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Жена лекаря Сэйсю Ханаоки

Sawako Ariyoshi

3.79 · Rating details · 619 ratings · 62 reviews

Роман известной японской писательницы Савако Ариёси (1931 - 1984) основан на реальных событиях: в 1805 году Сэйсю Ханаока (1760- 1835) впервые в мире провел операцию под общим наркозом. Открытию обезболивающего снадобья предшествовали десятилетия научных изысканий, в экспериментах участвовали мать и жена лекаря.

У Каэ и Онуги много общего: обе родились в знатных самурайских ...more

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Hardcover, 240 pages

Published 2005 by Центрполиграф (first published 1966)

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Feb 13, 2018 Carol rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: translated, japan, classics, books-i-own, historical-fiction, not-united-states, abandoned, book-club-selection, feminism, 18th-century

Ariyoshi is not for me. She writes short novels and -- still -- I am unable to push past the halfway mark. There's no momentum, and the language is serviceable at best. Hence, reading this novel makes me feel as though I am rafting down a river where the water is low and there's no current. I'm deciding to get out now, walk to shore, drag my raft to the car and head elsewhere. Figuratively speaking. ...more

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Sep 04, 2014 Aubrey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: person-of-reality, reality-check, person-of-everything, person-of-translated, reality-translated, person-of-reality-translated, antidote-translated, shorty-short, antidote-think-twice-read, 1-read-on-hand

If this book ever became more popular on this site, I'd imagine the rating would tank and the reviews would be choked with mewling and puking about polemics and misandrists and god knows what other instances of fragile masculinity. This is not your Kawabata or your Tanizaki or even your Enchi, but a fictional take on a real historical instance that sacrifices subtlety in order to put forward its critique on its nonfictional origins. Domestic politics, the rights of the patient versus the power o If this book ever became more popular on this site, I'd imagine the rating would tank and the reviews would be choked with mewling and puking about polemics and misandrists and god knows what other instances of fragile masculinity. This is not your Kawabata or your Tanizaki or even your Enchi, but a fictional take on a real historical instance that sacrifices subtlety in order to put forward its critique on its nonfictional origins. Domestic politics, the rights of the patient versus the power of the doctor, Eurocentrism wiping out records of other cultures getting to scientific discoveries first: the bone is yours to pick. The writing also doesn't have many metaphorical flights or long and self-indulgent trends of digressions, so you're hardly going to be distracted from the straightforward plot line of culturally indoctrinated internalized misogyny transforming a woman-loving-woman love story into a nuclear family fueled success story for the benevolently dividing-and-conquering patriarch. If that doesn't sound like necessary reading, run back to your Murakami: either one will do.

This is a story of a girl who married a man because she fell in love with his mother, a boy trained in the fine art of playing one female worshiper off the other for the sake of professional fulfillment, and a paragon of womanhood whose perfect embodiment of Japanese feminine ideals inevitably led to self-destruction. If all that sounds uncomfortable, that's probably cause, instead of all this acting as a backdrop to some male's character development in addition to some girlfriend-in-the-refrigerator action and aesthetically pleasing rape scenes, this is the story front and center. It certainly gets one thinking about history books and their treasure troves of famous names and famous deeds and famous discoveries, as it's not as if all those famous figures gave birth to themselves. The book's nowhere near the level of Medical Apartheid, but there's a similar effort to turn the spotlight away from the pristine medication and perfect scalpels and venerable white coats and towards the bleeding and broken bodies disproportionately sacrificed for a disproportionately ladled out remedy. There's also the twist of cultural norms interfering with gendered surgery, which, however initially interesting, is hardly novel when considering how much the centuries-long ban on dissecting female-presenting bodies in West Asia (hint: Europe has no geographical excuse for declaring itself a separate continent) still interferes with identification of incoming heart attacks. Will making an app for that prove that we have truly "progressed" since the early 19th century that shaped this work's setting? The world may never know.

I hardly made this sound appealing, did I. True, if your main goal in reading is for the sake of entertainment or reaffirming the artificial construct of your comfort zones, yes, you'll be sorely disappointed. However, it's not as if this (completely) lacks a happy ending, or (conscientiously) refuses to conform to a standard plot arc of build/climax/resolution, or spends (most if not) all its time harping on backstage stories and historical representation, so there's hope yet.

Don't you think men are incredible? It seems...that an intelligent person like my brother...would have noticed the friction between you and Mother...But throughout he shrewdly pretended he didn't see anything...which resulted in both you and Mother drinking the medicine...Well, isn't it so?...I think this sort of tension among females...is....to the advantage...of...every male. And I doubt that any man would volunteer to meditate in their struggles." She tried to clear her throat. "He would probably be considered weak if he did, and I suspect...he would perish like an over-fertilized mandarin tree."

Your eyes, your throat, your breast, your genitals, your child, your life. Something's gotta give. ...more

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May 31, 2015 Smiley rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japan, fiction

3.75 stars

I first read Sawako Ariyoshi’s The River Ki (Kodansha 2004) in June last year, this is her second novel I read and found it inspiring due to her powerful narration and lively dialogs that focus on “the life of the first doctor in the world to perform surgery for breast cancer under a general anesthetic” (back cover). From her two novels, I noticed, they primarily don’t suggest romance, ideal or sentimentality; rather they present something social, practical, rural in which her characte 3.75 stars

I first read Sawako Ariyoshi’s The River Ki (Kodansha 2004) in June last year, this is her second novel I read and found it inspiring due to her powerful narration and lively dialogs that focus on “the life of the first doctor in the world to perform surgery for breast cancer under a general anesthetic” (back cover). From her two novels, I noticed, they primarily don’t suggest romance, ideal or sentimentality; rather they present something social, practical, rural in which her characters struggled in remote Japan long time ago. For instance, this book has portrayed the life of Hanaoka Seishu who lived in Kishu province (in Wakayama prefecture nowadays) from 1760-1835 (p. v), in other words, in the middle 18th- early 19th century.

Some of the good points we get from reading this book acclaimed as her best novel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawako_...) is that, first, we know more on a rare custom of Japanese-style marriage then from this excerpt:

In the fall of 1782, the Imoses held a lavish farewell party for their daughter who was about to set off to get married. Afterwards, in accordance with local custom, Kae, wearing a white cotton veil and elegant bridal kimono, was carried to Hirayama in a palanquin, unaccompanied by her family.
Upon her arrival, the lovely bride walked alone into the house, whereupon she was warmly greeted by an eager and impatient Otsugi, who led her by the hand into the main room. There a special cushion awaited her. The ceremony which was about to begin would have to take place without the groom, who had gone to Kyoto more than half a year before. … (p. 29)

Second, while reading the ongoing story, I think, we simply can’t help admiring the author’s brilliant imagination and creativity that duly shape and produce this outstanding biographical novel for the world to see and read. Of course, there have long been innumerable Japanese titles in this genre but Ms Sawako Ariyoshi has done her best on this pioneering doctor in his field of advanced surgery.

Third, the key protagonist, Kae (the doctor’s wife), and another one, Otsugi (the doctor’s mother) have revealed their roles via their discourse and action till we might wonder who is more important. However, I think, they willingly share their devotion for the success of such anesthetic experiments, the first ever, on human beings by means of the dose prepared from certain Japanese herbal plants. For instance, the experiment on Otsugi as the first voluntary subject has suggested its effectiveness; later, the one on Kae as the second eager subject has confirmed its safe application.

However, with my respect to the two translators, when I came across this sentence, “It consisted of just two dishes, one of which was the festive red bean rice.” (p. 31) I wondered why ‘bean’. Then, I compared it with this one, “Tears filled her eyes as she washed the rice by the well, careful not to spill a single grain.” (p. 129) Therefore, I think the word used to signify a kind of rice should be ‘grain’ instead of ‘bean’. Thus, the first one should read, “…, one of which was the festive red grain rice.” [My misunderstanding kindly informed on October 11, 2015 by Kaion that it is 'red beans' (specifically adzuki beans), please visit her attached website below, message 6]

In short, this novel has been so well-written, fantastic that I long to read her Fukugo-osen (The Complex Contamination, 1975), Kokotsu no Hito (The Twilight Years, 1972) and Hishoku (Not Because of Color, 1964). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawako_...] ...more

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Sep 21, 2009 El rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-centurylit-late

This Ariyoshi book starts with Kae as a young woman and follows her through the rest of her life, primarily focusing on her marriage to the noted surgeon Hanaoka Seishu. He was a real surgeon in the 18th-century who made his name for, amongst other things, being the first to perform surgery using a general anesthetic, and specifically for using the anesthetic for breast cancer surgery. This fictionalized account of their life together is fascinating not only from a medical standpoint but also fr ...more

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Jan 20, 2018 Dioni (Bookie Mee) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Mee's rating: 4.5/5

First published at: http://www.meexia.com/bookie/2018/02/...

My first book of the year is another book club read with the Japanese Lit GR group. Ariyoshi seems to be one of the favourites among the members and the group has read another of her book - The River Ki, which I missed, so this is my first Ariyoshi.

First published in 1966, The Doctor's Wife has quite an amazing premise. The story is based on the life of Hanaoka Seishu (1760-1835), a provincial doctor who invented anae Mee's rating: 4.5/5

First published at: http://www.meexia.com/bookie/2018/02/...

My first book of the year is another book club read with the Japanese Lit GR group. Ariyoshi seems to be one of the favourites among the members and the group has read another of her book - The River Ki, which I missed, so this is my first Ariyoshi.

First published in 1966, The Doctor's Wife has quite an amazing premise. The story is based on the life of Hanaoka Seishu (1760-1835), a provincial doctor who invented anaesthetic, thus was able to perform major surgery, including, most amazingly, breast cancer. 'Seishu's first operation occurred in 1805. Nothing, however, was known of this doctor's achievement in the West. In England and the US the general anaesthetics were not used until the 1840s' (the Introduction).

The book however, focused on the two women in Seishu's life: his mother Otsugi and his wife Kae. 'Seishu's dreams, ambitions, experiments, and desire for success are the underlying catalysts that propel the two women in his life into constant conflict' (the Introduction). The story is mainly told from Kae's perspective, who came from an old samurai family, and therefore 'above' the doctor's family. Otsugi herself has come from a family that was also above Seishu's station. But doctors at that time were in an odd 'category'. They were not peasants nor nobles, and they're educated, so they seem to get concessions from the strict classed society.

The book is only 174 pages and covered about 70 years, so there are often 'jumps' between chapters in which you have to make educated guesses on how old everyone was after every 'jump'. This seems typical of Ariyoshi, as her other books are about the same length, covering a rather long period of years too. It wasn't a big problem for me, and in fact I liked how succinct it was.

I really enjoyed this book overall, apart from a couple of quibbles. The ending is amazing (especially the last sentence) and summarises the book and Ariyoshi's intent on writing this I think. I love how the author picked such an unusual semi-historical figures/story, that I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise. When I told a friend that I was reading a novel about a village doctor in 18th century Japan, her reply was a frown and "How did you come across that?", hah.

I intend to read The Twilight Years next, when I get a chance. ...more

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Dec 18, 2018 Pascale rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I find this novel difficult to rate because although the writing leaves something to be desired, especially in the awkwardly preachy final chapter, the material is fascinating. This is the fictionalized story of a remarkable doctor from Wakayama prefecture, the same province where the author hails from. Because of Japan's isolationist policies, Hanaoka Seishu's achievements were virtually unknown outside his country in his lifetime, and by the Meiji era similar advances in anesthesia and surgery I find this novel difficult to rate because although the writing leaves something to be desired, especially in the awkwardly preachy final chapter, the material is fascinating. This is the fictionalized story of a remarkable doctor from Wakayama prefecture, the same province where the author hails from. Because of Japan's isolationist policies, Hanaoka Seishu's achievements were virtually unknown outside his country in his lifetime, and by the Meiji era similar advances in anesthesia and surgery had been made in the rest of the world. Ariyoshi seems to have taken great pride in rescuing Seishu's reputation from obscurity, yet she makes it clear that she sees him as a very flawed human being who owed a lot to the womenfolk in his life. In fact Ariyoshi gives no clues as to what goes on in Seishu's mind. Apart from his dedication to his profession, we know little about him, except that his charisma drives both his mother and his wife to a frenzy of self-sacrifice on his behalf. The story starts when 8 year old Kae catches a glimpse of Hanaoka Otsugi, the beautiful wife of the local doctor Hanaoka Naomichi. Originally from a wealthy landowning family, Otsugi marries beneath her because Naomichi cured her of an intractable skin ailment and claimed her for a bride as the prize of his success. Fascinated by the legends surrounding Otsugi, Kae goes on hunger strike when her father initially refuses to let her go to the Hanaoka household as the bride of Naomichi's eldest son Seishu, who has gone to Kyoto to learn medicine. Otsugi herself has picked Kae as excellent material for a doctor's wife without being aware of the girl's near obsession with herself. Apart from beauty and poise, Otsugi is endowed with brains, an iron will and a burning ambition for Seishu to become the most successful doctor of his generation. That ambition is shared by all of Seishu's siblings, who work themselves to the bone in order to contribute to his medical studies. One of the great scenes is when Seishu returns from Tokyo and displays the latest surgical tools in front of his adoring family. So impressed are they with Seishu's potential that even the sisters who know the money for their dowry has gone into these instruments cheer for him. To me one of the most interesting aspects of the book is the light it throws on the transformation of the status of doctors as the age of scientific medicine dawns, largely through the efforts of people like Seishu. Naomichi and Otsugi are aware that the medical profession is about to undergo dramatic changes, and all their children fall in line to support the son most likely to spearhead those changes. Is that Ariyoshi writing in hindsight, or were these people really so prescient and disciplined? Hard to tell. After Seishu comes home from Kyoto and his marriage to Kae is finally consummated, the loving relationship between Otsugi and Kae unravels as both women aspire to come first with the golden boy. Devastatingly for Kae, for well over a decade she doesn't produce a male offspring, which keeps her in a weak position vis-a-vis her mother-in-law. Nonetheless, Kae's conviction that Otsugi has started to hate her seems unwarranted, even to Kae's own mother, who is rather pleased with the way Kae is treated in the Hanaoka family, given what most daughters-in-law had to put up in those days in Japan. The love-hate relationship between Otsugi and Kae occupies so much of the narrative that I wondered what Ariyoshi really meant by it. The last word on this comes from Seishu's sister Koriku, who delivers the following insights on her death-bed: "Don't you think men are incredible? It seems that an intelligent person like my brother would have noticed the friction between you and Mother. But throughout he shrewdly pretended he didn't see anything, which resulted in both you and Mother drinking the medicine. Well, isn't it so? I think this sort of tension among females is to the advantage of every male. And I doubt that any man would volunteer to mediate in their struggles. He would probably be considered weak if he did, and I suspect he would perish like an over fertilized mandarin tree. (...) As long as there are men and women side by side on this earth, I wouldn't want to be reborn as a woman into such a world. The only luck I've had in my entire lifetime is that I didn't get married and didn't have to be somebody's daughter-in-law or mother-in-law." Explosive stuff in a country where women, even nowadays if you believe Sakaya Murata, are supposed to feel unfulfilled and ashamed of themselves if they fail to marry and produce a son. Koruki's bitter accusations are all the more surprising since up to this point she's behaved like a good soldier and wholeheartedly supported Seishu's efforts to produce a reliable anesthetic. In the end, though, she claims to have made a lesser sacrifice than her mother and Kae, since at least working for her brother spared her the need to marry. But it could be argued that Otsugi, at least, and maybe even Kae, acted as free agents in choosing to be Seishu's guinea-pigs for his new drug. Without them not only Seishu's career but the march of modern medicine would have been held back. The last image of the book, showing Seishu's huge tombstone obscuring the more modest ones of Otsugi and Kae, is a powerful reminder that scientific progress comes at a price, paid by lots of anonymous people whose complex motivations disappear with them. This book deals with lots of important issues and deserves a much higher place in the Japanese canon. ...more

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Jan 30, 2020 Smitha Murthy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: asia, women-writers, translated-world-lit, historical, strong-women

Japanese literature is probably dominated by its male writers. It was with some anticipation that I picked up this offbeat book. Sawako Ariyoshi’s spare and arresting tale, ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ was gripping and revealing. Based on the life of the first doctor in the world to perform surgery for breast cancer, it immediately plunged me into a world of 17th century Japan. And as I so love Japan, how can I not love this book? No one at your bookclub will talk about this book. And you won’t be able t ...more

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Aug 19, 2013 Daniel rated it liked it · review of another edition

The prose was clear and straightforward, similar to a journalistic account. Ariyoshi employs a third-person omniscient approach and to focus on the motivations of the Mother of the house and her Daughter-and-law, who vie with one another for the attentions of the eldest son (and, in the Daughter's case, her husband). Much of the tension in the book draws from the sustained misunderstanding between Mother and Daughter, both of whom take for granted the idea that one is trying to outdo the other.

T ...more

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May 11, 2011 Chairein Ferras rated it liked it · review of another edition

I like the competition for Hanaoka Seishu's attention and affection between Otsugi (the mother) and Kae (the wife). At first, they were like mother and daughter but as Seishu finishes medical school and comes back from Kyoto, the relationship between Otsugi and Kae starts to fall apart. Seishu discovered the tsusensan, an anesthetic. Before the anesthetic's widespread popularity and efficacy, Seishu had been experimenting on either Otsugi and Kae. It's so funny how Otsugi brags to Kae about bein ...more

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Aug 14, 2018 Biblibio rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, 20th-century, translated, language-japanese, women-in-translation

Might write a longer review later, but for now: The Doctor's Wife is a great bit of Japanese historical fiction, focusing on the wife of real-life historical figure Hanaoka Seishū (credited as being the first doctor to conduct a surgery under general anesthesia) and her influence on his work. A good portion of the book is dedicated to the relationship between Kae and her mother in law. The book quietly shows what life was like for Japanese women in the late 18th century, without needless drama o ...more

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Aug 24, 2017 Istvan Zoltan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, japanese-literature, novel, family, medicine, feminism

The book is an account of how Kae, Hanaoka Seishu's wife, and her mother in law played a role in developing the world's first effective anesthetic. Hanaoka Seishu used this anesthetic to perform removal of breast tumors and other difficult surgical procedures which were impossible before.
The book's focus is on the emotional experiences of the women in the Hanaoka family. It portrays how they lived through the time while Seishu experimented for long years on animals, and then eventually on Kae an ...more

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Dec 23, 2019 JimZ rated it liked it · review of another edition

"The Doctor's Wife" written by Sawako Ariyoshi is a work of historical fiction. I found it to be somewhat interesting. I did not know that Hanaoka Seishu was the "father" of general anesthesia (or at least some consider him to be the father of anesthesia...first surgery performed with tsūsensan in 1804). Being from an anesthesiology department I was always thought it was a Dr. Crawford Long from Georgia (Long used ether for the first time on March 30, 1842, to remove a tumor from the neck of a ...more

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Sep 08, 2008 Powersamurai rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical, japan-related

A powerful book about two women's fight to gain the attention of one man: a mother-in-law and wife. The secondary story is about one doctor's search for an anaesthetic so he can perform operations, especially for breast cancer. Hanaoka Seishu successfully developed the anaesthetic before the West and used it for the first time to operate on breast cancer. This book does not read like a translation from the original Japanese. It is an easy read and it's simplicity draws you in from the beginning. ...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Kimberly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I've read this in both English and Japanese. Its unbelievable, and truly one of those books that will shake your core. If I remember correctly parts of this are based on fact, but its mostly fiction. Still, what the wife and her mother-in-law endure for the love of one man and his mission to improve medical science is unfathomable. Great for those who want to understand more about the plight of women in Japanese society before the turn of the 20th century as well as family life. ...more

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Nov 28, 2018 Cherise Wolas rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-reading-challenge, novellas, books-in-translation, japanese-writers

Interesting and rather horrifying to read what being a daughter-in-law in Japan in the late 1800s was like. The true part of the story has to do with a Japanese doctor in that time performing the first breast cancer surgery. The rest is a fictionalized view of the household.

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Feb 28, 2018 Ian Josh rated it liked it · review of another edition

While not my favorite of Ariyoshi's works, still worth a read.

Full Review:

https://ianjoshyateswriting.blogspot.... ...more

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Sep 04, 2020 Melody Schwarting rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: r-2020, inspired-by, r-fic-historical, bio-fiction

A masterful portrait of the daughter-in-law/mother-in-law relationship in Confucian society. Kae, a young woman wed to a doctor, is held hostage in a relentless competition with her mother-in-law Otsugi. Based on the true story of a Japanese doctor who became the first in the world to successfully perform surgery for breast cancer, while pioneering general anaesthesia decades before Western medicine, The Doctor's Wife is a compelling psychological novel.

At the center of the story is the rivalry ...more

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Oct 13, 2016 Eustacia Tan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is really a short, exquisite piece! The title pretty much tells you who it's about (Kae is the doctor's wife the title refers to), but there are two main characters. One is her mother-in-law, Otsugi, whom she initially admires and has a close relationship too, and the other one is her husband, Seishu.

So basically Kae has admired Otsugi since she was a little girl, and was thrilled when she was invited to be her daughter-in-law. The two had a close relationship until Seishu came back fr ...more

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Jan 16, 2010 Grada (BoekenTrol) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dutch_language, history, literature_and_fiction, bookcrossing, books-i-own, novels-nos, asian_fiction_or_non-fiction

The book was already sitting on my shelves for a long time, before I got to read it. As it sometimes goes, it seemed a very interesting book to me, so I bought it. And then I did not read it, up to now.

And I was impressed. Impressed by the story itself that is about a doctor's family that denies herself everything to make it possible for the son, Unpei, to study medicine. About the indefatigable quest of that country doctor for further ways and means to heal the sick. At first by bringing just t ...more

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May 29, 2011 ロロ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese-literature, schooling, own

Sawako Ariyoshi's The Doctor's Wife was enjoyable in that it was simply written whether that's due to Ariyoshi's writing or the way it was translated, either way it was a quick and smooth read.

The narrative of The Doctor's Wife consists of two intertwined parts. The first part, mostly factual, is over how Hanaoka Seishu was able to concoct an anesthetic and how he was the first to be successful in surgically removing a tumor caused by breast cancer. The second part, mostly fictional, revealed th ...more

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Sep 24, 2016 Pixie Dust rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This story is a fictionalised account of the household of Hanaoka Seishu, the first surgeon in the world to successfully administer general anaesthesia to perform an operation. It was an absorbing read, not just the parts on how Seishu gradually through experimentation developed the formula for anaesthesia, but also the parts depicting the rivalry between Seishu’s wife Kae and his mother Otsugi (which I found out upon googling was fictional), all told with the traditional Japanese restraint and ...more

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Jan 17, 2018 Nicki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Brief at around 170 pages, but still felt detailed. I have to admit, I generally don’t read or enjoy books set so far back in the past, but I do enjoy books set in Japan, so seemed worth a try.
The story is beautifully told, but it is quite grim. I believe it’s loosely based on a real life doctor who experimented on his wife and mother to find a useable anesthetic.
I found the relationship between Kae and her mother in law both relatable and confusing. Why did she pursue Kae for her precious son ...more

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Jul 27, 2016 Chris Plante rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I wish Sawako Ariyoshi was better know in the States. Her style is accessible and smooth, like a good summer read, but her plots and themes are deceptively rich.

The Doctor's Wife is superficially speaking about the fractured relationship between a wife and her mother-in-law as they claw for the attention of the man who serves respectively as husband and son. But the meat on these bones is a slow-burn critique of the patriarchy, one that demythologizes both the invention of general anesthesia and ...more

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Oct 22, 2014 Ana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, library, women-list, recommendations, in-translation, translation

I'm still not sure how Ms. Ariyoshi managed to cram so much life into such a small book.

Based on the true story of the first person to come up with reliable surgery anesthesia - decades before someone in the West came up with the same - this novel seems to say more in one page than other books say in chapters.

It's based on the historical figure Seishu Hanaoka but it's really all about the relationship between his young wife and his mother and the mostly unknown contribution (and sacrifice) they ...more

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Apr 20, 2016 Ad rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-japan, lit-fiction-novel, nonfiction-biography, tags-doctors, tags-history

Dr. Hanaoka Seishu (1760-1835) was the first in the world to operate a patient under a general anesthetic (in 1804), with techniques which go back to both Dutch and Chinese medicine. Ariyoshi studied his personal papers for her novel, but the famous doctor is not the main character in the book: that is firstly his wife Kae, and after that his mother Otsugi. The rivalry between these two women for his attention is central to the novel and propels the story forward. While he is still developing th ...more

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Feb 22, 2017 littleflow3r rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Don't you think men are incredible? It seems that an intelligent person like my brother would have noticed the friction between you and mother.. but throughout he shrewdly pretended he didn't see anything.. which resulted in both you and mother drinking the medicine. Well, isn't it so? I think this sort of of tension among females is to the advantages of every male.."

The Doctor's Wife (華岡青洲の妻) tells the story of Hanaoka Seishu, based on actual life of the great doctor with a dramatic, fiction e ...more

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Jun 16, 2007 Blair Reeve rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A novel set in the Tokugawa era of Japan. One of the author's main motivations for this book may have been to right an historical wrong - that is, to show the story behind the story of Hanaoka Seishu, one of the first doctors in the world to operate on breast cancer using an anesthetic. This story adds to the largely untold story of the women of the Tokugawa period. It's an easy but never boring read. The crux of the novel rests on a daughter and mother-in-law who argue in front of their husband ...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Diego Munoz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book.

It is the story of the wife of the first doctor to have ever performed open surgery sing anesthesia. What makes it interesting is the relationship between the wife and the mother in law, and about how they compete to help the doctor.

The last couple of chapters provide a lot of insight, and made me appreciate the book even more.

Strange to compare, but like Gatsby, I felt that this book was much better after I finished it, and I could appreciate it as a whole work and statement ...more

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Jan 29, 2018 Agnetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: japanese-literature

This was an impressive historical fiction, interesting under many angles : psychological insights, historical knowledge of late 18th/early 19th century of rural japan, history of medicine, japanese culture, all that in a literary beautiful form, engaging from the first till the last page. And on top in a very compact way, Ariyoshi does not need 500 pages to bring her message, incredibly concise though great depth.
This was a magnificent reading experience.

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Oct 01, 2019 Paul Lemcke rated it liked it · review of another edition

A true story of the world's first use of general anesthetic by a surgeon operating on a breast cancer patient in early 1800's. Written as a novel, we learn about the surgeon's mother and wife competing for his attention (and just about everything), including the opportunity to be the first to go under general anesthesia. The conflicts within the family, and the women's desire to be the strongest and bravest, were interesting in that time of the samurai. ...more

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Japanese Literature: 1/18 The Doctor's Wife - Sawako Ariyoshi	25	66	Feb 22, 2018 09:13AM

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About Sawako Ariyoshi

Sawako Ariyoshi

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Born in Wakayama City and a graduate of Tokyo Women's Christian College, Sawako Ariyoshi spent part of her childhood in Java. A prolific novelist, she dramatises significant issues in her fiction such as the suffering of the elderly, the effects of pollution on the environment, and the effects of social and political change on Japanese domestic life and values, especially on the lives of women. He ...more