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Synopsis
At the dawn of the Enlightenment, James Dyer is born unable to feel pain. A source of wonder and scientific curiosity as a child, he rises through the ranks of Georgian society to become a brilliant surgeon. Yet as a human being he fails, for he can no more feel love and compassion than pain. Until, en route to St Petersburg to inoculate the Empress Catherine against smallpox, he meets his nemesis and saviour.
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Review
At the heart of Andrew Miller's first novel, Ingenious Pain lies the question "What does the world need most--a good, ordinary man, or one who is outstanding, albeit with a heart of ice?" The outstanding man in question is James Dyer, an English freak of nature who, since his birth during the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment, has been impervious to physical pain. Not only does he feel no pain, but he also recovers from all injuries in record time. By turns a foil for a quack doctor at county fairs and an object of study by a wealthy collector of human oddities, the protagonist, James Dyer, eventually becomes a surgeon. As such he gains exposure to a panoply of 18th-century philosophical thought, medical practice, historic events and larger-than-life rogues and heroes, both fictional and real.
As a surgeon, James Dyer excels, and his inability to feel--whether physical pain himself or empathy for others--seems only to enhance his skill with a knife. James slices and dices and cures without a scintilla of compassion while his reputation grows, until at last he arrives in Russia and the mystery of his unusual quality is resolved. Miller navigates his complicated story and exotic locales with unswerving confidence, bolstered no doubt by thorough research. James Dyer is not a character who invites love, but his adventures make for intelligent, deeply pleasurable reading. --Alex Freeman
Review
A dazzling debut (Observer)
A really remarkable first novel ... Miller's narrative is gripping and his imagination extraordinary (Sunday Telegraph)
An extraordinary first novel (The New York Times Book Review)
Exceptionally intelligent and elegant ... remarkable for its feeling and its humane sensibility (The Sunday Times)
Funny, tender and exhilarating. It is something very rare in modern fiction, a true work of art (Spectator)
Astoundingly good (The Times)
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- PublisherSceptre
- Publication date1997
- ISBN 10 0340682078
- ISBN 13 9780340682074
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages337
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Ingenious Pain
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Hodder & Stoughton, United Kingdom, 1997
ISBN 10: 0340682078
ISBN 13: 9780340682074
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The rise, fall and redemption of an extraordinary man born unable to feel pain. Growing up in the West Country in the mid-18th century, James Dyer grows up to become a brilliant surgeon. En route to St Petersburg he meets a witchlike woman who proves both his nemesis and saviour. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003420580
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Ingenious pain / Andrew Miller
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London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1997
ISBN 10: 0340682078
ISBN 13: 9780340682074
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Later Edition. Fine copy in the original color-printed, stiff-card wrappers. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Physical description; 337 pages ; 24 cm. Notes; "A Sceptre book". Summary; The rise, fall and redemption of an extraordinary man born unable to feel pain. Growing up in the West Country in the mid-18th century, James Dyer grows up to become a brilliant surgeon. En route to St Petersburg he meets a witchlike woman who proves both his nemesis and saviour. Subjects; 18th century. Medicine History 18th century. Nervous System Malformations. Physicians history. Pain. Surgeons. Physicians Europe Fiction. Physicians England Fiction. English fiction 20th century. Europe History 18th century Fiction. Historical fiction ; Modern fiction. Fiction / Historical. Fiction / General. Physicians ; Fiction. Genres; Historical fiction. Novels. 1 Kg. Seller Inventory # 241098
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