LIZ: BOOK #39

Under Observation: Life Inside the McLean Psychiatric Hospital by Lisa Berger and Alexander Vuckovic

288 pages

Completed 10/15/10

A combination of clinical reports and patient activity and the life of a doctor inside a psychiatric facility, Under Observation was more dated than I had hoped. As a student of psychology, I am always drawn to case studies and daily interactions with disturbed patients. However, much like the real world of psychology, the bureaucracy surrounding these patients and the McLean facility bored me.

A lot of medical advances have occured since this book was written, and new findings studied. If I had read more carefully, a book chronicling the treatment of patients in 1995 would not have drawn my interest. However, as a glimpse into a psych wing - albeit a very small window - this book could be considered telling to those simply interested in the accounts of one doctor.

As for myself, I would not recommend this work. Exhausting to the point of repetition, I wonder if I had viewed it differently as an outsider who has never experienced working with this population. I did, however, heartily appreciate the follow-ups on the patients provided at the conclusion of the book.

LIZ: Book #31

The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut

224 pages

Completed 7/26/10

This novel was a bit slow, but nonetheless enjoyable. Focusing on a middle-aged, divorcing doctor posted in a decrepit, quasi-abandoned hospital with a total of five other people in post-aparthied South Africa, he is forced to discover himself when a fresh-faced, young and eager new doctor requests to join the pathetic team.

Disillusioned and stuck - both figuratively and literally - Frank resists change, except when it can benefit him. But putting himself in poor situations - an affair with a married local woman, reliving his military days, and challenging a dangerous ex-leader - leads to devastating consequences, both for himself and others.

While I would say this book is more mystery-like than I normally prefer my fiction to be, it wasn't a bad read. Well-written and eloquent without drowning the reader in words, Galgut is a talented author for sure. Amonst the ruin of the story, though, the ending left me wanting more; and not in a I-need-more-from-this-author kind of way, but more of a this-ending-is-it?! way.