Customer Reviews:
 Reflections on illness April 8, 1998
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
First published in 1624, this series of meditations on illness were published following John Donne's sickness during late November and early December of 1623 (when he either had typhus or relapsing fever). Each of his ruminations are recorded in groups of three: meditation, expostulation, and prayer. Donne's insights about the "variable, therefore miserable condition of man" will always be pertinent as long as humans continue to fall prey to disease. The reading is a little slow at times, but there are some fine pieces in this book, including his famous meditation XVII, "No man is an island", that Hemingway quoted when he wrote FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS. Even if you don't read all of the essays, this book is worth obtaining just to pore over meditation XVII.
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