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A review by kimnovak
The Citadel by A.J. Cronin
4.0
"If we go on trying to make out that everything's wrong outside the profession and everything is right within, it means the death of scientific progress. We'll just turn into a tight little trade protection society."
It's this idea that's at the center of the book, the 'citadel' of the title, and what the main character is fighting against. Andrew Manson is young and earnest when he begins his career in a Welsh mining town. He is eager to serve the miners and their families, eager to expand his knowledge, and eager to bring honor to his profession through research and discovery. Eventually, after years of struggle and disappointment, he establishes a lucrative practice in London and is slowly seduced by wealth and high society. He becomes all that he has criticized in the past and seems headed for self-destruction. Will he come to his senses and regain his purpose and idealism? Will he ever become the doctor he always hoped to be?
It's this idea that's at the center of the book, the 'citadel' of the title, and what the main character is fighting against. Andrew Manson is young and earnest when he begins his career in a Welsh mining town. He is eager to serve the miners and their families, eager to expand his knowledge, and eager to bring honor to his profession through research and discovery. Eventually, after years of struggle and disappointment, he establishes a lucrative practice in London and is slowly seduced by wealth and high society. He becomes all that he has criticized in the past and seems headed for self-destruction. Will he come to his senses and regain his purpose and idealism? Will he ever become the doctor he always hoped to be?