Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect
Science
by Atul Gawande, Picador, 2003
Reviewed by William Johnston
Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's
Notes on an Imperfect Science is an extraordinarily interesting
non-fiction account. The title says it all-Gawande's thesis
promotes the idea that diagnoses and surgical procedures in medical
science aren't the clear-cut practices that hospitals and the
medical profession often make them out to be. There are three
reasons why the book works so well. First, Gawande is a fabulous
author- his writing honed by his contributions to the New Yorker,
he has developed an ability to tell medical stories accurately but
with simple beginnings, an increasing sense of drama that
increasingly pulls the reader into a full-absorption wonder, and
then-bam!-a resolution that leaves you open-mouthed and astounded
by the outcome. The stories also come with values-you end up really
caring about the people involved, or about the medical procedure,
or about whatever issue it is that Gawande sneaks into the mix.
Most important, he writes with a refreshing honesty, admitting his
own shortcomings. How many Medical Doctors, no matter how
accomplished and admirable (and theirs is a venerable profession),
do you know who do that? Most people agree that honesty and
compassion are two of the most commendable characteristics we
humans can uphold. For Gawande, they are part of his very being-his
left eye and his right. And they permeate this book throughout. If
you want a candid peek into the work of the medical profession and
how it can impact your health issues, pick up this Gawande
jewel.
- William Johnston is Professor of Mathematics at Butler
University.