perhaps confirms that maybe being odd runs in the family.
http://zimlicious.blogspot.com/
Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain starts with his story and continues with the stories of the next generations. Schuler's mother is a mad woman, and he believes if he fixes the soul, which he believes is in the brain, he will solve her problems. He experiments mostly on animal brains, but he does get a hold of human brains as well whenever possible. Great story, right? WRONG.
I am very disappointed by this book. The promise was very exciting, a...more
Doctor Olaf van Schuler's Brain starts with his story and continues with the stories of the next generations. Schuler's mother is a mad woman, and he believes if he fixes the soul, which he believes is in the brain, he will solve her problems. He experiments mostly on animal brains, but he does get a hold of human brains as well whenever possible. Great story, right? WRONG.
I am very disappointed by this book. The promise was very exciting, a...more
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 "medical 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...more
An interesting book that spans 12 generations beginning with Dr. van Schuler leading to the current generation born in 2001. A chapter is devoted to each generation. This did not leave enough time to satisfy my desire to know what happened to each person and their circumstances within the family tree. An interesting read but one that left me feeling like I was missing something between the pages.
I struggled with this book but ended up really enjoying it. I think my main issue is short story collections which I don’t normally appreciate. In this book just when I was beginning to understand and relish the characters they would disappear. At the beginning of each story I would often need to consult the family tree at the front of the book to reorientate. A couple of the stories were so wonderful that I wish they had been continued into a complete novel. The best thing about the novel ...more
This collection of extremely short stories follows generations of a family of doctors who each dabble in their era's latest "science" of mind, from phrenology to mesmerism to psychosurgery. A quick read, but ultimately shallow, gimmicky, and not recommended.
This is a multi-generational story about a family of brain doctors (and quacks) presented as a series of vignettes. It was interesting but ultimately unsatisfying - as soon as you got hooked into a character, it was on to the next generation.
Brilliant stories about a family of doctors, from 1610 - present time.
The ideas, faults and misunderstandings of medicine of the various periods are depicted in the short stories, which are quirky and well written.
It makes you think about the marvels of science, and the vast grounds that have been covered, to experience the doubts and ideas of people, back in the days where the doctors had a vague knowledge of the human body, and mainly practised in an atmosphere of useless superstiti...more
The ideas, faults and misunderstandings of medicine of the various periods are depicted in the short stories, which are quirky and well written.
It makes you think about the marvels of science, and the vast grounds that have been covered, to experience the doubts and ideas of people, back in the days where the doctors had a vague knowledge of the human body, and mainly practised in an atmosphere of useless superstiti...more
This book felt like one missed opportunity after another. Just when you got interested in a character, a story ended and moved on to the next character. No satisfaction at the end either. I was so frustrated, after I read this!
I read this in an afternoon. Stories that follow doctors through the centuries. I truly appreciate anyone that can incorporate FISH into a book. Oh, and the size was perfect.
There's not enough continuity between stories to appreciate this book as a whole, but neither is there enough diversity for each one to stand on its own. I was underwhelmed, although there are certainly bright spots. The last story, in particular, blew me away.
for ill:
this books good. not amazing. some of the stories are more boring than others, but that is to be expected of a short story collection. it's an easy read, so i'd say go ahead and read it. i don't think i will remember it much, though.
this books good. not amazing. some of the stories are more boring than others, but that is to be expected of a short story collection. it's an easy read, so i'd say go ahead and read it. i don't think i will remember it much, though.
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I'm not one for short stories, but I bought the connection of a family of doctors from the Mayflower to present day was fascinating... along with each search for humanity's soul within the context of what makes one tick.
It was a fun read and well written. It seems I might be a sucker for a chaining style collection of short stories.
I really liked this freakly little story. Very different and odd.
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In 1664 Dr. Olaf van Schuler flees the Old World and arrives in New Amsterdam with his lunatic mother, two bags of medical implements, and a carefully guarded book of his own medicines. He is the first in what will become a long line of peculiar physicians. Plagued by madness and guided by an intense desire to cure human affliction, each generation of this unusual family is driven by the science o...more
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