One Book One Burlington Selection Unveiled
Burlington Public Library CEO Maureen Barry, Councillors Rick Craven and Carol D'Amelio, Burlington Mayor Cam Jackson and Library Board Member Kerry Langford were present for the unveiling of the OBOB 2009 selection at City Hall on May 27th.
This year's selection is Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam, a collection of short stories about the lives of medical students and new doctors. Although it is a short story collection, there are threads that weave these stories together. I read this fascinating book a couple of years ago and found it unlike anything I had read before. With the current media interest in medical issues, this is a timely work of fiction for Burlington's largest book club and should generate some interesting discussions! We hope you will join us in reading Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures this summer and perhaps we will see some of you at our OBOB programs this fall.
8 comments:
My son, a molecular chemist, was spinning his wheels. incubating cells in petrie dishes. So his mother gave him this book for Christmas. Now he's in med-school!
Congratulations to your son! Sounds like the book was quite motivating!
Apparently, writing short stories with a common thread of recurring characters like Lam did is quite 'Canadian', but I think some people read this book as a novel, and not as short stories, so it may have seemed disjointed in that case. If you read it as short stories, it'll seem like little vignettes of med student/hospital life--like 'ER' or 'Grey's Anatomy'...
I agree Rosemary.
I just finished the title and I have to say that I could relate to a lot of what was being said as a student.
A couple of sections that really made me think:
Winston and his mental illness story
The birthing story
The SARS story- especially the nurses role- never thought about that aspect or the doctors being infected
The end of the book- how tired Dr. Chen is and almost falling asleep coming home from his shift at the hospital. Anyone working night shifts or working a lot can really relate to this story.
I also liked Lam's candiness and honesty in his characters, espcially the 3 main male characters. I didn't particularly like the Dr. Ming character- felt she was a bit of a cold fish and really couldn't relate to her.
Cecilia
Hey Cecilia - I agree with you about Dr. Ming. I couldn't really empathize with her at all.
Usually not a fan of short stories, I found myself really enjoying Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. I think it was because the characters in the stories are connected in some way, and of course with Canadian content. The scenarios are believable and compelling, especially the story about SARS.
A great real-life drama...I can see why this is being made into a mini-series for television. I wonder how it will compare to
St Elsewhere?
Now that 2009 is coming to an end, I am looking forward to the unveiling of the title for OBOB 2010.
Thanks for sharing, Kathy. I know, I'm very interested in the series! The author visit this fall was really entertaining and interesting too.
Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures is not just about cadavers and death. You get an insider's view of the grit and determination it takes to be a doctor in-training and through humour and shocking insights realize that the students who go into medicine come out irrevocably changed.
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