The Sickness by Alberto Barrera Tyszka

‘The birth of medicine is irremediably bound up with the birth of negligence’ and other such musings are found within the two intertwining storylines of The Sickness. A long novella, the book could well be a guide to the philosophy of illness and medicine. It was originally written in Spanish, and so this naturally begs the question of the translated version: how closely does it parallel the original? Is one merely a shadow of the other? Without the capacity to appreciate and compare both works, I can say the English version more than holds its own in terms of tone, character and storytelling. The philosophy within the story is well pitched, gentle and suggestive, and despite the sinister and sceptical undercurrents, does not preach, but questions beliefs by provoking opinion on topics around medicine, illness, pain and death. The storylines engage two illnesses, one psychosomatic, one morbidly debilitating, which both compete to polarise the reader. The two stories revolve around the central character of Dr Miranda, though whether he is a weak fence sitter or a well tuned philosopher probably depends on your reaction to the following question: ‘Why do we find it hard to accept that life is pure chance?’ [Renée Rowland]