[NM7]∎ Libro Gratis The Royal Physician Visit A Novel Per Olov Enquist Tiina Nunnally 9780743458030 Books

The Royal Physician Visit A Novel Per Olov Enquist Tiina Nunnally 9780743458030 Books

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The Royal Physician Visit A Novel Per Olov Enquist Tiina Nunnally 9780743458030 Books

A few years ago I fell in love with a Danish film entitled, "A Royal Affair." The movie is a historical, fictionalized account about 18th century Denmark and the rise of Enlightenment. After doing a little research on the film, I found that the screenwriters used Per Olov Enquist's "The Royal Physician's Visit" for inspiration. With that, I had to read this book.

I want to preface my review by explaining that my actual understanding of 18th century Denmark is negligible. This was never an area of study for me. Unfortunately, I cannot compare it to a non-fiction account -- having read no such book. Regardless, Enquist's work was captivating.

At first, I struggled to jump into this book. There's a strange repetition in the words and phrases. It came across as pedantic and strange; initially, I blamed it on the translator. But as I became more engrossed in the novel, I found the repetition and circular nature of paragraphs to carry an almost poetic quality.

This book highlights the tremendous differences in sexuality for women versus men in the Enlightenment period. For example, you have King Christian VII sleeping with prostitutes and barely sleeping with his own Queen. Then, when the Queen discovers her own sexual needs, it ultimately leads to the death of a life and relationship.

The Queen, Caroline Mathilde, is described as weak-willed and without talent. Over and over again, observers speak to her almost worthlessness. But she has an inner strength, beauty, and courage. Upon her entrance to the kingdom of Denmark she says, “O, keep me innocent, make others great.” Here she was, a teenager, forced to jump into the Danish language, and stripped of her prior relationships for this “mad” King.

King Christian seems to be going through a “Truman Show” depersonalization that makes the world a stage. He frequently seems to need lines, as if there’s a right and wrong way to speak.

The book beautiful captures the love that Queen Mathilde held for the Royal Physician, Struensee. He was a German man that was fueled by Enlightenment era ideals. Using Rousseau's writings, he wrote over 600 decrees to enable free speech, human rights, and freedoms to the people of Denmark. It was a brilliant part of history to capture, and Enquist was excellent in doing so.

Here are some of the quotes that stuck out to me:

“Since [Struensee] didn’t believe in an afterlife, he had always harbored great free of the risk of wasting the only life he had.”

“…There are no equestrian statues to commemorate a loser.”

"Was there something left that could not be chopped off?"


Tags : The Royal Physician's Visit: A Novel [Per Olov Enquist, Tiina Nunnally] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An international sensation, The Royal Physician's Visit magnificently recasts the dramatic era of Danish history when Johann Friedrich Struensee - court physician to mad young King Christian - stepped through an aperture in history and became the holder of absolute power in Denmark. His is a gripping tale of power,Per Olov Enquist, Tiina Nunnally,The Royal Physician's Visit: A Novel,Washington Square Press,0743458036,Literary,Caroline Mathilde,Struensee, Johann Friedrich,1737-1772,1751-1775,Caroline Mathilde,,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction General,Fiction Historical,Fiction Literary,Fiction : Literary,General,Historical - General,Historical fiction,Medical : General,Queen, consort of Christian VII, King of Denmark,,Struensee, Johann Friedrich,,greve,,FIC000000,FIC014000

The Royal Physician Visit A Novel Per Olov Enquist Tiina Nunnally 9780743458030 Books Reviews

Insanity was a singular problem for the crowned heads of Europe during the 18th century. While the travails of the Hanoverian King George III are well-documented, there were other psychiatrically afflicted monarchs who, whether due to some unfortunate gene or to the infectious subversion of enlightenment philosophy, injected the politics of their courts with the logic of madness. One such monarch was Christian VII of Denmark.
Per Olav Enguist's historical novel documents a turbulent period in Danish history, a time when medeival institutions bumped up against modern free-thinking with transformative, and sometimes explosive, results. It's a well-crafted work, laying out the history with insight and clarity, all the while painting complex and realistic characters in shades of grey. The book chronicles the rise of the royal physician Struensee, a disciple of the enlightenment who finds himself, through almost random selection, at the center of Denmark's political maelstrom. Though his ultimate demise is revealed at the outset, Struensee's journey through the looking glass at the Danish court, and the price he pays for his part in bringing the world to enlightenment, make for an engrossing read.
Central to Struensee's tenure as the main adviser to Christian VII was his affair with Christian's queen, Caroline Mathilde of England. This unfortunate consort could never seem to escape from the madness of either her times or her family. She was the sister of George the III, and her marriage to Christian, which involved one conjugal experience and one baby, never rose above the infantile level at which the Danish king could operate.
At times sensual and desperate, at others filled with the weight of impossible expectations and hopeless risks, the story of Struensee and his increasingly forceful paramour spills off the pages of the book with resigned determination. Struensee uses his time in power to rewrite Denmark's social code, infuriating the powers of court, and makes himself, through his passion for justice and for Queen Caroline, an easier and easier target for destruction.
Enquist's style is somber and instructive, his language plain but filled with complexity. He makes people and events come alive with spare sentences that speak volumes about the inevitability of freedom and the costs in imposes. As for the nature of logic, insanity, and the sanctity of free throught, he leaves the reader to draw his own conclusion.
Set in Denmark in the 1760s, this is the story of the brief era of the German doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee. Hired as a sort of babysitter or caretaker and companion to the mentally handicapped and erratic King Christian VII, Struensee is an "enlightened" man who sees the poverty and corruption in Denmark and decides to seize power and do something about it. Along the way, he and the young queen, Caroline Mathilde, sister of England's King George, fall in love. The book is told from multiple viewpoints, as sometimes other players in the Danish court assume center-stage. The characters are vividly portrayed and one senses with dread the impending calamity that will befall Struensee and the young queen. Caroline Mathilde gave Denmark two heirs, and that one of them has the bloodline of a brilliant German physician is historically accurate. If one is interested in this episode, one might also read "The Lost Queen," by Norah Lofts, which tells the story primarily from Caroline Mathilde's viewpoint. Also of interest is a Danish film which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, "A Royal Affair." It's a lovely film, and the extra features will enhance the knowledge of the viewer and the reader.
A few years ago I fell in love with a Danish film entitled, "A Royal Affair." The movie is a historical, fictionalized account about 18th century Denmark and the rise of Enlightenment. After doing a little research on the film, I found that the screenwriters used Per Olov Enquist's "The Royal Physician's Visit" for inspiration. With that, I had to read this book.

I want to preface my review by explaining that my actual understanding of 18th century Denmark is negligible. This was never an area of study for me. Unfortunately, I cannot compare it to a non-fiction account -- having read no such book. Regardless, Enquist's work was captivating.

At first, I struggled to jump into this book. There's a strange repetition in the words and phrases. It came across as pedantic and strange; initially, I blamed it on the translator. But as I became more engrossed in the novel, I found the repetition and circular nature of paragraphs to carry an almost poetic quality.

This book highlights the tremendous differences in sexuality for women versus men in the Enlightenment period. For example, you have King Christian VII sleeping with prostitutes and barely sleeping with his own Queen. Then, when the Queen discovers her own sexual needs, it ultimately leads to the death of a life and relationship.

The Queen, Caroline Mathilde, is described as weak-willed and without talent. Over and over again, observers speak to her almost worthlessness. But she has an inner strength, beauty, and courage. Upon her entrance to the kingdom of Denmark she says, “O, keep me innocent, make others great.” Here she was, a teenager, forced to jump into the Danish language, and stripped of her prior relationships for this “mad” King.

King Christian seems to be going through a “Truman Show” depersonalization that makes the world a stage. He frequently seems to need lines, as if there’s a right and wrong way to speak.

The book beautiful captures the love that Queen Mathilde held for the Royal Physician, Struensee. He was a German man that was fueled by Enlightenment era ideals. Using Rousseau's writings, he wrote over 600 decrees to enable free speech, human rights, and freedoms to the people of Denmark. It was a brilliant part of history to capture, and Enquist was excellent in doing so.

Here are some of the quotes that stuck out to me

“Since [Struensee] didn’t believe in an afterlife, he had always harbored great free of the risk of wasting the only life he had.”

“…There are no equestrian statues to commemorate a loser.”

"Was there something left that could not be chopped off?"