Ernesto Durán sabe que está enfermo. Aunque los resultados clínicos digan lo contrario, desde que se ha separado de su mujer y vive solo, padece todos los síntomas de un mal que, según sospecha, puede ser mortal. Su obsesión va más allá de la mera hipocondría, y tiene la certeza de que sólo hay un médico que puede salvarlo. Pero el elegido, el doctor Javier Miranda, en esos mismos momentos se enfrenta a una tragedia personal: un diagnóstico irrefutable que señala que su padre tiene cáncer, y le quedan pocas semanas por vivir. Mientras Durán necesita desesperadamente hablar de su caso y de él mismo, el doctor Miranda se siente rehén del silencio, es incapaz de hacer con su padre lo que siempre ha hecho con sus pacientes: decir la verdad. La vivencia de la enfermedad en estas dos personas que ocupan posiciones tan distintas, el médico que sabe acerca de la vida y de la muerte y no quiere o no puede hablar, y el enfermo de angustia que sólo sabe que su sufrimiento no le deja vivir, es la columna vertebral que sostiene a esta hermosa novela, madura, adulta, reflexiva y refinada, que nos susurra desde su primera página algo que está en nuestra naturaleza: vivir mata.

The main focus is on the relationship between Dr. Andrés Miranda and his father, who is unaware he is dying from cancer. Andrés has always believed he should be frank with his patients about the severity of their illness, but is conflicted when it comes to talking to his father.
Alongside this is the story of Ernesto Durán, a former patient who Andrés dismissed as a hypochondriac, whose desperate emails are secretly answered by his secretary in Andrés' name.

A short novel with a hefty punch, dealing with death, mortality, deception of self and others, and the blurred boundary between deception and realism, and how we use both, wilfully or otherwise, to navigate life and impending death. ( )

"The father and son dynamic and relationship was pitch perfect. There's an inherent awkwardness with the soon to die and its awkwardness tempered with confusion because no matter how much you love the person you never know what to say and do. "
read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.com/2012/12/sickness-alberto-barrera-tyszka.html ( )

My mum read this novella for her bookgroup and reported the variety of reactions to it. Some found it almost impossible to read but I think it was because the subject (a man dying of cancer) too close to the bone. I haven't had direct experience of anyone close to me dying of cancer and therefore I think I approached the book more subjectively than some, plus I think the brevity of the story prevented me from becoming too attached to any of the characters.

The plot follows a doctor who is finding it very difficult to tell his father that he (the father) is terminally ill with cancer. His struggle with relating this information is interspersed with a subplot - and one which drives the story forward and kept me turning the 150 pages - about the doctor's secretary, who begins an email correspondence with one of his patients.

I found that although I liked the succinct writing of this novella, I really wanted more information and description about everyone and everything. For instance, we get a glimpse into the hard life of the cleaner, whose son is becoming drawn into a local gang, Venezuelan politics are touched upon very lightly and an incident on a boat is narrated sparsely with little context or follow through...it all left me feeling not exactly unsatisfied, but sort of emotionally uninvolved somehow. Still, an interesting read. ( )

Andres Miranda is a doctor in the middle of a lot of drama--he's just found out his father is dying but can't bring himself to tell him, AND he's got a uber-hypochondriac patient who desperately wants the doctor to validate his firmly possessed notion that he is gravely ill. This slim novel covers a lot of ground in a quiet way, introducing philosophical questions about illness and dying, pain and lying. Translated from the original Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa, the lyric style comes alive and keeps the reader turning the pages as these stories come to their inevitable ends. At times hilarious, at others, heartbreaking, this is a very impressive first novel for this Venezuelan author. ( )