The Good Doctor Guillotin by Marc Estrin
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The French Revolution is probably one of the scariest events in “modern” history for me. I’ve never been able to grasp in my head how it must have felt to live in France at that time ever since I read A Tale of Two Cities almost 20 years ago. That’s why I was drawn to The Good Doctor Guillotin
Dr. Guillotin, designer of the guillotine, Tobias Schmidt, builder, Nicolas Pelletier, first victim, Father Pierre, Nicolas’ priest, and Sanson, the executioner, are followed in what seems at times to simply be a dissertation on the current philosophical state of capital punishment. The characters are strong which makes the story all that more compelling as I found it hard to dislike any one of them, even though I felt like I should have disliked them.
I enjoyed Estrin’s introductions of other historical figures like Mozart, Mesmer, and Louis XVI, whose own unfortunate fate ended under the guillotine just years later.
The writing is interesting, but didn’t necessarily feel like a story at some points with the essays in the authors voice, and discussion on modern politics. It’s possible Estrin could have written two books, but of course unlikely he would have sold many of the one just on capital punishment. I think it’s an interesting combination, but one I would have enjoyed more had I known and been interested in reading more philosophical capital punishment issues. From a historical standpoint I really enjoyed learning more about the players in the guillotine movement and the French Revolution itself and I definitely have a hankering (did I really just say hankering?) for reading more on the subject.
This review is part of the Unbridled Books Spotlight Tour – stop by to read new reviews of other recent releases!
Novel Whore Rating: 3 Notches on the Bed Post
Wine Pairing: Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir 2007
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I was really interested in reading this book for the Spotlight Series, so I’m glad you read it and reviewed it so well here! It is strange that it wasn’t just fiction to me, but also included commentary on modern capital punishment. I heard that the doctor was miserable for the rest of his life, seeing the horrors his invention was part of- he had invented the guillotine to be more humane, ironically.
I don’t care for when an author goes from writing a story to an essay. They need to stay with one or the other. But this does sound like a fascinating (even a bit grim) topic.
This one sounds interesting. Not really sure if I will read it, but I agree, French revolution is a period that is quite fascinating, and I wonder the same.. how did people live in those times.