For me, "passer au scalpel" implies cutting to the quick, getting to the bones of the matter, laying them bare and analyzing them.

It is always possible too that this formulation, with "scalpel de la plume", which seems very odd or contrived, may be in reference to the use of scalpels for cutting quills, so it may be necessary to keep both words if part of a thread through the document, for instance.

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Note added at 13 hrs (2007-04-22 08:17:16 GMT)
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ANCIEN SCALPEL OU TAILLE PLUME NAPOLEON III MEDECINE. 28,00 EUR, PLANETE COLLECTIONS. SERVICE A DECOUPER EN ARGENT EPOQUE NAPOLEON III. 44,00 EUR ...
collections.search.ebay.fr/napoleon_Autres_W0QQsacatZ117830

pen knife Quill makers use a special knife. A surgical scalpel makes an excellent pen-knife. The blade should be fairly stout, as the edge of a thin blade ...
www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5615/quill/english.html

Mike needs to wield a scalpel to reveal what looks to me like an interesting story, and to uncover the good writing underneath
http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/2005/04/e...

"Quill on Scalpel • Plume et scalpel" is a column in the Canadian Journal of Surgery

example of the artist-critic who probes deeply and profoundly into the culture around him. He may wield a quill pen, but it has a scalpel at its tip. ...
www.lastdaysofdisco.com/reviews/newsday.html

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Note added at 11 heures (2007-04-22 05:59:15 GMT)
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"passer au scapel de la plume",pour moi, ce n'est pas rapporter avec précision, c'est disséquer avec précision, il y a critique incisive. cela dit je ne suis pas sûre qu'il ne s'agisse pas là d'un cliché mal employé: y a-t-il vraiment des commentaires critiques sur les "confidences" ?

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Note added at 16 heures (2007-04-22 11:26:59 GMT)
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si le journaliste reprend les confidences du Dr et en fait une analyse
peut-être "analyzed with a surgical precision" or "dissected with precision" peut convenir
mais peut-être qu'en fait le journaliste effectivement rapportent les confidences du Dr, qu'à eux deux, ils écrivent un livre: la matière étant les confidences, le journaliste apportant son savoir-faire en matière d'écriture, son style étant connu comme étant particulièrement incisif, mordant
incisive, aculeate
written with a pen as sharp as a scapel ??
with a pen and a mind as acutely tuned/precise as a sharp/fine scapel ?

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Note added at 4 jours (2007-04-26 05:23:43 GMT)
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on sait maintenant "pour sûr" que les confidences ont été écrites en collaboration, que c'est ce que révèle le Dr qui "mérite le scapel" et non pas le Dr l
le fameux docteur est chirurgien.

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Note added at 4 jours (2007-04-26 05:33:47 GMT)
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à propos d'un autre livre (Diagnosis - Terminal: An Anthology of Medical Terror)
From alternative medicine to murder, this anthology reveals terrors surgical, psychological and institutional. In stark, operating-room light these 14 writers take *scalpel and pen* to the body and soul of humanity as it lies stretched out on the stainless-steel page. Rendered in laser-sharp detail, these *incisive* narratives reveal human needs, hurts, desires, and fears.


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Note added at 4 jours (2007-04-26 05:50:25 GMT)
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rendered in laser-sharp detail by the incisive ZZZ ?
la comparaison directe "with chirirgical precision" n'est peut-être pas appropriée si dans ce livre il est question de chirurgiens maladroits
ou
rendered in laser-harsh detail by the incisive ZZZ with who wields a pen as sharp as a scapel should be