Davies, Alan. A. J. Cronin: The Man Who Created Dr Finlay. Alma Books, April 2011. ISBN 978-1-84688-112-1 The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking in its treatment of the contentious theme of medical ethics. It has been credited with laying the foundation in Britain for the introduction of the NHS a decade later. [1] [2] Desmonde (novel, 1975), ISBN 0-316-16163-2; also published as The Minstrel Boy (1975), ISBN 0-450-03279-5 Mesmo com esse ritmo mais lento no desenvolvimento da obra, a experiência da leitura foi bem prazerosa. Recomendo bastante a leitura para quem se interessa pelo tema e para quem gosta de romances que retratam a sociedade do início do século passado!

All of which leads me to point out that “The Citadel” is a novel that was very consciously intended to make a point, namely that the British medical system of Cronin’s day was badly in need of reform. It was a closed shop of self-seeking, poorly educated, change-averse charlatans. Indeed, the book turned out to be a ground-breaking publication that significantly influenced the creation of the British National Health a few years later. Accordingly, it must be judged in terms of its success in that sphere, as a social and political document as much as on its merit as a novel. The ethical issues raised by Cronin were also not neglected. Most medical schools began teaching in this area, and societies and institutes of medical ethics began to spring up. Medical ethics is now firmly established as a field of study, and literature can provide a focus for its discussions. The Campbell Playhouse: The Citadel". Orson Welles on the Air, 1938–1946. Indiana University Bloomington. 21 January 1940 . Retrieved 29 July 2018. Gallup Jr., Alec M. (2009). The Gallup Poll Cumulative Index: Public Opinion, 1935–1997, p. 135, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0842025871.A. J. Cronin, author of 'Citadel' and 'Keys of the Kingdom', dies". New York Times. 10 January 1981 . Retrieved 22 May 2021. Historical information is captivatingly drawn. At the same time facts are informatively presented. There is a good balance of heart and head. Dr. Manson also has less positive characteristics that affect his personal and professional choices. Besides being a skilled doctor dedicated to his patient’s welfare, he is also overly proud and competitive. Many of the dramatic events revolve around which of these traits take prominence in Dr. Manson’s personal and career choices. I found myself often thinking of how pride is one of the seven deadly sins. I do like that Dr. Manson is portrayed as not overly heroic but as a man with faults. The reader will not always like Dr. Manson or his choices. However, I did find some of the switches in which of Dr. Manson’s traits became prominent to be a bit abrupt and melodramatic.

AJ Cronin (1896-1981), an author little known to those below the age of fifty, was arguably the most successful novelist writing in English in the 1930s. His best known novel, The Citadel, was published in 19371. The book paints an unflattering portrait of British medicine in the inter-war years. It is widely thought that the book influenced the result of the 1945 general election in Britain, and the subsequent establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) by the Labour government in 19482. The Citadel anticipates such phenomena as evidence-based medicine and continuing medical education. This paper examines the influence of the novel and argues that although Cronin’s novel did significantly influence public opinion in Britain in favour of socialized medicine, the novel was never intended as propaganda for a state-controlled national health service. On the contrary, Cronin was against state control. Analysis of the novel is informed by recent biographical revelations about Cronin, and the blurring of the margin between fact and fiction in Cronin’s life and work is examined. Simply put, this is the story of a doctor's assistant who gets an appointment in Wales to help an MD in a mining village. However, when he arrives, he finds that the MD has been incapacitated from a stroke and he must carry on without him. From there, he starts specializing in diseases of the lungs, gets his MD licence, works his way up the corporal ladder and very nearly sells his soul in his quest to "be someone". The novel is mostly medical fiction, but it is also a good portrayal of a doctor's life, the hardships they face in carrying out their duties, the struggle to keep a decent professional front amidst financial difficulties, and the normal human feelings of love, separation, loss, grief, and hope. The sympathetic presentation of these professional men, showing that they are also humans with feelings in their non-professional capacity is really touching. Cronin may not be a literary genius, but his presentation of them is genuine and heartfelt. Andrew Manson earns readers' sympathy, and though his conduct is not always noble, he is a likable hero, because he feels real and human. And so are the other characters. Even those you don't like are relatable. Reading the story was almost like reading a true story. E le stelle stanno a guardare ( RAI), featuring Orso Maria Guerrini, Andrea Checchi, and Giancarlo GianniniSome of Cronin's novels also deal with religion, which he had grown away from during his medical training and career, but with which he became reacquainted in the 1930s. At medical school, as he recounts in his autobiography, he had become an agnostic: "When I thought of God it was with a superior smile, indicative of biological scorn for such an outworn myth." During his practice in Wales, however, the deep religious faith of the people he worked among made him start to wonder whether "the compass of existence held more than my text-books had revealed, more than I had ever dreamed of. In short I lost my superiority, and this, though I was not then aware of it, is the first step towards finding God." I dont know if I can do justice to this book from my review, but I will try. The Citadel is my favourite novel without doubt. I will always love this book no matter how many brilliant books I read in the future. I treat this book with a kind of reverence which I give to no other novels and that has a lot to do with how I came across the book and the time at which I read it. He is brought before the GMC and cannot deny that he removed the patient from hospital, took her to Stillman’s clinic and assisted in the procedure to deal with the tuberculosis. The patient herself testifies that she is now well. Manson considers that, in spite of legal warnings, he should speak, giving a passionate defence of his actions which are central to the wider outcome of the book. He points out that when doctors qualify, they don’t have sufficient knowledge and skills: they do not undertake postgraduate educational programmes, they use ineffective and outdated remedies, the science base is limited and not in the front line, and they don’t work cooperatively. He is very negative about the fee system and the fee splitting between doctors, all done to make more money.

Everything about this is excellent. The characters, the plot, the dialog; I really couldn't change a thing. Just an all over great read.

Tere Mere Sapne ( "Our Dreams" – from the novel The Citadel), directed by Vijay Anand, featuring Dev Anand, Mumtaz, Hema Malini, Vijay Anand, and Prem Nath Cronin also came to feel, "If we consider the physical universe... we cannot escape the notion of a primary Creator.... Accept evolution with its fossils and elementary species, its scientific doctrine of natural causes. And still you are confronted with the same mystery, primary and profound. Ex nihilo nihil, as the Latin tag of our schooldays has it: nothing can come of nothing." This was brought home to him in London, where in his spare time he had organised a working boys' club. One day he invited a distinguished zoologist to deliver a lecture to the members. The speaker, adopting "a frankly atheistic approach", described the sequence of events leading to the emergence, "though he did not say how," of the first primitive life-form from lifeless matter. When he concluded, there was polite applause. Then, "a mild and very average youngster rose nervously to his feet," and with a slight stammer asked how there came to be anything in the first place. The naïve question took everyone by surprise. The lecturer "looked annoyed, hesitated, slowly turned red. Then, before he could answer, the whole club burst into a howl of laughter. The elaborate structure of logic offered by the test-tube realist had been crumpled by one word of challenge from a simple-minded boy." [12] Family [ edit ] Cronin with family in 1938 Escape From Fear ( CBS), featuring William Lundigan, Tristram Coffin, Mari Blanchard, Howard Duff, and Jay Novello This article is parodied near the end of William Gaddis's novel The Recognitions: see entry for 857.20 at https://www.williamgaddis.org/recognitions/35anno1.shtml. The character called "the distinguished novelist," who first appears on p. 846, is based on Cronin: see The Letters of William Gaddis (Dalkey Archive Press, 2013), p. 386.