Abraham Nussbaum

Physician, Teacher, Writer


A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

The physician as political prisoner, as dutiful dad, as traumatized shoemaker. Doctor Manette is the soul of Dickens’ great political novel. Yes: “Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms.” But also: “My old pain has given me a power that has brought us through the barrier…” Recalled to life, indeed.