Sergio del Molino, Skin, translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead

Excerpt

An elegantly written work informed by history, psychology, philosophy and sociology, Sergio del Molino’s book is in the main a humane, sensitive and insightful study of the disorders to which our human skin is prey. The disorders are notable for the way that they alter one’s sense of self under the eyes of the uneasy and repulsed, not to mention dermatologists and other medical professionals. Psoriasis is to the fore because Molino has lived with it from the age of twenty-one. It began with what he calls nanoscopic blotches, and soon developed into the itchy and scaly skin that cries out for the scratching which only makes it worse again. Only when he has put his son to bed does he start to scratch and draw blood. Worse again, the condition tells of the future rather than the past, in that it anticipates biological degradation and death and leaves its marks on pillows, bedsheets and clothes. When the condition is at its worst it convinces him that we cannot know or give succour to others in such times. We can hardly heed their pain if we are submerged in our own, and if the fate of the world is of no concern, we might sign off on its extinction without the slightest qualms. …