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A review by thegingerchronicles
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
"TB doesn't just flow through the meandering river of injustice; TB broadens and deepens that river."
I have to give this five stars. We know John Green can write a compelling book - his previous books have made that clear. He is an incredible storyteller, and maybe even more so when that story is true and real. I found that reading about Henry's story and the injustices he faced throughout diagnosis, treatment, and care made a profound impact on the book. Pertinent to his core message, Green wrote about his personal connection to Henry as they got to know each other over a few years. We saw his immense care for this one specific person, and by writing about Henry, he extended that concern to us.
I also connected to the stories, poems, and quotes about and from other notable people involved in the history of TB. It was a well-crafted mix of those who suffered and died from TB, those who cared for TB patients, and those who tried to cure TB. You can tell Green cares so deeply about ending the suffering of those with TB and is desperately trying to evoke that in his reader. And he does that masterfully.
"It reminded me that when we know about suffering, when we are proximal to it, we are capable of extraordinary generosity. We can do and be so much for each other–but only when we see one another in our full humanity, not as statistics or problems, but as people who deserve to be alive in the world."
I wasn't very interested in TB before hearing about this book, but my grandfather had it and survived it as a child. As I've spent more time with him recently, we've been talking about his time in a sanatorium in the late 1930s. I've been a fan of Green and his books for a while, so this seemed like a great intersection between my interests and my grandfather's. I took him to Green's book tour, and it's been wonderful to connect with him over this book.
I have to give this five stars. We know John Green can write a compelling book - his previous books have made that clear. He is an incredible storyteller, and maybe even more so when that story is true and real. I found that reading about Henry's story and the injustices he faced throughout diagnosis, treatment, and care made a profound impact on the book. Pertinent to his core message, Green wrote about his personal connection to Henry as they got to know each other over a few years. We saw his immense care for this one specific person, and by writing about Henry, he extended that concern to us.
I also connected to the stories, poems, and quotes about and from other notable people involved in the history of TB. It was a well-crafted mix of those who suffered and died from TB, those who cared for TB patients, and those who tried to cure TB. You can tell Green cares so deeply about ending the suffering of those with TB and is desperately trying to evoke that in his reader. And he does that masterfully.
"It reminded me that when we know about suffering, when we are proximal to it, we are capable of extraordinary generosity. We can do and be so much for each other–but only when we see one another in our full humanity, not as statistics or problems, but as people who deserve to be alive in the world."
I wasn't very interested in TB before hearing about this book, but my grandfather had it and survived it as a child. As I've spent more time with him recently, we've been talking about his time in a sanatorium in the late 1930s. I've been a fan of Green and his books for a while, so this seemed like a great intersection between my interests and my grandfather's. I took him to Green's book tour, and it's been wonderful to connect with him over this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic