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The District Doctor
ONE day, in autumn, on my way home from the distant fields, I caught cold, and was taken ill. Fortunately, the fever overtook me in the county-town, in the hotel. I sent for the doctor. Half an hour later, the district physician made his appearance, a man of short stature, thin and black-haired. He prescribed for me the customary sudorific, ordered the application of mustard-plasters, very deftly tucked my five-ruble bank-note under his cuff,—but emitted a dry cough and glanced aside as he did so,—and was on the very verge of going off about his own affairs, but somehow got to talking and remained. The fever oppressed me; I foresaw a sleepless night, and was glad to chat with the kindly man. Tea was served. My doctor began to talk. He was far from a stupid young fellow, and expressed himself vigorously and quite entertainingly. Strange things happen in the world: you may live a long time, and on friendly terms, with one man, and never once speak frankly from your soul with him; with another you hardly manage to make acquaintance—and behold: either you have blurted out to him your most secret thoughts, as though you were at confession, or he has blurted out his to you. I know not how I won the confidence of my new friend,—only, without rhyme or reason, as the saying is, he “took” and told me about a rather remarkable occurrence; and now I am going to impart his narrative to the indulgent reader. I shall endeavour to express myself in the physician’s words.
13 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2008
3 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Turgenev
1,861 books2,749 followersIvan Sergeyevich Turgenev (Cyrillic: Иван Сергеевич Тургенев) was a novelist, poet, and dramatist, and now ranks as one of the towering figures of Russian literature. His major works include the short-story collection A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852) and the novels Rudin (1856), Home of the Gentry (1859), On the Eve (1860), and Fathers and Sons (1862).
These works offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian intelligentsia who were attempting to move the country into a new age. His masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.
Turgenev was a contemporary with Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy. While these wrote about church and religion, Turgenev was more concerned with the movement toward social reform in Russia.
These works offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian intelligentsia who were attempting to move the country into a new age. His masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.
Turgenev was a contemporary with Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy. While these wrote about church and religion, Turgenev was more concerned with the movement toward social reform in Russia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
July 1, 2022
The more you think about this story, the more conjectural conclusions you come to in regards to the meanings and motives in this story. Was the doctor really putting duty before everything? Where does one draw the line morally and ethically in terms of medical care? Or were his motives of a more superficial interest? A story that I didn't fully comprehend at first, but upon consideration the multidimensional aspects provide a broader perspective to ponder over than I had first surmised.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Best_Russian_Short_Stories/The_District_Doctor
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Best_Russian_Short_Stories/The_District_Doctor
July 1, 2022
2.5*
A sad tale of a last/first chance of love. Boundarys and professionalism are questioned as i felt it quite unprofessional of a doctor to stray from the matter at hand. It is still his work here we are witnessing.
The nature of the heart in a delicate matter and this is what is suggested. The woman herself may have been a person of interest to him in another setting or maybe not. There is a lot to question here
A sad tale of a last/first chance of love. Boundarys and professionalism are questioned as i felt it quite unprofessional of a doctor to stray from the matter at hand. It is still his work here we are witnessing.
The nature of the heart in a delicate matter and this is what is suggested. The woman herself may have been a person of interest to him in another setting or maybe not. There is a lot to question here
June 8, 2022
Another great short piece by Turgenev. The characters have such humanity and life, fantastic.
February 17, 2021
Why do we always seem to associate love with deep sadness? I’m working my way through short stories that have been selected by the BBC for Valentines Day and they’re all a bit tragic and sad. This was quite a good one, I had never come across before. I enjoyed the narration style but need to go and find something to cheer myself up with now
July 11, 2013
In this sad, short story Turgenev displays his mastery over human emotion by making us care more about these characters in 10 pages than shitty pop authors like Stepanie Myers could do in 1000. This is a very good story and I highly recommend it, reading it won't take long either.
December 9, 2024
Quite amusing…
But uhmm, don’t doctors have a code of ethics to follow when they find themselves falling in love with their patients?
But uhmm, don’t doctors have a code of ethics to follow when they find themselves falling in love with their patients?
December 27, 2025
Many good parallels with my favourite chapter from Thomas Manns Magic Mountain: Snow. Mann was reading Turgenev while at the retreat - for good reason! Beautiful tale
November 16, 2016
A doctor who fell in love with his dying patient. When her patient's condition is getting worsen from day to day and starts losing hope - The doctor felt that he had to lie to give hope to his lover. This is where he got trapped in between carrying his duty as a doctor to prescribe the patient's real condition or to hide it away to give her the hope to survive.
I like the way how Turgenev wrote his stories. The emotion is immensely could be felt though that it was just a read in one sitting.
I like the way how Turgenev wrote his stories. The emotion is immensely could be felt though that it was just a read in one sitting.
December 5, 2017
Ummm...kinda creepy. :/ I do not 'get' this type of stories at all. The stories that are entirely made up of narratives and hardly have any point to them. This doctor just narrates a past experience to a stranger as they sit down to play a game. Probably to get the guilt off his chest. But I don't understand. There was really nothing to it, except random rambling. So yeah, not my thing.
July 9, 2021
Another piece of literature adding self-pressure to learn Russian next. I feel much is lost in translation with this one.
August 13, 2019
“Sometimes little things happen which seem nothing at all, but they hurt.”
April 13, 2018
Two stories by Turgenev.
April 18, 2014
A doctor relates a past experience regarding a sick young woman to his patient...
A rather beautiful short tale...
A rather beautiful short tale...
July 24, 2015
Just googled "best Russian short stories" and found it in wiki:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Best_Ru...
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Best_Ru...
January 26, 2016
Love while you live.
July 8, 2018
I read an ebook version of this book twice at ebooks.adelaide.edu.au
It is a nice little time-filler and yet left a strong impression on me.
It is a very short book.
It is a nice little time-filler and yet left a strong impression on me.
It is a very short book.
February 25, 2024
Very thought provoking short story. Did the doctor love Aleksandra, or was he blinded the the prospect of being with someone beautiful and not being tied down. Morally , should he have discarded his duties as a doctor for one patient , knowing how futile is attempts in aiding her would be?
January 26, 2019
ضعف اخلاقی یک دکتر و رابطه اش با دختری زیبا که برای درمانش رفته است. پزشکی چیز عجیبیست. رابطه ی خدا گونه پزشک با بیمارانش. حساسیت مواردی که به بیماران میگوید. او به بیمار میگوید که احتمالا جانش در خطر است. و دختر تمام امیدش را از دست میدهد و مرگ و پزشکی که ادامه میدهد.
December 31, 2024
"Duty before everything"!!!
June 28, 2025
The District Doctor is one of the stories in The Sportsman’s Sketches by Ivan Turgenev, which is 873rd on The Greatest Books of All Time site, a few hundred of those works are reviewed on my blog, and if you are interested, this may be my best take: https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...
9 out of 10
‘First you want to get hold of something to say, then you fudge up a plot of a story of some kind, and then you put in bits of things you have seen and heard round the place, and then you try and make it all sound sort of interesting or witty or funny or unusual or striking in some way. If you find some bit that isn't that, you work at it until it is, or at least as near it as you can get…’ Ivan Turgenev follows these precepts…
Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis has suggested the above https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and there is some more, which might come up later in this note – the ‘plan’ would be to say a few words about The District Doctor and then most likely I will fall on my own…
- Sauna doctor
Trifon Ivanitch is the one in the sketch and this is how we meet him ‘One day in autumn on my way back from a remote part of the country I caught cold and fell ill. Fortunately, the fever attacked me in the district town at the inn; I sent for the doctor. In half-an-hour the district doctor appeared, a thin, dark-haired man of middle height’
Then the District Doctor tells this touching story, how he received a note from a poor lady – ‘a widow, writes to me; she says, "My daughter is dying. Come, for God's sake!" she says; "and the horses have been sent for you."
However, these were poor, if well educated people, we would learn that the late husband had been a man who took care of his children, even if they are now destitute and caught in the middle, they do not see the lower classes – surely, they would have little to talk about – and they are too proud to visit the rich…
- This made me think of According to Mark
In that excellent book https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... we get the idea that we are separated form others as much by what we have read or not read, as by birth, class and status
Even if he is reluctant, doctor Trifon Ivanitch knows his duty, so he is off to see this widow, who is extremely worried about her daughter, who is very sick, it takes a long time, it is a gruesome journey, but help is coming
The young woman, Alexandra Andreevna, is indeed in a serious condition, and the hero of the narrative is in trouble, he is facing self-doubt, can see that her state is not improving, and what adds pressure are his feelings
- He fell in love with the young woman
She says she feels the same, albeit Trifon Ivanitch talks about her health, that is lack thereof, and sees that in her situation, it might be the disease talking, she would not see clearly what is happening and what she feels
Thomas Mann https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... has written about love, and how we find the real thing in art, literature and not in real life, and there are arguments
When you test this love, you see that it does not match the definition, long lasting, if not forever, and one of Thomas Mann’s characters is appalled that all around him talk about a ‘love for which there are no words to describe it’
Alas, Alexandra Andreevna is not getting out of bed – spoiler alert on two counts, I am telling you about her and the District Doctor and then I will digress with impunity, or maybe I get some angry comments from MAGA fools
This is not the ‘they will live together happily, for ever after’ type of story, and now about this District Doctor who comes to the sauna downtown, a chap who is for…Putin, just like Orange Jesus, who talked to the tyrant yesterday
The Local Doctor has made a ton of money – speculating, we would say through corruption, their salaries have always been small, but they were known to take kickbacks, look, my sister is a doctor, so I respect them, nevertheless, my sibling has been a doctor in America for about thirty years – and he has properties
He is lamenting the fact that he gets calls form real estate people, and I have tried to explain to him’ look, you love this Putin monster, but he is the kind that will not call, like the realtors, he will just have the tanks come into your home, take it, or just destroy it, together with all else you have, unless of course you agree to some abject tradeoff
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
9 out of 10
‘First you want to get hold of something to say, then you fudge up a plot of a story of some kind, and then you put in bits of things you have seen and heard round the place, and then you try and make it all sound sort of interesting or witty or funny or unusual or striking in some way. If you find some bit that isn't that, you work at it until it is, or at least as near it as you can get…’ Ivan Turgenev follows these precepts…
Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis has suggested the above https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... and there is some more, which might come up later in this note – the ‘plan’ would be to say a few words about The District Doctor and then most likely I will fall on my own…
- Sauna doctor
Trifon Ivanitch is the one in the sketch and this is how we meet him ‘One day in autumn on my way back from a remote part of the country I caught cold and fell ill. Fortunately, the fever attacked me in the district town at the inn; I sent for the doctor. In half-an-hour the district doctor appeared, a thin, dark-haired man of middle height’
Then the District Doctor tells this touching story, how he received a note from a poor lady – ‘a widow, writes to me; she says, "My daughter is dying. Come, for God's sake!" she says; "and the horses have been sent for you."
However, these were poor, if well educated people, we would learn that the late husband had been a man who took care of his children, even if they are now destitute and caught in the middle, they do not see the lower classes – surely, they would have little to talk about – and they are too proud to visit the rich…
- This made me think of According to Mark
In that excellent book https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... we get the idea that we are separated form others as much by what we have read or not read, as by birth, class and status
Even if he is reluctant, doctor Trifon Ivanitch knows his duty, so he is off to see this widow, who is extremely worried about her daughter, who is very sick, it takes a long time, it is a gruesome journey, but help is coming
The young woman, Alexandra Andreevna, is indeed in a serious condition, and the hero of the narrative is in trouble, he is facing self-doubt, can see that her state is not improving, and what adds pressure are his feelings
- He fell in love with the young woman
She says she feels the same, albeit Trifon Ivanitch talks about her health, that is lack thereof, and sees that in her situation, it might be the disease talking, she would not see clearly what is happening and what she feels
Thomas Mann https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... has written about love, and how we find the real thing in art, literature and not in real life, and there are arguments
When you test this love, you see that it does not match the definition, long lasting, if not forever, and one of Thomas Mann’s characters is appalled that all around him talk about a ‘love for which there are no words to describe it’
Alas, Alexandra Andreevna is not getting out of bed – spoiler alert on two counts, I am telling you about her and the District Doctor and then I will digress with impunity, or maybe I get some angry comments from MAGA fools
This is not the ‘they will live together happily, for ever after’ type of story, and now about this District Doctor who comes to the sauna downtown, a chap who is for…Putin, just like Orange Jesus, who talked to the tyrant yesterday
The Local Doctor has made a ton of money – speculating, we would say through corruption, their salaries have always been small, but they were known to take kickbacks, look, my sister is a doctor, so I respect them, nevertheless, my sibling has been a doctor in America for about thirty years – and he has properties
He is lamenting the fact that he gets calls form real estate people, and I have tried to explain to him’ look, you love this Putin monster, but he is the kind that will not call, like the realtors, he will just have the tanks come into your home, take it, or just destroy it, together with all else you have, unless of course you agree to some abject tradeoff
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
March 31, 2012
Dr. falls in love with dying patient, tells family she is fine when she really isn't, the worst review of a great short story right now.
June 3, 2013
Heart-wrenching short story about a doctor who falls in love with a patient. Exciting!
May 25, 2020
A strange love story that is quite bittersweet. You read through the doctors perspective and see how a hopeful recovery can turn into a hopeless desire.
November 2, 2020
I like this profound yet straightforward story, deep down; we all hungry for love, and I can understand this girl's desire who wanted a glimpse of love before dying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 28, 2022
A late night medical call makes a doctor spill all his private thoughts and life experiences to a
random patient on a cold stormy night in a district seedy boarding house.
random patient on a cold stormy night in a district seedy boarding house.
December 19, 2024
This is my introduction to Ivan Turgenev, one of the greatest Russian writers of all time.
I picked up this book expecting something as dramatic as Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, but I was surprised by the simplicity of the story. What was Turgenev trying to say to us? Or was he even trying to teach us anything at all? I kept thinking about it for hours, trying to uncover the meaning behind this tale.
Maybe it’s about a human being’s desire to break free from social constraints to find freedom and love. Or perhaps it’s about searching for beauty when surrounded by the ordinary—the beauty of love.
The protagonist, the District Doctor, crosses the line of professionalism when he falls in love (or perhaps becomes infatuated) with his patient, who is on her deathbed. Even though he knows he cannot save her, he gives her false hope, telling her he will cure her. When the girl realizes she is dying, she clings to the doctor, wanting to experience love before she leaves this world. At that moment, she stops caring about what society might think of her actions—after all, she has nothing to lose anymore.
Whatever Turgenev’s message or intent may have been, this story deeply moved me. It left me feeling something I haven’t felt in a long time, even though the story itself was so simple yet poignant.
I picked up this book expecting something as dramatic as Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, but I was surprised by the simplicity of the story. What was Turgenev trying to say to us? Or was he even trying to teach us anything at all? I kept thinking about it for hours, trying to uncover the meaning behind this tale.
Maybe it’s about a human being’s desire to break free from social constraints to find freedom and love. Or perhaps it’s about searching for beauty when surrounded by the ordinary—the beauty of love.
The protagonist, the District Doctor, crosses the line of professionalism when he falls in love (or perhaps becomes infatuated) with his patient, who is on her deathbed. Even though he knows he cannot save her, he gives her false hope, telling her he will cure her. When the girl realizes she is dying, she clings to the doctor, wanting to experience love before she leaves this world. At that moment, she stops caring about what society might think of her actions—after all, she has nothing to lose anymore.
Whatever Turgenev’s message or intent may have been, this story deeply moved me. It left me feeling something I haven’t felt in a long time, even though the story itself was so simple yet poignant.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2023
İvan Turgenyev'in "Kasaba Hekimi" adlı eseri, insan doğasının karmaşıklığını ve toplumun etkilerini inceler. Roman, genellikle kırsal hayatın sıkıntılarına, aşkın gücüne ve gelenek ile modernite arasındaki çatışmalara odaklanır. Hikaye, bir kasaba hekiminin kasabada yaşadığı deneyimleri (bazı şeyler yıllar geçse de değişmiyormuş) anlatırken, onun içsel mücadeleleri ve çevresindeki insanların yaşamları arasındaki çatışmaları vurgular. Kitap, sadece bireyin içsel çatışmalarını değil, aynı zamanda toplumun normları ve beklentileriyle başa çıkma zorunluluğunu da anlatır. Turgenyev'in ustalıklı anlatımıyla, insan psikolojisinin derinliklerine inerek, okuyucuyu düşündürmeyi ve duygusal bir bağ kurmayı başarıyor. "Kasaba Hekimi", sadece bir dönemin değil, insan doğasının evrensel bir portresini çizerken, insani duyguların ve çatışmaların zenginliğini de keşfeder.
September 4, 2023
......Into whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and, further from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and slaves......
The Hippocratic Oath ( 400 BC).
Ivan Turgenev has used an incident which is considered professional misconduct in the field of medicine. As humans are prone to err and as they are beings with emotions, such things can happen and that's why it is openly condemned in the medical field.
The lines Turgenev used to show the doctor's self-criticism of his competency felt authentic. I have felt the same way when presented with a medical matter in which I am not confident.
The Hippocratic Oath ( 400 BC).
Ivan Turgenev has used an incident which is considered professional misconduct in the field of medicine. As humans are prone to err and as they are beings with emotions, such things can happen and that's why it is openly condemned in the medical field.
The lines Turgenev used to show the doctor's self-criticism of his competency felt authentic. I have felt the same way when presented with a medical matter in which I am not confident.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews