The Visit of the Royal Physician

{{about||the opera based on the novel|The Visit of the Royal Physician (opera)}}

{{Infobox book

| name = The Visit of the Royal Physician

| image = File:LivläkarensBesök.jpg

| caption = First edition

| author = Per Olov Enquist

| title_orig = Livläkarens besök

| translator = Tiina Nunnally

| country = Sweden

| language = Swedish

| publisher = Norstedts Förlag

| pub_date = 1999

| english_pub_date = 2001

| pages = 387

| isbn = 91-1-300755-6

}}

The Visit of the Royal Physician ({{langx|sv|Livläkarens besök}}) is a 1999 novel by the Swedish writer Per Olov Enquist. It is known as The Royal Physician's Visit in the United States, translated into English by Tiina Nunnally. Against the backdrop of political turbulence and the enlightenment in the second half of the 18th century, the narrative revolves around the court of the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark, and the romance between the king's physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee, and the queen, Caroline Mathilde. The novel won the August Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.{{Cite web|url=http://augustpriset.se/tidigare-ar/alla-vinnare|title=Alla Vinnare|language=Swedish|work=augustpriset.se|publisher=Swedish Publishers’ Association|accessdate=2012-01-05|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812013116/http://augustpriset.se/tidigare-ar/alla-vinnare|archivedate=2011-08-12}}{{Cite web|author=Staff writer|date=2004-03-30|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/mar/30/news.awardsandprizes|title=Collective's thriller makes foreign fiction shortlist|work=The Guardian|accessdate=2012-01-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912234546/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/mar/30/news.awardsandprizes|archive-date=2014-09-12|url-status=live}}

Reception

John de Falbe of The Spectator wrote that "Enquist has imagined this appalling drama with immense sensitivity and intelligence." De Falbe continued: "Enquist writes in short, jerky sentences which often seem to repeat themselves. Although disconcerting at first, the technique works brilliantly. The atmosphere is suitably nervy, while the shifting ground beneath the apparent repetitions is vibrant with stealth and subterfuge. ... The swirling currents - emotional, political, social, spiritual - are so vivid that we cannot doubt the relevance of this historical tale."{{Cite web|last=Falbe|first=John de|date=2001-09-28|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/books/20218/part_2/madness-again-in-the-state-of-denmark.thtml|title=Madness again in the state of Denmark|work=The Spectator|accessdate=2012-01-05}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Bruce Bawer reviewed the book for The New York Times, and wrote that "Enquist's principal characters are realized with a vividness and subtlety that place the book in the front ranks of contemporary literary fiction", and called the prose "brisk, lucid, vigorous, penetrating, rich in arresting epigrams and marked by calculated repetitions that give the novel a touch of hypnotic power."{{Cite web|last=Bawer|first=Bruce|authorlink=Bruce Bawer|date=2001-11-18|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/18/books/take-my-queen-please.html|title=Take My Queen, Please|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2012-01-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527165929/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/18/books/take-my-queen-please.html|archive-date=2015-05-27|url-status=live}}

Adaptation

The novel was adapted into an opera by Bo Holten, premiered in 2009.Gianna Chiesa Isnardi -Storia e cultura della Scandinavia: Uomini e mondi del Nord

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2015 il quale ha altresì rielaborato il proprio racconto nel libretto per l'omonima opera (Livlægens Besøg, 2008) la cui musica si deve al compositore danese Bo Holten