Rating: 3/5
Review:
Disappointing
I’m afraid I struggled a bit with Critical. Matt Morgan is plainly
a good man and a very good doctor, but although the book has a noble
aim and deals with important medical and human subjects, I found it
difficult to relate to.
I should say first
that I can understand all the very enthusiastic reviews form others.
There is a lot of very interesting information here about a
fascinating topic and I did learn a good deal. However, I had two
main problems with the book. The first is that I found its tone a
bit patronising in places. I know that it is difficult sometimes to
convey complex medical and scientific ideas to non-medics like me,
but there really is no need to sound as though you’re addressing a
five-year-old, and I did bridle fairly often at the almost childish
tone.
My second problem is
(and I’m sorry to say this) that Matt Morgan simply isn’t a very
good writer. He tries to bring the human stories of his patients to
life for us, but they read like a bad novel, full of cliché (“a
seventeen year old with the world at his feet,” for example) and
over-florid writing which I’m afraid had the opposite effect on me
than was intended, in that I couldn’t relate to the stories at all.
It seems churlish to
criticise a book on such a subject and with a worthy motive, but the
truth is that I was disappointed and although others have plainly
enjoyed it very much, I can only give Critical a very qualified
recommendation.
(My thanks to Simon
and Schuster for an ARC via NetGalley.)
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