What the say
Ernesto Durán is convinced he is sick. It becomes an obsession far exceeding hypochondria, and when Dr Andrés Miranda gives up responding to e-mails, Durán resolves to stalk him. The fixation has its own creeping effect on Karina, the hospital secretary, who cannot resist becoming involved.
Meanwhile Dr Miranda is coming to terms with a tragedy of his own: his father has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and yet the doctor – the son – finds it impossible to tell him. He hopes that by taking his father on a trip to Isla Margarita, where they once went when he was a child, he might be able to reveal the truth.
The nature of sickness as experienced by two individuals provides the backbone to this tender, thoughtful and refined novel. The Sickness is profound and philosophical, and yet written with an agility that expresses the tragedy, but also the comedy of life itself. A brilliantly achieved first novel.
What I thought
I thought this book was so well written. Quite short, it describes the journey Dr Miranda and his father go on when he finds out that his father has terminal cancer. The other thread of the book is about patient Ernesto and the effect his psychological problems have on the doctors secretary.
Well worth a read. It won a Herralde Prize in its original Spanish and it comes over well as a translation.
Available at Lewisham Libraries
Helen Hilton
Filed under: Book review, Death, Family Tagged: | Alberto Barrera Tyszka
