The Physician movie

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately, but the holidays were my time of the year far from everything, not only school, so now I'm back and I've read some good books in the meantime. Btw, happy New Year to everyone! Hope 2014 is even better than 2013 was. 

It's been two years since I read the book by Noah Gordon and fell in love with it. So that's one of the reasons why I don't remember every single detail about it and can't really say everything I would like to if I remembered... I'm going to start by saying that I liked the movie. It was a great movie, and I could feel like it was me living in the 11th century. The characters were nicely portraited, and I love that. I loved the fact that it made me want to be a doctor all over again, even if it was less than what I felt with the book, obviously. If I end up choosing Medicine to study at university, The Physician will become more than just one of my two favourite books. I just worship it. 

There were huge things missing in the movie, though. Can someone tell me where's Mary??? And who's Rebecca? That was the weirdest thing ever... They replaced the main character's love interest! That's horrible! Mary Cullen was a huge part of Rob, a very important character. And instead of the Christian Scottish red-head, there's a Jewish married woman that's interested in Rob. I hated that. 

Almost just as bad was the Shah's relationship with Rob. In the book, they develop this unique friendship that I loved... In the book, they were the symbol of uniting religions, of friendship and diversity. Playing chess, having interesting conversations... the movie just ruined all that and portraited the Shah as a shallow, selfish person, not meaning to start a real friendship with Rob like he does in the book. That's something I would have loved to see. There are other things missing, just as Barber's death, because that's part of what triggers Rob's trip to Isfahan, and I loved Rob's trips with the Shah in the book. 
Overall, the story was more or less the same. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the movie. I understand some changes have to be made to make a movie, but I wanted the Shah and Mary as I remembered them. The strangest thing is that I read somewhere that it was Noah Gordon and his daughter who wrote the screenplay for the movie. Then why is Mary missing? She's such a huge character... And all that adultery story they made up for the movie, falling in love with a Jewish married women and all that... not right. At least he kept almost everything in the story, not like Cassie Clare did with City of Bones, even if she didn't write the script. There are other scenes I would have liked to see, and other characters I would've liked to see developed. Ibn Sina was a deeper character in the book, and his relationship with Rob was more... special. I kept feeling like there was something missing everywhere I looked. 

Shaman, Noah Gordon (Cole Family #2)

Synopsis:

Robert Jeremy Cole, the legendary doctor and hero of The Physician,left an enduring legacy. From the 11th century on, the eldest son in each generation of the Cole family has had the same first name and middle initial and many of these men have followed the medical profession. A few have been blessed with their ancestor's diagnostic skill and the "sixth sense" they call The Gift, the ability to know instinctively when death is impending. The tragedy of Rob J.'s life is the deafness of his son, Robert Jefferson Cole, who is called Shaman by everyone who knows him. Shaman's life is difficult. First, he must learn to speak so that he can take his place in the hearing world, and then he must fight against the prejudices of a society where physical differences matter. As Shaman struggles to achieve his identity, the Coles, along with the rest of America, are drawn into the conflict between the North and the South.

I adore Noah Gordon. Completely. This is the second book I've read by him, and the two have been incredibly amazing. He just writes in this awesome way, beautifully but also cruel when necessary. Both The Physician and Shaman are incredible books about the life of being a doctor. They show the good and bad things of following the medical profession, and they tell the story of a life. 

Shaman is the story of this boy, Rob J. Cole Jr. (called Shaman by everyone), who is deaf. But that does not stop him from living his life. With the help from his family and from Rachel, he can learn to live with his deafness and to stop it from being a huge problem in his life. 

The book begins with Rob J. Cole's arrival to the US, and how he starts a family while being a good physician. Then he has his son, and his indian friends and he starts developing a life in a zone where that was nothing before. 

I love how Noah Gordon tells his story with realistic writing. There isn't the girl who falls in love with the boy that loves her and the live happily ever after. The girl can get married with someone else, you know? And this is only an example of how Gordon tells the unfairnesses of life, because bad things also happen. People die, people go to war and maybe they don't come back like they left, people leave... But people also fall in love, keep a life-lasting friendship, have a loving family, save lives...

This awesome book, as well as the rest of the series following the Cole family, have to be read at least once in a lifetime. It's just something that has to be read.