BAM Feb 2008: The Surgeons

Due to a feverish cold last week, I was able to finish my February Selection for the BAM Challenge. I had selected a nonfiction piece, as last month's read was very romantical. In keeping with the theme of hearts, I went for the literal interpretation and selected a book about heart surgeons. I read The Surgeons: Life and Death in a Top Heart Center by Charles R. Morris.

The first half of the book was engaging and interesting. Morris was able to gain behind the scenes access to one of the top heart centers and hospitals in the US. Soon he blended into the wallpaper, and was able to present two in depth case studies of patients at Columbia-Presbyterian, an older gentleman and a young girl who ultimately died. Morris also focused on the lives of the heart surgeons which gave insight into the lives of these extraordinary problem solvers. Morris probed to learn what it takes to be a heart surgeon, including skill development, training and education, character, problem solving skills and salary. He gave us primary information by posting the notes of one surgeons diary, detailing his surgeries and challenges.

The second half of the book was very dry and not as engaging. Morris discussed quite a bit about policy, money and the future of health care: the business side of heart surgery and health care. I found this to be all rather boring, and not as personal as the work of saving lives. I am drawn to the stories about the surgeons and the difficult choices that need to be made, like the explanation of the transplant process and decision making tree. His prose was accessible, with the mechanics of surgery and the heart easily explained, including a helpful appendix. However, when discussing salaries and comparing them to what other New Yorkers make and the different kinds of work they do, was quite compelling and Morris made the argument that based on the kind of work heart surgeons do and the outcomes, they are underpaid.

I might pursue another book for the second half of the month... perhaps something a bit more romantical....

BAM Jan 08: Time Traveler's Wife

I have been wanting to read this book forever, and now I can return it to the person I borrowed it from (in 2004!).

Time travel is an interesting concept, one that always grabs my attention as it requires a keen eye on physics, space and time, and cool things like wormholes, quantum mechanics. Just sounds complicated. Henry has the ability to travel in time, and meets his wife when she is quite young. I found myself to be incredibly jealous of Henry and his ability to time travel, especially to see his parents before he was born. Such a great treasure to see parents before they became parents. I was terribly weepy at the end of the book as Henry was dying and in the letter he wrote to Clare. Though, I found the whole Clare and Henry dynamic a bit tiring, and would have liked some conflict between them. Their love story just seemed to good to be true, too amazing and wonderful.

And I suppose that is the point as well, Henry does time travel and one can't really do that. I appreciated the way Niffenegger let us know who was narrating, and the way she would paint a scene over many years and through the experiences of many people. I wouldn't say that I loved the book, but I am glad that I read it. From a science standout, I appreciated that Henry wasn't allowed to impact the future and change the outcome of things. How sad to carry that burden with him, but allowed the story to have a cohesive narrative as well as be a bit more believable. Though in the beginning I found the narrative a bit hard to follow. I was confused for about the first 50 pages, but was drawn to the characters. Perhaps an index to all the dates would have been helpful.

Overall, I enjoyed the escapism into a fantastic love story, sad and beautiful.