The Seaside Library

Author: AJ Cronin Read in: October 2019 The Citadel is an intriguing book; more so because of its name. The title in relation to the book may be understood in many different ways, but I would like to think of it as a kind of fortress built of ideals, which is kept safe zealously but for occasional compromises which lead to its downfall. The book details the shortcoming every person makes – comprising on their ideals. The Citadel is thus not just the story of a doctor’s life in the 1900s, but it is one which reflects all our lives- spent in the pursuit of happiness- in a few hundred pages. Andrew Manson is a textbook doctor; released from college with pretentious training derived from outdated tomes and fully unequipped to handle real patients with troubles extending beyond health, a life quite different from dissecting cadavers. Despite giving us an initial perception of ineptness, his efforts to stick to his passion for research and his duty towards his patients gives him respectab...