Favourite books

To the Editor: It was a most interesting idea to call for a list of favourites books.1 I have some of my own to add.

The death of Ivan Ilyich, by Tolstoy — all the different responses to a dying man handled in the way only Tolstoy can. Interestingly, the most comforting presence was that of his illiterate man-servant, Gerassim.

The doctor, his patient, and the illness, by Michael Balint — this was introduced to me by a very thoughtful medical student when I was a surgical registrar in England 40 years ago. A new edition edited by Balint's son has appeared in the past year or two.

Contrary imaginations, by Liam Hudson — the advice in this book on selecting medical students and introducing first-year students to clinical medicine is now being carried out by many teaching schools 35 years after it was written!

A long season in hell, by Gail Graham — the story of a mother's fight to rehabilitate her head-injured son. This book has all the characters that a doctor should be aware of — good doctors, bad doctors, unimaginative bureaucrats and politicians, helpful people and an inspiring physiotherapist who lost her husband, apparently through suicide, during the period she was fighting for her son. The book would be an ideal seminar topic for medical students and ethics discussion groups.

Lastly, Intellectual impostures, by Sokal and Bricmont — a book with little medical content, but which should be read by every intelligent person. Sokal submitted pretentious gobbledygook to a postmodern journal, which was published. He then exposed the hoax, creating an enormous stir. This book is an expansion of that exposure.