The Strange Case of Dr. Simmonds and Dr. Glas: A Novel [Hardcover]

Dannie Abse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2003

Inspired by the disturbing 1905 Swedish classic, Dr. Glas by Hjalmar Soderberg, a novel that explores the possibility of pure moral murder, and with more than a nod to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dannie Abse draws on his own medical experience in this haunting tale of Dr. Simmonds—a man whose face has been disfigured in a childhood accident and whose heart is scarred by unacknowledged monsters. Dr. Simmonds, a general practitioner tending mostly to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany who have settled in the precincts of London’s Swiss Cottage, finds himself irresistibly drawn into an increasingly disturbing fantasy life by Yvonne Bloomberg, the young wife of one of his more (to him) execrable patients. When she presents Simmonds with a copy of the novel Dr. Glas, in which a doctor colludes with a patient to murder her husband, the boundaries between reality and fantasy begin to blur and Simmonds begins to act upon impulses from a darker, undoctorly, scarred side of his nature. He sets out on a course that withholds its full horror until the very end of this brilliant Booker nominee.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Mr Abse is a real writer' Sir John Betjeman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

One of Britain's most widely read and admired poets Dannie Abse has now retired from medical practice and currently broadcasts and reads his works widely in Europe and North America. Abse is the author of many books of poems, several works of fiction and an acclaimed autobiography, Goodbye Twentieth Century. He received an Hon. D. Litt. from the University of Wales in 1993. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712015
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712014
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,713,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Written almost experimentally, it falls flat., May 28, 2005

By 

Peter LaPrade (worcester ma) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Strange Case of Dr. Simmonds and Dr. Glas: A Novel (Hardcover)

Abse's "Dr Simmonds" was a boring novel that is thankfully short(about 180 pages). Most of the novel takes place through the diary entries of Dr. Simmonds, who is an Anti-Semite and has a noticable dark side that becomes darker once he becomes attracted to the wife of one of his patients.