The Soul of Medicine - book review

Another Canterbury Tale

Having read Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland's outstanding book "How We Die" I was naturally interested when I heard that he had published another book related to his medical interests. I have spent the better part of my life in medical related careers where it is common practice to discuss the unusual events of the day precisely to keep them unusual. Now in "The Soul of Medicine," Dr. Nuland is simply including us in the "surgical grand rounds" and sharing with us some of what has made his life exciting.

For some unknown reason, Nuland has fashioned his book roughly on the model of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales so that the 20 plus tales that are told have 20 "different" tale tellers. You'll read the Surgeon's Tale, the Urologist's Tale, the Caridologist's Tale, etc. I was unable to discern any order based on the tellers specialty nor for that matter was every tale related to its teller. Hence the puzzlement over the Chaucer analogy. I was also somewhat confused as to whether he was telling each story in the actual words of the specialist from who he heard the story or whether he had put his story in the mouth of a specialist who might have had reason to hear or participate in the creation of the story.

The stories themselves are delightful. You'll find yourself turning pages way too quickly so that the 20 tales and the 207 pages are soon behind you. You find yourself wishing there were 5 or 10 more stories or wondering why the author stopped so soon.

There is nothing in the book that requires the reader to have a medical
education. Just the normal brush with medical and nursing care. Nuland's stories remind me a little of the gynocologist who worked in my hospital. He carried around with him a standard vaginal speculum somewhat like other doctors carry a stethescope. The shock is supposed to amuse you. So Nuland's stories have a little shock value to remind us that we're not dealing with normal people in normal jobs.

For example in the first tale a patient is discovered to have a chest cavity filled with feces. Normal people would find that only mildly alarming given that there's intestines & all in that general area so Nuland has to explain why that is not an expected condition.

Some stories are heart warming, some are inane, some are just quirky. It is the package of the whole that makes it "The Soul of Medicine."

Lastly, one minor complaint on the parchment-like jacket cover - it doesn't hold up well and it isn't transparent enough to show the illustration on the hard cover.