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Review
Gabriel Weston's exactitude of expression is rare and uncanny, the more so for the sense one gets that this is a world in which the moral value of truthfulness is ambiguous. Her description of the struggle to remain individual and hence moral is her real achievement. This, to me, is what female writing has to do, and she does it with style and humour and beauty. --Rachel Cusk
Perceptive and beautifully written. An original voice. --Dr James Le Fanu
Perceptive and beautifully written. An original voice. --Dr James Le Fanu
Review
Perceptive and beautifully written. An original voice.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Another of my impulse buys, well sort of, read a review in the paper and thought 'must read'. Like Atul Gawande's books, if you have the slightest interest in surgery then read this. It is different to his books though as the reader gets inside the mind more of this surgeon. Admittedly the book is 'faction' rather than true non-fiction but perhaps it was a double bluff and everything is really true with the names changed to protect the innocent!
Gabriel Weston certainly displays both ends of the compassion scale, seemingly none (and chastises herself for it) and then eventually immense which leads her to 'have a good word with herself' - which she does................
The style of writing is excellent and very readable. I've been in theatre hundreds of times (with work, no I am not medically trained at all) and her writing took me straight back in there. I particularly liked the politics that she described, again I have witnessed that a lot in my 22 years in the medical devices field.
I also liked her professional frailty - fancying patients - showing a human side that some consultants are unable to display, but perhaps the job creates that.
Extremely good book my only criticisms are that it was not about orthopaedics and the proof reading got a bit lazy in the last quarter.
Gabriel Weston certainly displays both ends of the compassion scale, seemingly none (and chastises herself for it) and then eventually immense which leads her to 'have a good word with herself' - which she does................
The style of writing is excellent and very readable. I've been in theatre hundreds of times (with work, no I am not medically trained at all) and her writing took me straight back in there. I particularly liked the politics that she described, again I have witnessed that a lot in my 22 years in the medical devices field.
I also liked her professional frailty - fancying patients - showing a human side that some consultants are unable to display, but perhaps the job creates that.
Extremely good book my only criticisms are that it was not about orthopaedics and the proof reading got a bit lazy in the last quarter.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I don't usually read this type of book i.e. anything medical makes me feel a bit queasy. However, after reading the newspaper reviews I was intrigued and had high hopes. When I receiving it I was immediately disappointed by the fact that it was very thin, the pages were smallish it was obviously a very short book. Consequently I had finished it in a few hours reading. It was quite frustrating because there were many potentially interesting episodes that would have been so much better, interesting and informative if she had written them more fully. I wish someone could have advised her when writing it to put more flesh on the bones as I think it was potentially a much much better book which the writer did have the skill to produce. Another slightly annoying feature is that the proof reading is flawed. Another small gripe is that a glossary of medical terms would not have been much trouble to add but I ended up having to consult Wikipaedia a number of times. So basically an opportunity lost I think, but if she wants to write another I hope her potential will be revealed as there were many glimpses of good stuff here.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I had wanted to read this book after hearing an interview with the author. I have a surgical nursing background and was interested in the insight of the author, and hoping for some humour.
I found the book to be 'dry' and disappointing, and far too brief.It read almost like a textbook, and I could imagine the author almost 'polishing her own buttons' in self-congratulation.
Borrow the book if you must, but don't spend money on it.
I found the book to be 'dry' and disappointing, and far too brief.It read almost like a textbook, and I could imagine the author almost 'polishing her own buttons' in self-congratulation.
Borrow the book if you must, but don't spend money on it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Largely Enjoyable
I read an article in the Radio Times TV guide that prompted me to seek out this book. Then I checked out the previous reviewers' comments on this website to gauge what it might be... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Textile Figure Artist
Fascinating, reassuring and beautifully written - but not for the...
I picked this up on a whim, out of a bag of incoming books at our bookshop, because I've rather enjoyed other 'medical memoirs' I've read in the past. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Miss E. Potten
Direct Red by Gabriel Weston
This book is very eloquently written. It records Gabriel's medical training in great detail giving fascinating insight into her experiences and emotional responses to her... Read more
Published 4 months ago by J Sugrue
Lovely: funny and easy to read.
As a prospective medical student I was advised to read this book to get an idea of the system and the kind of life I was going towards. Read more
Published 12 months ago by vale93
On becoming and being a surgeon
As other reviewers haved written, this is an account of the training and the nitty-gritty of a surgeon's life. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Norman Bishop
Excellent
I found this book to be fascinating, painfully honest, and beautifully phrased in places. It might be flawed, but the intelligence and clear mind of the writer shone through. Read more
Published 21 months ago by P. Sawell
It wasn't as good as I had expected
This book had been highly recommended in a magazine, so I've ordered it and had high expectations at the start. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2010 by Mrs. Gudrun Berry
A disappointing read and unworthy of the praise it has received
The reviews for this book have been excellent, praising its prose and honesty in particular (the latter despite the author's understandable caveat at the beginning of the book that... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2010 by Simon says
a huge disappointment
I was really looking forward t this book especially as it had been recommended by the publishers as a one that had been expected to do well but had disappointing sales. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2009 by sogart
unrealistic and exaggerated
A female surgeon in training myself, I find this book very unrealistic. Also the main character seems very cold and distant, it seems that she has to prove something, and does not... Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2009 by Diela
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