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BMJ No 7123 Volume 315
Books Saturday 20/27 December Christmas 1997 issue
Gimme five - books, that is
Jaime Sepulveda, public health director, Mexico
The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
Life and times of a young man with tuberculosis in the pre-antibiotic
era. A must for medical students.
The Alexandria Quartet, Lawrence Durrell
One of the most influential and seductive books I have ever read.
Under the Volcano, Malcolm Lowry
A novel on the intense life of an alcoholic British consul in
Cuernavaca, Mexico, during the 1930s
Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Pulitzer prizewinner, one of the most hilarious books on earth.
Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez Extraordinary novel on falling in love
at an old age, the cholera pandemic existing only as a background.
Back to Gimme 5 index
Jenny Simpson, editor, Clinician in Management
Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres, Minerva
An unputdownable tale, provoking endless reflection on the value
of a human life and the sheer madness of huge organisations.
The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly, Jean-Dominique Bauby
Compulsory reading for anyone involved in health care. I finished
this remarkable book in the course of a long night-it would have
been disrespectful to put it down. I emerged considering very
carefully not only how we help those who are suddenly unable to
communicate but also the need to appreciate each day that you
are lucky enough to possess all your faculties and reasonable
good health.
The House at Pooh Corner, A A Milne
An invaluable aid to analysing the peculiar behaviour of senior
colleagues. In the medical profession, Eeyores and Tiggers abound,
and many an otherwise upsetting encounter can be defused by predicting
the next phrase with an inward smile.
The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller, Mandarin
Not only remarkable for its lovely style, this novel brings a
lesson to us all. Written by a professor of management who wanted
to write-if you can dream it, you can do it.
Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson
Another essential for survival in the medical profession. Our
sense of humour-like the rest of us-needs a regular workout, and
Bill Bryson's books provide a thoroughly and at times achingly
good laugh.
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Richard Smith, editor, BMJ
The Leopard, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Collins Harvill
Written by a Sicilian nobleman, this book includes an unequalled
account of dying and explains why people, especially Sicilians,
often don't want to do what is "sensible."
Anything by Anthony
Trollope (most of his many novels are in Penguin Classics)
I would
never understand the institutions of medicine-like the BMA-by
reading the newspapers, but I do through reading Trollope. And
his books are captivating.
Middlemarch, George Eliot (available in many forms, including Penguin Classics)
Virginia Woolf called it "one of the few English novels written
for grown up people," and Lydgate is one of literature's best
drawn doctors.
The Essays: a Selection by Michel de Montaigne, Penguin Classics
The most startling, modern, and amusing insights into love, death,
sex, conversation-everything that matters-by a 16th century mayor
of Bordeaux.
Collected Poems 1909-1962, T S Eliot, Faber
Single poems contain more wisdom than whole textbooks of medicine.
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Tony Smith, associate editor, BMJ
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway
War medicine and obstetrics in the early years of the century.
Mischief among the Penguins, H W Tilman
A long distance exploring voyage late in the 20th century with
no modern gizmos.
1984, George Orwell
Profoundly influential account of a totalitarian society.
The Population Explosion, P Ehrlich and A Ehrlich
Why and how we have allowed the world's population to more than
double since 1950.
The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins
Influential account of genetics and evolution that denies a divine
creator.
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Pritpal S Tamber, medical student, United Kingdom
Hope, Glen Duncan
The shock that many graduates face in the real word after the
protected environment of university is interlaced in this sometimes
depressing story that on first impressions is about the character's
moral collapse and losing his first love.
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
The only worthy response to this book has to be that of Bruce
Springsteen, who felt sufficiently inspired to pen the brilliant
"The Ghost of Tom Joad" album-no sentence from me could even begin
to describe this moment of utter literary genius.
Lolita, Vladimir Nabakov
Looking at something from somebody else's point of view is an
invaluable tool, but Vladimir Nabakov coaxed me into learning,
understanding, and perhaps even accepting something I never wanted
to-the paedophile.
The Fall of Yugoslavia, Misha Glenny
A three sided war compounded with territorial, religious, political,
and personal conflicts and fuelled by the past is explained with
a clarity that puts the confusing, and often biased, media coverage
to shame.
1984, George Orwell
Perhaps I should not have read this as an emotionally charged
adolescent but, after initial confusion, this book changed me
into an anti-establishment, authority-hating, rebellious youth-at
least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
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Jessica Westall, student editor, studentBMJ
Silk, Alessandro Baricco, Harvill
A 19th century Frenchman travels to Japan-which was then closed
to foreigners-in search of silk and falls in love with a woman
with the eyes of a European who never speaks. The narrative is
woven like silk-slowly, gently, and with a repeating pattern-to
end with a beautiful interwoven tale.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, Minerva
A story about justice and slavery seen through the eyes of a white
child growing up in a small, deep south, American town. Relationships,
fear, and the irrationality of adult society are seen with clarity
and humour by the mischievous Scout and makes me think we should
not try too hard to grow up.
Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder, Phoenix
A history of philosophy wound up in a magical, fictional, fairytale.
To read it is to absorb knowledge without realising-a lesson for
anyone who is involved in teaching.
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The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif Kureishi, Faber
Karim Amir is English, but his father tries his best to stay an
Indian and still can't find his way around the London suburb where
he has lived for 20 years. Karim's father attempts to discover
his Asian roots and becomes an accidental guru. Sharp, witty observation
on modern life, adolescence, and the experience of sharing two
cultures.
The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks, Picador
Oliver Sacks' deep enthusiasm for his patients is catching. I
read this and hoped I would always be fascinated by my world,
whatever I was doing.
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Oliver Sacks
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Steinar Westin, professor of community medicine and general practice,
Norway
The Story of San Michele, Axel Munthe, Folio Society, 1991
Originally published in 1929, this book quickly became a bestseller
and was translated into many languages. Axel Munthe (1857-1949),
a Swede, was a doctor in high class Paris, as well as among the
poor and pest ridden people of Italy, for some time working with
Dr Charcot at the SalpÍrtri|f4re Hospital at the time of mesmerism
and when rabies infected peasants were brought in from Hungary
to end their lives under his futile treatments. But most inspiring
are his reflections on the doctor's role in dealing with symptoms
of boredom and affluent life.
Amok, Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig seems to be among the unjust forgotten ones: he died
too early, and when the Nazis had burnt most of his books, he
wasn't around to have them re-edited. Amok is one of his great short stories, charged with magic and deadly
destiny. Stefan Zweig paints one of those desperate landscapes
unknown to most of us, yet, within the realms of possibility.
An Enemy of the People, Henrik Ibsen
I recently learnt that this Norwegian play had been performed
in Turkey, to the delight of Turkish general practitioners and
district physicians, who in the stubborn Dr Stockman found a reflection
of their own role as modest doctors striving to influence whatever
was wrong in their local communities. A play of power and intrigues,
and the loneliness of the moral upright, but not very diplomatic
doctor of the local bath, suspecting that the water is infested
with some contagious poison. The play precedes Robert Koch by
some 20 years.
Doctors, Eric Segal
This novel by the author of Love Story (remember the film?) digs into the lives of five medical students
at Harvard (if I remember correctly) and gives a very detailed
story of the mouldings and modellings of those future doctors
while still in their "training camp." Great reading for any medical
student, I should think, reminding us that any one of us plays
a lead role in the drama of our own lives.
The Citadel, A J Cronin, first edition 1937, Norwegian edition 1983
Most people know this book from the British television series
(we love those well acted BBC series in Norway) about the modest
and idealistic Dr Manson from a mining village in Wales, demonstrating
his doctor skills and dedication to the poor and exploited miners.
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