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han_reardonsmith's review
4.0
Short, sweet, gentle, compassionate, and soothing. Partly a reflection on the importance of convalescence—of having patience and time for adequate rest and recovery, and for striking the right balance between extremes—and partly on the role of the modern GP (and patient). Certainly not as scathing and incisive about the contemporary condition of (settler-)colonial society’s health impacts, and the deep flaws in its practices of medicine as Inflamed (by Marya & Patel), but somewhat more gentle and optimistic about ways to offer and receive care (whether from medical practitioners, from carers, or from ourselves). Certainly it felt reassuring to me in a moment in which I’m experiencing a POTS flare and needing to pace more stringently than “usual.” Audiobook, read by the author in a gentle and lilting Scottish accent, highly recommended.
katyab's review
5.0
Brilliant, important, and so accessible (only 100 pages or so, as well!). I found this really interesting and readable, and it's completely changed my outlook on illness – both the mental and physical kind. It's made me realise how rest is becoming less valued or at least less observed in society. Possibilities for convalescence are rarer, or only available in extreme circumstances, whereas it should be readily accessible to everyone who needs it.
I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to understand the importance of rest and taking care of yourself and others. Our bodies and minds are fragile things, and we should all recognise that recovery varies from person to person, and isn't always a straight line going up.
I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to understand the importance of rest and taking care of yourself and others. Our bodies and minds are fragile things, and we should all recognise that recovery varies from person to person, and isn't always a straight line going up.
madisnowg's review
3.0
after my long and gorgeous medical history i do think there’s a ceiling to how well i can take health advice from a white man with a medical degree named gavin, so the 3 star rating is not personal. i think this is a good synthesis on different idea about convalescence, and might be helpful to someone figuring out how to heal. i really enjoyed his exploration of healing as akin to gardening — a careful cultivation of balance and wellness, tending to the body like a plant.
at points, this reminded me of a professor who kept regaling me one semester with stories of two different chronically ill people she knew; one she described as “choosing to not let her sickness define her,” and the other as “succumbing to her illness and giving up on her life.” what that professor was actually describing was two different people experiencing objectively different levels of illness, but non disabled people love to construct theories of morality around sickness to feel safe in the knowledge they could “overcome” whatever might happen to them if they were to become sick. that isn’t the approach the author takes here, but he doesn’t explicitly renounce that reading of his work regarding the role that elements like placebo and mindset play in the experience of illness, which gives me the heebie jeebies a little bit.
at points, this reminded me of a professor who kept regaling me one semester with stories of two different chronically ill people she knew; one she described as “choosing to not let her sickness define her,” and the other as “succumbing to her illness and giving up on her life.” what that professor was actually describing was two different people experiencing objectively different levels of illness, but non disabled people love to construct theories of morality around sickness to feel safe in the knowledge they could “overcome” whatever might happen to them if they were to become sick. that isn’t the approach the author takes here, but he doesn’t explicitly renounce that reading of his work regarding the role that elements like placebo and mindset play in the experience of illness, which gives me the heebie jeebies a little bit.
cgpc's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
marillenbaum's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.5
A quick, helpful, thoughtful exploration of the nature of recovering from illness and injury. Francis reminds us what our present push for speedy, cost-cutting medical care costs, and gives both grace and hope for those dealing with an extended recovery process.