The Anatomy Lesson (1995 novel)
Encyclopedia
The Anatomy Lesson is a novel by John David Morley
, inspired by Rembrandt’s painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
, the streetwise, drug-addled, Dutch-American teenager Kiddo lives in the shadow of his hero-worshipped older brother, Morton, a brilliant science student who, having completed his physics and engineering Ph.D., is to take up a fellowship at M.I.T.. But, after Morton’s premature death from a virulent strain of cancer
, Kiddo begins to uncover a shadow-side to his brother’s existence, even as he wrestles with the anguished question of Morton’s dying wish: that he attend the autopsy
in which his own brother’s corpse will be dissected.
, seeing in Morley’s authorial output to date “a protean creative intelligence at work.” “Not since Catcher in the Rye has anyone published so mesmerizing a piece of fiction about a disaffected teenager trying not to cope with reality,” judged Deloris Tarzan Ament in The Seattle Times
. “An incredibly depressing, dead-on portrait of inept parents and aimless youth,” concluded Joanne Wilkinson in Booklist. “Blackly funny,” wrote Alex Clark in The Observer
, “but breathtakingly bleak.” “John David Morley is known to European and American literary connoisseurs as a writer who merits serious attention”, Bettina Drew wrote in The Washington Post
, before hailing the author's latest work as “a serious meditation on despair and loss and our inability to really know the people we love.”
After Pictures from the Water Trade
in 1985 and The Feast of Fools in 1994, The Anatomy Lesson became the third of Morley's novels to be designated a notable book by The New York Times Book Review.
John David Morley
-Early life:The third and youngest child of the artist and sculptor Patricia Morley and John Arthur Elwell Morley, an officer in the British Colonial Service, John David Victor Morley was born “in something of a hurry on a bench in a third-class Chinese ward at the Kandang Kerbau Maternity...
, inspired by Rembrandt’s painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.
Summary
In AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the streetwise, drug-addled, Dutch-American teenager Kiddo lives in the shadow of his hero-worshipped older brother, Morton, a brilliant science student who, having completed his physics and engineering Ph.D., is to take up a fellowship at M.I.T.. But, after Morton’s premature death from a virulent strain of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, Kiddo begins to uncover a shadow-side to his brother’s existence, even as he wrestles with the anguished question of Morton’s dying wish: that he attend the autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
in which his own brother’s corpse will be dissected.
Reception
"Contemporary American fiction often forces on its readers a choice between head and heart. Mr. Morley's small, brilliant anatomy of love and loss succeeds in providing both," wrote novelist Rand Richards Cooper in The New York Times Book ReviewThe New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, seeing in Morley’s authorial output to date “a protean creative intelligence at work.” “Not since Catcher in the Rye has anyone published so mesmerizing a piece of fiction about a disaffected teenager trying not to cope with reality,” judged Deloris Tarzan Ament in The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
. “An incredibly depressing, dead-on portrait of inept parents and aimless youth,” concluded Joanne Wilkinson in Booklist. “Blackly funny,” wrote Alex Clark in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, “but breathtakingly bleak.” “John David Morley is known to European and American literary connoisseurs as a writer who merits serious attention”, Bettina Drew wrote in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, before hailing the author's latest work as “a serious meditation on despair and loss and our inability to really know the people we love.”
After Pictures from the Water Trade
Pictures from the Water Trade
Pictures from the Water Trade: An Englishman in Japan — published in the US as Pictures from the Water Trade: Adventures of a Westerner in Japan — is a novel by John David Morley, a cultural investigation of Japan in the 1970s.- Summary :...
in 1985 and The Feast of Fools in 1994, The Anatomy Lesson became the third of Morley's novels to be designated a notable book by The New York Times Book Review.