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That One Patient

Feb9

This year I decided to get a book subscription box. I mean, I don’t lack ways to buy news books but I do like getting a treat in the post. Tea Time Bookshop have lots of choices of different genres so I picked Science Fiction & Fantasy and Politics, Sciences & Insights. The book in the first PSI box was That One Patient by Ellen de Vissier.

It’s a collection of newspaper columns originally published in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant. It didn’t immediately appeal to me. Then last weekend I was scouring the shelf for something to read. I’d decided I wanted an easy non-fiction read alongside the challenging novel I’m reading. This seemed to fit the bill.

Sidebar: I know I said I was having a trashy novel phase but that only lasted a few weeks. I’ll get back to it.

That One Patient surprised me. The columns are the stories of medical professionals about patients who had a profound impact on their lives and careers. I’d expected it to be full of sentimental stories about plucky patients pulling through against the odds. There is a little of that, and there’s so much more.

There are stories of patients whose lives and deaths inspired the development of better treatments for others. There are lots of stories of doctors realising that treatment isn’t always best, learning to respect patients’ wishes, and understanding that patients know their own bodies best. As the medical professionals are mainly Dutch and euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands there are several stories about that experience, and it was those I found the most nuanced, sensitive and thoughtful.

I would never have picked this book myself so I’m glad to have had it put in my way. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It’s good to have read something out of my normal pattern. I’m looking forward to finding out what’s in the next box.

The Gifts of Reading

Oct28

I was at a book reading (of The Rent Trap by Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraj) at David’s Bookshop in Letchworth recently, and because I have poor impulse control in book shops, I bought more books. One of them was an essay on giving gifts, specifically giving books as gifts, by Robert Macfarlane, called The Gifts of Reading.

In it, Macfarlane reflects on the impact on his life that books given as gifts have had on his life and on his relationships. He speaks about gift giving more widely and the power of giving with no expectation of return. The corollary of that is the ability to receive gifts with love. Indeed the book is more about gifting than it is about reading. It’s lovely. Reading it feels a bit like meditation.

The proceeds from the sale go to Migrant Offshore Aid Station which is reason enough to buy it, I think.

A Diary of The Lady

Jan23
So, how do you review a book you didn’t finish? There might be a few more of these this year.

A Diary of The Lady by Rachel Johnson is an account of her time as editor of The Lady magazine. She is the sister of Boris Johnson, a columnist for one of the broadsheets, and a novellist. I got about a quarter of the way through before abandoning it.

I stopped reading because I found the writing dull and leaden. It could have been an interesting, funny story, but Rachel Johnson contrives to make it and herself come across as boring and unpleasant. Give it a wide berth.