Munthe, Axel. THE STORY OF SAN MICHELE. (1929; this edition 1991). ****. On my first trip to Italy in 1968, I decided to “do” the south. This meant starting in Rome and then going to Pompeii, Naples, and the Amalfi coast. I went back to Naples and took a hydrofoil (my first) to Capri. I had heard how beautiful it was, and, indeed, it met all of its descriptions. While there, I took the standard tour of the island. This included the Blue Grotto and San Michele. Of course, I didn’t know anything about San Michele, but was impressed by the statuary and the view – and the fact that it was administered by a Swedish society. I then learned that Axel Munthe was the original builder of San Michele, a lovely house on top of one of the highest peaks on the island. I didn’t then know who Axel Munthe was or anything about him, but the guide told us that he had written this book that we should be sure to read. I first found a copy of this book in the mid-1970s in a used-book store that stated that it was a 22nd printing! I read it and was enthralled at the stories that Munthe told. Munthe was a Swedish-born individual who was educated in a variety of schools and received his MD from a prestigious university in France. This book represents his memoirs about his building of San Michele and also relates the story of his life as a doctor and man of the world. Munthe was a successful doctor in both France and Italy. He soon recognized his limitations and concentrated on what we now call psychotherapy – especially of those (mostly) women with “nervous disorders.” He was very successful in his practice and became famous in the areas that he practiced in through word of mouth and, ultimately, referrals from other physicians. His dream, however, was to build San Michele as his ultimate sanctuary from the world. He managed to do so. This book, although its title indicates otherwise, dwells little on his home on Capri. It is mostly an autobiography of his life and adventures, freely interspersed with fables and reminiscences of his long career. Munthe was, aside from his medical career, known for his forays into hypnosis, archaelogy, and social history. During his career, he managed to serve, as a medical professional, in the great plague of cholera in Naples, and to assist in aiding victims of the massive earthquake in Messina. Lots of the stories he tells are second-hand, but fun to read – as long as you realize that they are dilatory tales from his past. The book itself was written at the end of his life as an exercise in his learning to type, since he had begun to lose his sight, and, indeed, has lost the sight of one of his eyes. Although the book is mostly autobiographical, he manages to keep most of his personal life out of it. It is a telling of his experiences throughout his professional career. If the book is a little scattered in its telling, it is still a very vibrant recollection of a life by an interesting man who loved both people and place. This well worth reading a second time. Recommended.
This is the autobiography of a gung ho doctor and adventurer, carrying a bag full of rich stories – some of them funny, others magical, others tragic . He has a deep well of love and compassion for both human beings and animals, in all our states of being. From the hypochondria of some of his wealthy patients to the desperate plights of some of his poorer ones – Axel Munthe connects passionately with the humanity in all of us. At the start of his career he was the youngest person ever to have graduated as a doctor in France – and that promise seems to have been realized in how he lived the remainder of his life.He must have been an amazingly energetic and strong-charactered man, enduring the terrible aftermath of the 1908 earthquakes in Messina and Reggio, a life-threatening avalanche in Switzerland, and single-handedly escorting a violent patient from Italy to Mund in southern Sweden, with various adventures along the way. He also survived a pistol dual in Paris. This last encounter was a typical story where the goody wins over the baddy. There are many of these stories in Munthe’s life, and he is always on the side of the goodies.... well, to be honest, he usually the main hero. He has a charmingly self-deprecating style though, so the endless unrolling of one brave struggle after another, with Munthe emerging as hero, is not offensive.The medicine in the book is interesting too. The terrible (and often losing) battles of the time, fought against rabies, cholera, diphtheria and tuberculosis, with families often blighted with the death of a child or parent. Munthe’s work with psychological illnesses was also interesting. He writes at length about Charcot, hypnotism, and neurosis....along with his feelings that some of these problems were exacerbated rather than helped by the medical help applied to them.The love of his life and his place of retreat was the island of Capri, the people there, and the wonderful villa he was building there - the “San Michele” of the title. They only formed a fairly small part of the book for me though, as I found his other experiences so utterly gripping. The one let down was the last chapter – an imagined meeting with death. He writes about death throughout the book, and seemingly had no compunction about shortening the lives of patients who were suffering in the last hours of their lives with a dose of ‘morphia’. But this last chapter was interminable and boring, and to be honest I skipped over most of it.The rest of the book was fascinating and un-put-downable.
Do You like book The Story Of San Michele (2015)?
Mišrūs jausmai apima perskaičius, lyg ir buvo nuobodu, lyg ir buvo smagu; lyg ir painu, bet suprantama... Vis dėlto nė viena minutė, praleista su šita knyga, neatrodė tuščiai iššvaistyta, nors negaliu nuoširdžiai sakyti, kad pasakojimas įtraukė nuo pradžios iki pabaigos.Ir dar: jeigu kitas knygas galima skaityti važiuojant, skrendant, vonioje ar prie gausiai nusėsto stalo, tai šitos - ne. "San Mikelė" visa persmelkta individualistine nuotaika, kuri verčia trauktis nuo klegesio ir bėgti su knyga po pažasčia į kiemą po beržu.
—Saulė
More than half way through it, it seems to lack coherence. It lost its way shortly after beginning and is having a hard time coming back, though I suspect it may. So far, it is a long series of mostly unrelated anecdotes whose tone changes but whose main theme is primarily death--he was a medical doctor during a difficult time (before most vaccines and antibiotics). Better be in a strong frame of mind for this one, or a Buddhist. "Cameos" by such biggies as Charcot may be amusing to some of the strange ones among us (admittedly, I'm included) but not enough without a larger purpose. Only in small doses for me so far, so it is taking a while.
—Maria Elena
After seeing San Michelle in Capri, this seemed like a must-read book. It was unavailable at the library so I bought it. I was somewhat disappointed. It rambled, and worse of all, did not have much of the detail I was hoping for on building of the home, the gardens, etc... I also had heard at the villa that he was one of the foremost early environmentalist, so I was hoping to hear more than stories of his monkey. Pictures would have been great, especially since the villa, gardens and old world remnants are so fabulous. I think the most fascinating thing about the book was the state of physicians in those days. They were actually fairly shallow in their knowledge and abilities based on the book. I plan on sharing this book with my doctor. I think he may enjoy the dialogue about the profession.
—Georgen
