With the Giller Prize ceremony happening this
week, I decided to finally dive in to reading past Giller winner, Bloodletting & Other Miraculous Cures. In all honesty, this book has been in my to-read pile for a while but I kept pushing it aside. The main reason
being, I imagined it might be “too medical” for my liking. Logical reasoning on
my part because after all, author Vincent Lam is an actual emergency physician
by day and this novel was his literary debut. However, not long in to reading
the first few chapters, I discovered that this novel was actually all about
relationships. It even inspired an HBO mini-series.
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures is a collection of stories
woven intricately between the relationships and experiences of a group of young
doctors as they navigate through the trials and tribulations of med school to
the fast-paced world of emergency room, evac missions, and terrifying new
viruses.
This novel brilliantly proves false the opinion that
“Doctors are sadists who like to play God and watch lesser people scream” The young doctors, Sri, Ming, Fitz and
Chen are genuine people who each carry their own collection of emotional
baggage. They each struggle with loneliness, regret, and vulnerability while
being confronted daily with moral dilemmas, all for the honor of working in
medicine. Developing and maintaining
personal relationships in such a chaotic existence naturally proves difficult.
The characters must walk the fine line of being in charge of formulating swift
life or death medical prognoses and treatment. Any hesitation or mistake can
prove deadly.
I recommend reading Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures to
anyone who holds any form of disdain towards doctors of any kind. This
novel will provide you with an accurate depiction of what medical
professionals must deal with in today's world.
Kamaljit
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