In the Country of Hearts: Journeys in the Art of Medicine

Rating:
Summary: Hearts for People
Review: I understand that the author is drawing from his extensive life-experience to give us this book, but at the same time, it would have been nice to read about humility, but then again, cardiologists are not exactly known for being humble people...

Although the book is accurate, and uses medical jargon when necessary, it still feels hard, and dettached. You don't get a sense that Dr. Stone is establishing a personal connection with the reader.

Out of all the stories, the one that sticks out the most, because of its true heart, is the one of "Telltale Hands". Here, we get a better idea of Dr. Stone's emotions, and his bond with this patient. The best part of the book, for me, are the little introductions at the beginning of each story, precisely because they are the one fragment of him that we get to experience; and I believe that if the book is supposed to deal with the art of medicine, from his experience, then we should all feel some sort of link to him throughout the book, but the intros are about all we get.

I think the book is a good read, but it fails to inspire me, to make me feel that simple human beings are capable of transforming another life. It basically reads like a simplified text-book of case studies, entertaining, but not necessarily uplifiting.

Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best Medical Lit Work Yet Written
Review: In spite of my personal opinion (which is admittedly biased), this collection of stories will compete on anyone's bookshelf for the best work of medical lit yet written. This *is* John Stone, the physician, the human hands, the poet, the wit, it's all in here.

Where to start?....Blue Baby is where John started by connecting a nursery rhyme with tetralogy of Fallot; An Infected Heart (which I've read to my students for >10 years now.....sometimes half the class is in tears by the time I reach the end where they inevitably gasp with comprehension of their own relationships with patients); Breath; Missed Signals; Balloon Man, it's a long and enjoyable list.

Reading and re-reading these gives you a sense of place within medicine (and reminds you exactly how grand those little events really are), it's a solid base from which to teach, it's wonder at the craft of an excellent wordsmith like Stone.

If you are in medicine, if you teach, if you are human.....read this one, you'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best Medical Lit Work Yet Written
Review: In spite of my personal opinion (which is admittedly biased), this collection of stories will compete on anyone's bookshelf for the best work of medical lit yet written. This *is* John Stone, the physician, the human hands, the poet, the wit, it's all in here.

Where to start?....Blue Baby is where John started by connecting a nursery rhyme with tetralogy of Fallot; An Infected Heart (which I've read to my students for >10 years now.....sometimes half the class is in tears by the time I reach the end where they inevitably gasp with comprehension of their own relationships with patients); Breath; Missed Signals; Balloon Man, it's a long and enjoyable list.

Reading and re-reading these gives you a sense of place within medicine (and reminds you exactly how grand those little events really are), it's a solid base from which to teach, it's wonder at the craft of an excellent wordsmith like Stone.

If you are in medicine, if you teach, if you are human.....read this one, you'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Compassion, warmth and humanism
Review: Poet and cardiologist John Stone has written a compelling collection of essays and stories from his practice regarding his care of the human heart. The two disciplines not only get equal time but are beautifully juxtaposed in his writing. His tremendous love and appreciation for his patients and for medicine are easy to read between almost every line in the book. His warm sense of humor and keen eye for irony keep the stories from becoming maudlin, something that can happen easily in the telling of medical tales. This is a book for non-medical as well as medical people, a great traveller that can be read a few pages at a time; some of his stories are only one or two paragraphs! But even the shortest are thoughtful and provocative. Dr. Stone's deep humanism restores faith in the medical profession!