- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate (3 Mar 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007263805
- ISBN-13: 978-0007263806
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 818,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures
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Product Description
Review
'Direct in style, unsparing though compassionate in observation, subtle in emotion, and occasionally gruesome in humour, “Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures” follows four medical students from widely different backgrounds as their stories intertwine, as their illusions shatter, and as the meanings of many lives expand around them. The good news is that doctors are human beings. The bad news is that doctors are human beings. The other good news is that this book marks a stunning debut.' Margaret Atwood
'Fresh and sparkling…almost every story here has the compulsive what–next charge of true drama beautifully carried by Lam's clear, understated, confident prose.' Sunday Times
'There's no reason why Bloodletting…shouldn't become as big a hit in this country as it has been in Canada. Simply sit back, relax and enjoy the effortless charm of Lam's storytelling.' Scotsman
'Scalpel sharp, as cool and polished as the steel of the mortuary table.' Financial Times
'Reading about medical problems and what goes on in the emergency ward is just absolutely enthralling to all of us, but in this case it's much more than that - it's the characters and the movement and the ease of the storytelling that I just found so irresistible.' Alice Munro
“Like journalistic dispatches from the medical front lines, with careful psychological characterization added. Lam’s book represents a promising demonstration of fiction’s unique power: to bring the news that stays news, in Ezra Pound’s formulation, and to allow the reader to see through the eyes of those who experience events firsthand.” New York Times Book Review
Product Description
An astonishing literary debut, this collection of mature and intricate stories introduces a powerful new voice in fiction.
‘A STUNNING DEBUT’ Margaret Atwood
‘IRRESISTIBLE’ Alice Munro
In this beautifully written collection, Vincent Lam weaves together black humour, investigations of both common and extraordinary moral dilemmas, and a sometimes shockingly realistic portrait of today's medical profession. Twelve interlinked stories introduce us to a group of medical students over ten years, as they make the transition from medical school to hospital life.
The stories span the unique challenges faced by young, inexperienced doctors – having to decide during a first human dissection whether it is more important to follow the anatomy textbook or keep a tattoo intact – but also delve into their private lives, their relationships and family histories, their fears and motivations.
Riveting, convincing and precise, ‘Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures’ looks with rigorous honesty at the specificities of the lives of doctors and their patients and brings us to a deeper understanding of the challenges and temptations that surge around us all.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures is not particularly challenging or thoughtprovoking, but it was a good read, and sometimes that's all I'm after in a book. It left the stories dangling at the end a bit, which was a bit frustrating, but no doubt it was also deliberate (after all, real lives don't tie up neatly, and this is supposed to be snippets from a few selected lives). All in all, I would give it a thumbs up for entertainment value and readability. Four stars might be a 1/2 star too many, but three is too few.
Format:Paperback
When I was recommended this book, I was expecting the sort of humour often present in medicine to shine through. Being the child of two nurses and a close friend of numerous more, I know that brand of quick, dark wit well, and while I feel the shadow of it was present, I feel like the writer (or editor) was too worried about being popular to everyone to actually go the whole hog and embrace it for fear of it going over people's heads.
While I can appreciate vignettes, especially ones interlinked, like Patrick Maber's Closer (though his is far more structured, and not a short story collection), I struggled to see the importance in why I was being shown the scenes chosen. Don't get me wrong, I get it, but I don't feel the book says anything poignant, and isn't grounded enough to pull off a brutal realist non-plot. There characters weren't terrible, but I found them a tad wooden. I just got this feeling throughout the book that the author didn't know where it was going, which is a great shame. I wasn't expecting a rigid structure- it was a series of snapshots after all, but even snapshots tend to have a direction to them.
While I can appreciate vignettes, especially ones interlinked, like Patrick Maber's Closer (though his is far more structured, and not a short story collection), I struggled to see the importance in why I was being shown the scenes chosen. Don't get me wrong, I get it, but I don't feel the book says anything poignant, and isn't grounded enough to pull off a brutal realist non-plot. There characters weren't terrible, but I found them a tad wooden. I just got this feeling throughout the book that the author didn't know where it was going, which is a great shame. I wasn't expecting a rigid structure- it was a series of snapshots after all, but even snapshots tend to have a direction to them.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Was very disappointed after reading great reviews of this book. I don't think it is well written and the story and characters are quite superficial. Did finish reading it in the hope it would improve but it never did. Shame.
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