Book Review of Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt Adam Kay's This Is Going to Hurt is both sad, funny and wise. Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt describes his life as a junior doctor during the years leading up to his resignation. Written in a dry satirical tone, Adam doesn't hold back and shows the NHS in its raw state. The staff are overworked, underpaid and lacking in sleep. Humorous and heartbreaking in equal measures, Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt shows that there is nothing glamorous about being a junior doctor. There are however, enough feel good moments to remind him and the reader of the value of being a doctor, until there aren't .... As a memoir, it has proven hugely popular, perhaps because it validates from within the institution, what the public have thought and feared for a long time. Book Club Questions on Adam Kay's This is Going to Hurt
Book Club Questions on This is Going to Hurt (if you haven't read the book!) Adam Kay has made a bit of a career for himself in T.V since quitting his role as a doctor.
Personal Response to Adam Kay's This Is Going to HurtI have heard that the TV show of This is Going to Hurt, is pitched as a comedy set on a labour ward. This suprised me, as ultimately the book is looking at the good in humanity, but how, at times, we seem to do everything we can, institutionally and personally to wreck that goodness. Overall, depite its wit I found this book to be fundamentally sad. It reminded me a little of Christopher Button's The Secret Diary of a Student Nurse.
Book Review on Victoria Hislop's The Island Victoria Hislop's The Island is a great debut novel. Victoria Hislop's The Island is her debut book, set on a fictional Greek island both pre-war and during the Second World War. The story begins with Alexis Fielding who, at a cross-roads in her own young life, wants to find out about her mother, Sofia's secret past. Before heading off to Greece, Sofia gives Alexis a letter addressed to an old friend of hers, Fontina. It is Fontina, the best friend of Alexis's grandmother, Maria, who is able to provide many of the answers to the questions that Sofia had never been willing to answer. There follows the telling of Alexis's family history. Both Alexis's grandmother and great-grandmother had caught leprosy and had been banished to the island of Spinalonga, a colony where all leprosy sufferers were sent. The novel reveals what life was like both on the colony, and for the family members of those who have been sent. The link between the island and the mainland, is Girogis, Maria's husband, who took provisions to and from the island. Victoria Hislop presents Spinalonga as a place of far more hope than the reader might initially expect. The island is a place of love as well as death. Entertainment and industry flourish and people prosper, especially after the arrival of the lepers sent from Athens. Spinalonga is a place that people dread to go to, but once there, don't necessarily want to leave. The novel heads toward a conclusion as a cure for leprosy is found and the islanders are free to leave. There is though one more dramatic twist that prevents a 'happy ever after' ending. Read more about the novel here. Book club questions on Victoria Hislop's The Island
Book club questions on Victoria Hislop's The Island (if you haven't read the book!)
 What a wonderful place to promote The Island from! Personal Response to Victoria Hislop's The Island I wasn't sure whether I would enjoy The Island or not. Love affairs, ending in tragedy; boring, but rich husbands; unreliable lovers; wild daughter and loyal daughters - it all seemed a heady romantic mix and family saga, that I wasn't sure was my cup of tea.
The structure was brave and accessible so that was good. The opening of Alexis travelling, provided a good reason for telling the story of her mother. To my mind, the development of Sofia's teen years were a little rushed. And, while I didn't bother to calculate the dates it seemed odd that Fontina was still in such good health, running her cafe, when both Maria and Kyritsis had died. There were parts of the tale that I ddin't find completely convincing (spoiler alert), the shooting for example, was a bit too melodramatic for my stiff-upper lip British sensibilities. However, putting crimes of passion aside, I thought it was a good first novel. |
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