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BMJ No 7123 Volume 315
Books Saturday 20/27 December Christmas 1997 issue
Gimme five - books, that is
Frank Davidoff, editor, Annals of Internal Medicine
Tumbling in the Hay, Oliver St John Gogarty, Reynal and Hitchcock, 1939
Quirky, engaging, Fellini-like novel about life as a medical student/bicycle
racer in Dublin in the 1930s. It ain't like it used to be.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs, Random House (Modern Library Edition), 1993
An unblinking look at what really happens on city streets and
why. The result is devastating; it turns out that the emperors
of modern urban planning had no clothes on at all. A landmark
of 20th century social criticism. Also good reading, funny; she
has a very sharp tongue.
The Language Instinct, Stephen Pinker, Morrow, 1994
Highly readable but also scholarly (Chomskian) account of the
way language really develops and is used. Punctures a number of
pompous people and ideas along the way; a lot of good quotes from
Woody Allen and the like.
Landscape and Memory, Simon Schama, Knopf, 1995
Not exactly easy reading, but you'll never look at the natural
world the same way again. You finally understand that what you
see when you look at the landscape is as much myths in your head
as rocks and the trees. Full of juicy stories about the great
and not so great. Could also pick one or another of Schama's books,
like Citizens-the one about the French revolution: awesome.
The Gift. Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, Lewis Hyde, Random House (Vintage Books), 1983
Pulls together everything from Walt Whitman and Ezra Pound to
medical journal publishing with the common thread of gift giving.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Tony Delamothe, deputy editor, BMJ
The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas, Gertrude Stein
"What an interesting life you must have had living with me," Stein
intimated to her partner of 25 years. "You should write your autobiography."
Somehow Alice never got round to it, so Gertrude wrote it for
her. What you get is the several times larger than life Gertrude
Stein. Despite having been a star medical student at Johns Hopkins,
Stein failed her finals (in 1902)-"You don't know what it is to
be bored." Oliver Wendell Holmes had told her that a medical education
opened all doors, and it did: Stein's fingerprints can be found
all over 20th century culture. |
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Gertrude Stein |
A Book of Common Prayer, Joan Didion
"We tell ourselves stories in order to live," begins a collection
of Joan Didion's essays. And all of her work, fiction and non-fiction,
reminds us that making sense of our lives is one of the supreme
human tasks. Didion's heroines seem perilously close to losing
the plot as they travel between California and central America,
trying to impose on events a believable narrative line.
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, Thomas Lynch
I think of undertakers as those stooges with illfitting suits
and expressions to match, reflecting emotions they can't possibly
be feeling, funeral after funeral, day after day. This caricature
is probably unfair to all of them-it certainly is to Lynch, who
has more interesting things to say about The Really Big Issues
than most writers, perhaps because he's so close to them, funeral
after funeral, day after day.
The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
Germany is the 20th century's "special case," which those of us
of a certain frame of mind want to have explained for us. This
initially simple tale of a relationship between a student and
an older woman has profound things to say about the recent German
past and why humans make the choices they do.
Collected Poems, Judith Wright
South of my day's circle, part of my blood's country,
rises that
tableland
I turn to this collection whenever my Australian roots
need nourishing. Wright lived on the edge of the rainforest and
campaigned for the environment and the Aborigines a generation
before these were fashionable-yet she was recognised as Australia's
foremost poet within her lifetime.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Michael Farrell, consultant psychiatrist, United Kingdom
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Ulysses, James Joyce
James Joyce dropped out of medical school and indicates what great
things some of you might have done if you pursued a different
career. Each chapter is focused on a particular body organ and
sense, but it will take some deciphering. The doctor's behaviour
in the book consists of drinking and carousing. A single and complete
education in English literature.
Amongst Women, John McGahern
Finely crafted about male emotional tyranny of women-a suitable
reminder of all those bastard consultants who behaved intolerably
to everyone on their ward rounds. |
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James Joyce |
Junky, William Burroughs
The best book by this reprobate addict describing the addict's
life. He advises when seeking drug prescriptions: "You need a
good bedside manner or you will get nowhere with doctors."
Diana: Her Own Story, Andrew Morton
A tragic tale, but you can learn a good bedside manner from the
Queen of Hearts.
Medical Nemesis, Ivan Illich
A flawed but brilliant critique of modern medicine that seems
to have been lost in history but is as ever relevant today.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Carlo Fonseka, professor of physiology, Sri Lanka
The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins
Best book on evolution.
The Double Helix, James Watson
Gives the lowdown on scientific research.
The Culture of Contentment, John Kenneth Galbraith
Tells why socialism should not be allowed to die.
Preparing for the 21st Century, Paul Kennedy
Relevant history on a grand scale.
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald
Good for philosophical relaxation.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Paul Glasziou, general practitioner, Australia
The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, Oliver Sacks, Harper and Row, 1987
Can stories of unusual neurological problems really be entertainment?
Sacks makes them so, but also poses many thorny questions about
the nature of disease and our sense of self.
Moments of Reprieve, Primo Levi
Levi
has written several books about his time in Auschwitz, but this
is probably the most readable. For example, "Small Causes" tells
how his ill gotten half bowl of frozen soup leads to an illness
that results in his "abandonment" by the fleeing Nazis-a "mistake"
which saved his life.
How We Know What Isn't So, Gilovich
Dr Who once said: "You humans are so good at seeing patterns that
aren't there." There are several good books that expand on this
insight and discuss our routine errors in thinking and judgment,
but this is probably the most readable.
The Dilbert Principle, Scott Adams, Harper Business, 1996.
This is the most amusing critique of modern non-evidence based
managerialism. Essential reading for those who want to understand
the problem, but afterwards I would then suggest Deming's Out of the Crisis.
Mediterranean Light, Martha Rose Shulman, Bantam, 1989
Was there a rule against cook books? Shulman writes with such
affection and wit about this healthy and delicious cuisine. One
of my favourite books to browse at random, and the mushroom risotto
is the best I've tried.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Brian Haynes, physician, Canada
Candide by Voltaire and Candy by Terry Southern
To help (and amuse) all those who have trouble saying no.
The Wealthy Barber. The Common Sense Guide to Successful Financial
Planning, David Chiton, Stoddart Publishing, 1989
All people starting out in life who wanna get rich quick should
read this-it will help you protect yourself from yourself. (Wish
I'd read it when I was young!)
The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood, Bantam-Seal Books Reveals how and why women
have difficulty eating meat that looks on the plate as it is in
real life-for example, fish-and how women can overcome this.
Early books by Kurt Vonnegut Jr, especially Slaughterhouse Five (1969), God Bless You Mr Rosewater (1965), Welcome to the Monkey House (1950), Dell Publishing
Some of the best modern satire and insight
into human nature that I know.
Another Country, James Baldwin, Dell Publishing, 1960
The truth about sex, race, and society, Manhattan soul version.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Jonathan Hobson, medical student, United Kingdom
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
I'm sure everybody knows the story; a beautiful tale of childhood
and justice in a southern town. Very emotive and a wonderful read.
House of God, Samuel Shem
A very cynical look at hospital medicine written by an American
intern under a pseudonym. Some great advice-for example, any bodily
cavity is accessible with a long enough needle and a strong enough
arm. Should probably be read by all medical students just to show
that even the annoying incidents on the wards can be humorous
if one is cynical enough not to get worn down.
The Ultimate Alphabet, Michael Wilkes
Written, or rather drawn, in 1986, this book features 26 paintings,
one for each letter. In each one there are thousands of objects
all starting with the same letter; the aim is to identify as many
of them as possible. Always good fun.
The Orton Diaries, Joe Orton
A great insight into the depravity of 1960s bohemian London. Very
interesting and contrasting-accounts of his father's funeral on
one page, stories of his exploits in the lavatories in London
on the next.
The Decameron, Boccaccio
A series of 60 or so vignettes, similar to the Canterbury Tales, set in 15th century (I think!) Italy. Good to know what really
went on back then. People from all places and all ages seem to
enjoy doing the same things, and laugh at pretty much similar
humour.
Back to Gimme 5 index
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