Trogdor Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 How many people have read this book? What are your impressions? Can you empathise or agree with Vincent Lam's portrayal of medicine? As a side note, I met Vincent Lam at a book signing and his writting is the most physician-style gibberish ever - I still have no idea what he wrote on my book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blinknoodle Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 I received this book over the holidays. It is a quick read, but I never made it to the end (I think I have 1-2 more chapters to go). I found it to be realistic, but quite bland and uninspiring. I didn't really enjoy it, maybe because I didn't feel like reading it during clerkship, since I experience medicine all day long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CutieYellow Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 I've also started reading it but haven't made it to the end. It is relatively realistic, but perhaps lacks the dry humor that The House of God has. Mind you, i still haven't gotten to the end of that book either. Somehow my schedule just takes over...ugh. CY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachy Posted January 27, 2007 Report Share Posted January 27, 2007 I also didn't like it much. I read the first few chapters and found it pretty boring and didn't make it through to the end either. I was surprised that it managed to win the Giller prize, and expected much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UBCmed09 Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 I read it over Christmas with high hopes but like the general consensus, didn't like it much. That being said, I know at least one person in my class really enjoyed it (but his undergrad was in English Lit). It kind of distracted me with its efforts to be 'literary'. It reminded me of a book I would have had to read & interpret the deeper meanings of in a first year english essay. UBCmed09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheun17 Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 I really enjoyed the beginning of the book... Found that I could really relate to Ming and Fitz during their pre-med years... I also enjoyed the incidents where they are seeing patients... but I was a bit disappointed by the ending... I was expecting to be more inspired lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gob Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 I thoroughly enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahZ Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 I enjoyed it. I read quite a bit, and I don't think I like it because of its medical aspects but more because it is good storytelling (imo). I am not a medical student so can't testify to how realistic it is, but I found the writing exceeded any other medical fiction I have read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxime Posted January 28, 2007 Report Share Posted January 28, 2007 I read it 3 weeks ago (it's a pretty fast read), and found it pretty good (it's a pretty relaxing book to read). I too related to Ming and Fitz's premed and med years, and found it hard to lay down the book for 2 seconds (although, I can't compare it to house of god yet, which I've heard good comments (and which I've just ordered a few days ago on amazon Maxime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitum Medicinus Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I enjoyed it, but I grew up in Toronto and could relate to every setting in that city. The book itself kindof had a bland ending but was a fairly entertaining read. As a first-year med student I could relate to a lot of it. I spoke to a girl in my class who said she "hated it," however. I enjoyed The House of God much more. (And my blog ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious P Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 I found the book good, but not great (half way through I felt like putting it down and leaving it there, but I persisted, and I'm glad that I did so). My favourite medical type book so far has been Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. I haven't read House of God yet, but it's now on my reading list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyEnough Posted January 29, 2007 Report Share Posted January 29, 2007 Fast and dry read. Haven't bothered to finish it yet, am about 2/3 of the way through and have run aground in interest. Its was a cheap buy on the web at the time, I got it for $5.00 in a Chapters special. Not sure if the special is still on, if you really want to read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayner Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 It was not bad - worth reading. Try Abraham Vergasse books... (spelling) My own Counrty The Tennis Partner I enjoyed those both more And Complications.....- even better... 2 posts above has it down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ève Posted February 13, 2007 Report Share Posted February 13, 2007 I'm a med-student-wannabe, and it provided a good insight, from my point of view. Sure, it wasn't uplifting and inspiring, but for how ever long I was immersed in the story, I almost felt like I was part of that world already. And I was looking for more books like that, so thank you guys for providing suggestions. I'm already on Amazon!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moltenflammingcore Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 I loved it. I don't think it was supposed to be inspiring and uplifting. I think one of the main messages in the book is that entering med school doesn't mean you will be guaranteed the perfect life. It is a warning against the jadedness that physicians feel when the job just becomes a job. But most of all it is a reflection on the individuals. That doctors are not super heros and their self interest comes to play in the desicion they make on a daily basis. Their are beautiful things too in the book but like the rest of life those things they come randomly and we don't always fully appreciate those moments for what they are worth. One other thing that was exceptional was the multicultural perspective that the book gave. That's just me though!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medhopeful Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 The book is not really about medicine. It's about the characters, who happen to be in medicine, which makes sense since the author is well versed in that field. Remember, it's a work of fiction, not non-fiction. As such, it's goal is not to educate or inform, but to provide a lovely flowing story, or in this case, a series of stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westernview Posted May 27, 2007 Report Share Posted May 27, 2007 overall, i thought it was a good book. i especially enjoyed the beginning of the book... it was captivating, well written, and interesting. the cultural perspective was unique. i couldn't put it down. then around the midpoint of the book i started to lose interest... and i was short on time... eventually just skimmed to the end... but overall, i think it was probably a great book... i agree with one of the posters above, it's one of those books that you could read and analyze for an english class for themes and meaning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock* Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 That book had some freakish coincidences for me not to relate to the beginning, at least. Ladies and gentlemen, observe the evidence Exhibit A: Its original short story was set during a biochem/molecular bio exam in those drab gyms at Ottawa U. I took biochem at Ottawa U and wrote the same exams in the same gyms. Exhibit B: One main characters was Chinese. I'm Chinese. Exhibit C: That character's name was Ming. My name is also Ming. My jaw pretty much dropped when I motored through the first few pages and took all those details in. Of course, the fact that Ming in the novel was a girl and I'm a guy pretty much ensures that the book wasn't a biography of me--that and the fact that Fitz's awkward creepiness and the general romance in the first half of the novel was so bad it had me laughing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic_Kitten85 Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 I did not find Lam's book that great, although I must say it's a very easy read....swallowed it in 2 days. Found the end a bit unfinished. Nevertheless, having read the book was helpful in my UT interview since one of my interviewers was a colleague of Vincent Lam. Try J. Groopman's "How Doctors Think". Although it's not a fiction, it is a great medical book nonetheless. It is thought out, carefully researched, well-written and truly makes one think. I am just starting med school this fall, so I think Ill re-read this book once im entering clerkship or even residency as the book really emphacises the clinical art of medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JewelLeigh Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 I too highly recommend "Complications" as mentioned above. I read it as a premed and found it fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikkey Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 Indeed, I was disappointed with Bloodletting and other miraculous cures. I also found it unfinished and very scattered. I recently read Better by Atul Gawande and I found it much more interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuantum Posted June 27, 2007 Report Share Posted June 27, 2007 has anyone read The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century by Thomas Friedman? I'm reading it right now and I can't seem to put it down once I get going...excellent book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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