The Doctor Is In... Literature
Doctors of one kind or another have often been portrayed in many ways through fictional literature over the years, including the evil doctor, the mad scientist, the quack and the idealistic doc. Whether good or evil, stories about medical practitioners have always grabbed the attention of the reader.
Doctors often appear as supporting characters - such as Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes, Ian Fleming's Dr. No who battles James Bond for world domination and Dr. Van Helsing, the doc in Bram Stoker's Dracula who helps to track down the bloodthirsty vampire - but many authors have used doctors as their main character to provide insight into the way doctors operate.
From Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde to H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau to the classic Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, make an appointment with these doctors and more.
Evil Doctors in Literature
The Boys From Brazil
Ira Levin
The Angel of Death Dr. Mengele is fictionalized in this tale of a young Nazi hunter tracking down a group of SS officers.
Dr. No
Ian Fleming
Bond discovers Dr. No is out for world domination and plots to unleash his vengeance on the United States of America.
The Island of Dr. Moreau
H.G. Wells
Dr. Moreau, a vivisectionist, runs genetic experiments, using grafting techniques to fuse the native animals into parodies of human beings.
The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris
Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer, helps a FBI agent catch another serial killer.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson
Jekyll experiments with a drug that splits his personality into good and evil and gradually slips into the guise of the depraved Hyde.
The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu
Sax Rohmer
Fu-Manchu, a master poisoner and chemist, captures engineers from Europe to take back to China for some larger criminal purpose.
Monster
Frank Peretti
Dr. Adam Burkhardt, mutilates a chimpanzee to the point where it grows into a bigfoot-like creature, after which it escapes and kills several people.
Dr. Nikola
Guy Boothby
Dr. Niloa is an occultist anti-hero who seeks immortality and world domination.
Old House of Fear
Russell Kirk
An island for sale is controlled by a madman named Dr. Edmund Jackman who attempts to use an old lady's money for evil ends.
Jack the Ripper
Stuart James
Some theories suggest that Jack the Ripper was a doctor who killed five prostitues to exact revenge.
Good Doctors in Literature
The Doctor is Sick
Anthony Burgess
A doctor with a brain ailment is confined to a neurological ward while being entertained by his wife's friends.
Dracula
Bram Stoker
Dr. Van Helsing is called in by former student, Dr. John Seward, to help patient Lucy Westenra and to eventually hunt down Dracula.
Macbeth
William Shakespeare
The doctor is called into diagnose Lady Macbeth's condition but is scared to tell Macbeth for fear of his wrath.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Dr. Watson is Sherlock Holmes' assistant and flatmate and is the narrator of all but four Sherlock Holmes stories.
The Story of Dr. Dolittle
Hugh Lofting
The eccentric Dr. Dolittle masters animal language with the help of his parrot and finds his calling in practicing animal medicine.
Doctor Zhivago
Boris Pasternak
The epic romance between Yuri Zhivago and Lara during the Russian Revolution.
Dr. Thorne
Anthony Trollope
A good doctor who brings up the bastard daughter of his dead brother as his own.
Saturday
Ian McEwan
A neurosurgeon is accosted by a psychopath and then proceeds to save the psychopath's life.
Cider House Rules
John Irving
A saintly doctor, Dr. Wilbur Larch, directs an orphanage and trains his favorite orphan Wilbur as an obstetrician.
The Little Stranger
Sarah Waters
A country doctor with humble beginnings treats members of the family that lives in Hundreds Hall, an 18th century estate.
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