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A review by bellacurry
Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality by Pauline W. Chen
3.0
2.5-3 stars
For a 200 page book, the reflections seemed quite 'common sense' and did not require such lengthy passages to convey. Perhaps this book would've been highly influential at its time of publication, but because there have been similar medical books published in recent years pertaining to 'doctors' views on mortality', this book does not bring any new perspectives to one's perception of mortality. Instead, her conclusions are often things we already know, i.e. 'we need to communicate well with a patient and their family for good medical care'.
Moreover, although Dr. Chen's writing style is generally easy to understand and digest, in certain passages of the book she suddenly uses a plethora of jargon, which would be difficult for any laymen to understand (who are presumably the target audience of this book). She also uses a bit too many descriptive passages for my liking, especially because the book is advertised as 'reflections on mortality', not some creative imagery novel.
For a 200 page book, the reflections seemed quite 'common sense' and did not require such lengthy passages to convey. Perhaps this book would've been highly influential at its time of publication, but because there have been similar medical books published in recent years pertaining to 'doctors' views on mortality', this book does not bring any new perspectives to one's perception of mortality. Instead, her conclusions are often things we already know, i.e. 'we need to communicate well with a patient and their family for good medical care'.
Moreover, although Dr. Chen's writing style is generally easy to understand and digest, in certain passages of the book she suddenly uses a plethora of jargon, which would be difficult for any laymen to understand (who are presumably the target audience of this book). She also uses a bit too many descriptive passages for my liking, especially because the book is advertised as 'reflections on mortality', not some creative imagery novel.