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Ed Julian Barnes
Jonathan Cape, £10, pp 102
ISBN 0 224 06267 0
Rating: **
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Alphonse
Daudet was a novelist who lived in France in the second half of the
19th century. At the age of 17 he contracted syphilis, which lay
dormant for some 20 years. He eventually developed locomotor ataxia as
a result of tabes dorsalis, when the disease moved to his neurological
system. He died in 1897 at the age of
57.
For the last decade of his life,
Daudet kept a notebook. Some might call it a diary, but it was more a
record of Daudets thoughts about the terrifying effects of
syphilis. In the Land of Pain is the first English version of
this notebook, which was originally published by Daudets widow
in 1930 and has now been translated by the British novelist Julian
Barnes.
Syphilis may not be the
great problem today that it was before antibiotics, but nevertheless it
is not confined to history. Daudets book is fascinating as it
puts syphilis into context, and offers an insight not only into the
disease and the almost incomprehensible pain that accompanies it, but
also into 19th century attitudes about sexually transmitted infections.
You would expect some shame, or caution, but Barnes tells us that one
man felt triumphant to have caught syphilis: “Ive got the
pox! The great pox the majestic pox.” The man went
on to express his relief that he would not have to worry about catching
it anymore.
Daudet describes the
various treatments that he received. One of these, mercury, gave rise
to the saying “One night with Venus, a lifetime with
mercury.” Some of the treatments now seem absolutely ludicrous.
When Daudet died, doctors worked for an hour trying to revive him by
“rhythmical and forceful contractions of the tongue” before
pronouncing him dead.
Barness
introduction and endnotes are valuable and interesting, but although
this book is short, it is not an easy read. Daudets writing is
poetic and occasionally hard to understand. It is constantly
interrupted by long footnotes, which, while explanatory, become
irritating after a while. However, if you like history and have the
patience to read a collection of musings with no beginning and no real
end, then you many find In the Land of Pain
fascinating.
