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najdvss's review against another edition
5.0
this is the most important book i have ever read or will ever read in my life.
me and certain members of my family have always had an inclination towards anything medical. i was too blind to go into practice (although my interest never waned), but both my cousins are doing Medicine in university right now. we think its all inspired by our grandmother. nan worked as a nurse after wwII in several hospitals in england. she’s a proper englishwoman and does not disclose her feelings, but is always able to tell us a tale regarding the days she spent on the different wards. most of her tales are from the tuberculosis ward and midwifery. she could tell us the most traumatising stories with her telltale lopsided smile that says ‘this really should have sent me to therapy but i kept goin for the queen’. she’s been through lots of shit through her whole life and is taking revenge on it all (the war, her ex husband and the two illnesses shes faced) by being the oldest and most physically healthy family member we have. because she usually only tells us some stories that i reckon are heavily edited with her years of age, i mostly wanted to read this book because i did in fact think it would give me some insight in to how her life was and life still is for nurses and doctors working at the nhs. my expectations for life as a doctor (which i never got to experience as my dreams were succesfully trampled at 15 by a psych who finally got it through to me that I could not practice medicine being colourblind with eyesight of 12%) were mostly shaped by my nan’s anecdotes and most (if not all) of the episodes of house m.d. i definitely think this book changes my perspective massively. its not only magnified my respect for my grandmother, but also the gynae doctor who’s ‘overseeing’ my endometriosis. (the brackets are because shes not listening to my wishes very well, ive been in hospital often enough that i know when and when i dont want/need a surgery that’s unnecessary, but i can see that she tries to help in some odd way, and shes the first whos taken my symptoms seriously).
medical staff are genuine soldiers. risking their lives every day for the survival of others. that had never been as clear before as its been after reading this (you can tell this book really sent me on a roller coaster of emotions and realisations). even after reading this i still think id have liked to practice medicine, but i will never take the tales my nan tells me as lightly anymore, nor any other story from my family members who have been or are still in the medical field. the letter at the end of the book, rallying every reader to do something about the blatant attacks in medical staff, is so important. im gonna get everyone i know to read this book actually. because yes its got hilarious anecdotes in it and makes you think youre definitely much better than all the silly’uns that waltz into a&e with a flashlight up their arse, but it is also heartbreaking, confronting, and hopefully it will get the stick out of my housemate’s spineless arse whos been cussing out every union strike imaginable because ‘they cant have it that hard’.
what i meant to say in this way too long anecdote is: read this book, share it with everyone you know. its beyond important.
a fun nan anecdote regarding this book thats very off topic (thus didnt directly make it into the review) but very fun: she had to spend a few days with us after a nasty fall so we could make sure she got back on her feet. she loves to read and we had none of her usual preferred books (and shes read most of what we own from her babysitting me days), so i put this one on her bedside table, telling her that maybe she would find it interesting seeing shes worked as a nurse. (i had not read this book yet at the time). she thanked me for it and we all went to bed. next morning i brought her some tea and saw the book on the table with the bookmark being only 3 pages or so in (a very small number for nan, devourer of books). i asked her if she’d liked the book. she tells me she couldn’t read much of it. i assumed she just wanted to sleep the fall off. now that ive read it, i realise the abhorrent use of ‘fuck’ ‘bloody’ and ‘shit’ that occurred fairly quickly may have been the reason why my good ole nan put this book down.
me and certain members of my family have always had an inclination towards anything medical. i was too blind to go into practice (although my interest never waned), but both my cousins are doing Medicine in university right now. we think its all inspired by our grandmother. nan worked as a nurse after wwII in several hospitals in england. she’s a proper englishwoman and does not disclose her feelings, but is always able to tell us a tale regarding the days she spent on the different wards. most of her tales are from the tuberculosis ward and midwifery. she could tell us the most traumatising stories with her telltale lopsided smile that says ‘this really should have sent me to therapy but i kept goin for the queen’. she’s been through lots of shit through her whole life and is taking revenge on it all (the war, her ex husband and the two illnesses shes faced) by being the oldest and most physically healthy family member we have. because she usually only tells us some stories that i reckon are heavily edited with her years of age, i mostly wanted to read this book because i did in fact think it would give me some insight in to how her life was and life still is for nurses and doctors working at the nhs. my expectations for life as a doctor (which i never got to experience as my dreams were succesfully trampled at 15 by a psych who finally got it through to me that I could not practice medicine being colourblind with eyesight of 12%) were mostly shaped by my nan’s anecdotes and most (if not all) of the episodes of house m.d. i definitely think this book changes my perspective massively. its not only magnified my respect for my grandmother, but also the gynae doctor who’s ‘overseeing’ my endometriosis. (the brackets are because shes not listening to my wishes very well, ive been in hospital often enough that i know when and when i dont want/need a surgery that’s unnecessary, but i can see that she tries to help in some odd way, and shes the first whos taken my symptoms seriously).
medical staff are genuine soldiers. risking their lives every day for the survival of others. that had never been as clear before as its been after reading this (you can tell this book really sent me on a roller coaster of emotions and realisations). even after reading this i still think id have liked to practice medicine, but i will never take the tales my nan tells me as lightly anymore, nor any other story from my family members who have been or are still in the medical field. the letter at the end of the book, rallying every reader to do something about the blatant attacks in medical staff, is so important. im gonna get everyone i know to read this book actually. because yes its got hilarious anecdotes in it and makes you think youre definitely much better than all the silly’uns that waltz into a&e with a flashlight up their arse, but it is also heartbreaking, confronting, and hopefully it will get the stick out of my housemate’s spineless arse whos been cussing out every union strike imaginable because ‘they cant have it that hard’.
what i meant to say in this way too long anecdote is: read this book, share it with everyone you know. its beyond important.
a fun nan anecdote regarding this book thats very off topic (thus didnt directly make it into the review) but very fun: she had to spend a few days with us after a nasty fall so we could make sure she got back on her feet. she loves to read and we had none of her usual preferred books (and shes read most of what we own from her babysitting me days), so i put this one on her bedside table, telling her that maybe she would find it interesting seeing shes worked as a nurse. (i had not read this book yet at the time). she thanked me for it and we all went to bed. next morning i brought her some tea and saw the book on the table with the bookmark being only 3 pages or so in (a very small number for nan, devourer of books). i asked her if she’d liked the book. she tells me she couldn’t read much of it. i assumed she just wanted to sleep the fall off. now that ive read it, i realise the abhorrent use of ‘fuck’ ‘bloody’ and ‘shit’ that occurred fairly quickly may have been the reason why my good ole nan put this book down.
chickenlil64's review against another edition
2.0
I'm glad this guy quit being a doctor because the way he thought about his patients was honestly kind of appalling and I'm surprised his lawyers let him write this book. Absolutely not what I was expecting after having had this on my TBR for like two years.
rainey_el's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
zinatakara's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This book was funny but also truly eye opening. I read it based on a TikTok recommendation now I feel like I must watch the show.