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71st out of 90 books
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The Doctor is Sick
Dr. Edwin Spindrift has been sent home from Burma with a brain tumor. Closer to words than to people, his sense of reality is further altered by his condition. When he escapes from the hospital the night before his surgery, things and people he hardly knew existed outside of his dictionaries swoop down on him as he careens through adventures in nighttime London.
Paperback, 260 pages
Published
August 17th 1997
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1960)
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I had a tough time getting into this book although I could appreciate Burgess's dry sense of humour and unique use of words. It wasn't until about page 50 (of a 240 page book) that I really began to get into the rhythm of it and from them on I devoured it as quickly as I could. The plot of the story is really pretty simple. Dr Edwin Spindrift is a linguistics professor at a university in Burma and is thoroughly wrapped up in his work. His wife has multiple affairs (due to an agreement met betwee...more
In many ways "The Doctor is Sick" is very much like "A Clockwork Orange," Burgess' mega-hit novel. The structure of the main character going through a difficult journey is the same -and confronting surreal or out-of-wack situations via the journey is part of the fun in both Burgess books. Also I think the main draw to Burgress' work is his language play. Here is an author who loves the accent of the local population - and being set in London, its highly an adventure to ac...more
It made me very uncomfortable. The narrator was delightfully, crazily unreliable, and it was so darkly funny it was hardly funny, sometimes. I don't know. I wanted to like it more than I did, but I'm a precious flower and I hate the idea of having nowhere to sleep at night, so when characters choose such a lifestyle, I find it difficult to enjoy the story. Which is stupid, I know.
I never expected to like any Burgess, though, so at least that's over. If I didn't need so much to identify...more
I never expected to like any Burgess, though, so at least that's over. If I didn't need so much to identify...more
I didn't get it. I have no idea what happened or why. Is the protagonist crazy? Is it the world that's crazy? Was it all a dream? Someday in the not too distant future, I will pick this book up off my shelf and realize I have absolutely no memory of it whatsoever.
Another quirky, absurd, existentialist novel. When the story is coherent, it is an enjoyable read, aided by Burgess' knack for dry wit. Too often, however, I found the story muddled by comedic surrealism that neither engaged the reader nor offered any profound insight into the mind of the main character. I came very close to giving this three stars based on the parts I did enjoy (and based on the fact that other books to which I have given two stars were not as enjoyable as this one), but ove...more
I ended up enjoying this book though it was hard to get into. In a way this is a surreal story, dealing with themes similar to Kafka's Metamorphosis. The subject has taken ill, feels objectified and dehumanized by the medical bureaucracy, and ultimately abandoned by his wife. I always enjoy Burgess's word play and knowledge of etymology - so it helps to have a geeky appreciation of language when approaching his novels.
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Burgess is a master of language and wit, and the dialogue in this book is wonderful. The story is great and filled with humor as the hero delves deeper and deeper into a society of which he knows nothing and fits into not at all.
This is a very funny book. You will enjoy it in a bit different way if you know that A. Burgess was diagnosed with a brain tumor that time, and went through all the most unpleasant brain checks himself.
I read this in the heels of A Clockwork Orange - one of my favorite books. I was disappointed. Perhaps under a different situation I would have enjoyed it more.
I can hardly wait until I get to fifty books on my shelf and then I'm going to upload the artwork to this edition. It will be a real treat, I promise!
This being the fourth book I've read from Burgess I have to say I'm more than impressed. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
this is one of the coolest novels i have ever read.
burgess uses language in an entirely unique way.
read it!!!!
burgess uses language in an entirely unique way.
read it!!!!
Worth reading only because Burgess is such a gifted writer. Otherwise, not his best story.
Read this in the hospital, which is a very fitting place.
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Anthony Burgess was a British novelist, critic and composer. He was also a librettist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, travel writer, broadcaster, translator, linguist and educationalist. Born in Manchester, he lived for long periods in Southeast Asia, the USA and Mediterranean Europe as well as in England. His fiction includes the Malayan trilogy (The Long Day Wanes) on the dying days o...more
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