The Story of San Michele

There are very few books so special as The Story of San Michele. Maybe it's unique. I don't know how one writes something quite like this - it's a world in itself. The Story of San Michele is simultaneously light, deep, mysterious, fun, serious, magical, realistic, life-affirming, existential. Deeper than the ocean. Outside all genres, all categories.I just want to share with you some of the quotes that do not give away much of the story, but are characteristic of the general ambiance of the book:"I do not write down here these words with conceit, I write them with wonder. Where did these words come from? Surely they came from far, they came as an echo from a long-forgotten golden age when Pan was still alive, when the trees in the forest could speak and the waves of the sea could sing and man could listen and understand"""I have come back a different man. I seem to be looking out on the world with my one remaining eye from another angle of vision than I did before. I can no more see what is ugly and sordid, I can only see what is beautiful and sweet and clean. Even the men and women around me seem different from what they used to be. By a curious optical illusion I can see them no more as they are but as they were meant to be, as they would have liked to be if they had had a chance. I can still see with my blind eye a lot of fools strutting about, but they do not seem to get on my nerves as they used to do, I do not mind their chatter, let them have their say.""`But I am not a child, I shall be twenty-seven next month.' `Of course you are a big child or you could not have seen me, only children can see us goblins.'""You are always trying to explain to your patients what you cannot even explain to yourself. You forget that it is all a question of faith not of knowledge, like the faith in God. [...] But I knew something they evidently did not know: that there is no drug as powerful as hope, that the slightest sign of pessimism in the face or words of a doctor can cost his patient his life.""Do put some of your savings in the Little Sisters' moneybox, even a penny will do, believe me you never made a safer investment. Remember what I have written on another page of this book - what you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep for ever. Besides you have no right to keep this money to yourself, it does not belong to you, money belongs to nobody up here. All money belongs to the Devil who sits at his counter night and day behind his sacks of gold trading with human souls. Do not hold on too long to the dirty coin he puts in your hand, get rid of it as soon as you can or the cursed metal will soon burn your fingers, penetrate your blood, blind your eyes, infect your thoughts and harden your heart. Put it into the moneybox of the Little Sisters, or throw the damned stuff into the nearest gutter""He had risen from his couch roused in his sleep by a haunting dream. His face was dark as the sky overhead, fear shone in his eye. He summoned his astronomers and his wise men from the East and bid them to tell him the meaning of his dream, but before they could read the golden writing on the sky, one by one the stars flickered and went out. Whom had he to fear, he the ruler of the world! What mattered the life of one single man to him, the arbiter of the lives of millions of men! Who could bring him to account for the putting to death that night of an innocent man by one of his procurators in the name of the Emperor of Rome? And his procurator whose execrated name is still on our lips, was he more responsible than his Imperial Master for signing the death-warrant of an innocent man? To him, the stern upholder of Roman law and tradition in an unruly province, was it even an innocent man he was putting to death? And the cursed Jew who still wanders round the world in search of forgiveness, did he know what he was doing? Or he, the greatest evildoer of all time, when he betrayed his Master with his kiss of love? Could he have done otherwise? Did he do it of his own free will? It had to be done, he had to do it, obeying a will stronger than his. Was there not in that night on Golgotha more than one man who was made to suffer for a sin which was not his? I bent over the sleeping child for a while and went away on tip-toe."

A sometimes humorous memoir of a very young physician in late 19th century Europe, ending at huge retreat at San Michele near Capri in Italy. This book was recommended on a reading list for pandemics and except for the account of the cholera outbreak in Naples, not much of that applies. As an acupuncturist, I related to his struggles with his well-heeled patients in Paris and Rome. Some things don’t change. This book paints a picture of a bygone age through the author’s unique experiences. The language feels modern and relatable and while it wasn’t a page-turner, I enjoyed it for what it was: a personal heartfelt story and a good example of the art of memoir.

In 1972 a friend told me about the book "The Story of San Michele" by Axel Munthe and I read it in a very old 1930 edition. I had the great fortune to visit San Michele in Anacapri on the Isle of Capri, off of Naples, Italy, in 1972 and 1976. It is rightfully said to have one of the most magnificent views of any house in the world. The original 1929 book, which has sold millions, has been translated into 30 languages, and is one of the most loved books of the 20 th century. I read the book before I began a medical career, and am about to read it again 45 years later as I approach the end of it. I am pleased to see there have been several newly published editions in the past few years so it can be brought to new readership.Munthe was a renaissance man and a physician. His book, however, only touched on parts of his life and left me wondering about his entire life as I sensed there was much more.For those who always wanted a fuller picture of Munthe, there is a new (October 2016) book that is a detailed biography of Munthe at 381 pages, "Axel Munthe - The Road to San Michele", by Bengt Jangfeldt, HC 2008, paperback 2016. Jangfeldt is a Swedish professor of literature who has twice won the Swedish equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. This book won the Swedish Academy's biography prize, and is considered to "far surpass anything written about Munthe." It is a large book and full biography, with many high quality black and white photos. It is dedicated to Munthe family members. It is a very magnificent and welcome addition and I hope it also achieves the wide readership it deserves.The 2010 hardcover edition of The Story of San Michele" by Oxford City Press is 534 pages. I do not see the usual original copyright marks at the beginning except for the cover. The table of contents lists "Special Preface for the American edition" however it is missing in my copy. I have reservations about this particular edition and suggest looking at other editions.

This strange magic book isn't easy at all to categorize: not an autobiography nor a sage on philosophy, it is at the same time all that. I found it extremely pleasant and easy to read, moving and stimulating. Full of air sun, wit and love for the defenceless animals (a sort of Vegan philosophy before that word even existed), this book gives also a panoramic and ironic view on the European high society in the last decades of the XIX and the first decades of the XX century. True, my very positive review could in part be due to the fact of having started reading it immediately after my visit to the wonderful and incomparably beautiful Villa San Michele in Anacapri, who gives the book its name, but still....

I was interested in the life of Axel Munthe after visiting the Museum of his residence. I liked the parts of the book that reflected a diary of episodes in his life. I skimmed through chapters that were more difficult to understand. They were also written in Italian.

This is an interesting book. Very amusing at times. Very much from a past era which I found fascinating. I read it first some years ago and wanted the kindle version as I am moving away from physical books. If you are on Capri and have the chance to visit San Michele it is utterly breathtaking! One of the special places in the world.

Engaging story, profound and quite funny at times. It all seems impossible, but then Villa San Michele is there, living proof! It also gives a clear and impressive idea of what it meant to be a doctor across the 19th and 20th centuries.It is clear why this was one of the great best-sellers of its time.

Great story of his life. I only wished Axel Munthe had written more about Capri and Anacapri. It's mostly the story of his life before getting to the island and San Michele.

This book is classic. A must read for every clinician.After reading this you won’t be the same again.

Quem diria que havia medicina no Século XIX?O médico era um conselheiro ao lado do paciente. Uma esória bonita e muito realista.