This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay

This book hurts in one way or another.

According to the hype, ‘Award Winning Million Copy Best Seller’, this book seems to be the book of the moment. Everyone we ask claiming to have read it or has it on their shelf ready to read next. The book was specially chosen for the Christmas period to be a light-hearted pick up/ put down read.  The brief was fulfilled.  It certainly didn’t fit our book club criteria. Was it a page turner?  No!  Was there a well developed plot?  No. Was there any character development?  No. Was it well written?  Well, yes. Sort of  ...

On the surface this book was a quirky, quick witted, light hearted read formulated in a dairy fashion in bite sized pieces.  The book follows Adam Kay’s 10 year career as he progressed from Junior Doctor to SHO in Gynaecology.  Yes it was well written. That’s the one thing where we were all in agreement. There really was some LOL moments dotted between the cringeworthy stories. The book gives a very good insight to the incredulous incidents in dealing with the general public.  The short chapters were good enabling you to pick it up and put it down without having to backtrack. Some of the stories stay with you but just as many are quickly forgotten. You don’t get the feeling you need to pick it up to find out what’s happening next. The only end goal which keeps you reading is the sad story about his career change. So, worth a read but easily forgotten.. Adam Kay is now a stand up comedian and we can’t help thinking that will be a short lived career once his hospital stories are exhausted. And those poor anonymous people watching. You will know who you are!!  He has also found his niche writing and checking hospital drama scripts.

On closer inspection Adam adequately covers the more serious issues of the NHS. The long hours, the low pay, the inconsistencies from hospital to hospital, the life and death decisions and the many things no amount of training can prepare you for until you are thrown in at the deep end. A lot of issues are called in to question. Some people may call in to question Mr Adam Kay himself. Sometimes you felt he really cared. Sometimes you felt he was going through the motions. Ultimately  you realise he probably was in the wrong career and was, at times, a bit arrogant.

There’s one thing we can all agree on. There is no quick fix for our beloved NHS but we are still grateful we’ve got it.

Our book discussion this month took place at a totally new venue  - The Swan at Heldon-on-the-Wall. A totally unexpected pub in a small village not far from Newcastle. Although, a quiet January, the staff were attentive and the food, which we all enjoyed, can be described as good pub food at a reasonable price. I’m sure it will be on our list for a return visit in the not too distant future.

Back to the serious subject of our next read. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.  We are expecting great things from this renowned author.

Join us very soon to review our thoughts.                  



Friday,  31st January 2020.

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Not salty enough!

We selected this book on the back of its many accolades (Shortlisted for the COSTA book awards and 4.6 stars on Amazon UK with 1060 reviews) and the promise of an uplifting story about shared interests in homelessness, transition, camping, Cornwall, and health. 

The story has a powerful beginning when life suddenly falls apart for the author, Ray, and her husband, Moth.  The couple, in their early fifties with two student children, are dealt a shocking and sudden double blow.  They lose their home, their savings, their possessions and their income around the same time that Moth is diagnosed with a rare degenerative and progressive neurological condition.

Forced to break free from their comfortable life and facing an uncertain future, the couple eschew mainstream solutions and decide to spend the summer walking the 630 mile long South West Coast Path.  The rest of the book tells how, armed with only what they can carry on their back and relying on minimal income in the form of basic state benefits, they steadily complete the long Salt Path.  It is a tale of sleeping rough (a.k.a. wild camping); eating very little other than noodles, hot water and fudge; the kindness of strangers and betrayal by friends; the hostility of the British marine climate especially in the winter, and homelessness in South West England in the 21^st century.

It is Ray’s first book and she writes well.  Her prose vividly depicts the daily grind and hardship of their existence.  But as we turned the pages, the Sunday Times promise of “A tale of triumph: hope over despair; of love over everything” did not quite materialise.  This disappointment was compounded by little attempt to portray the beauty of the South West coast,  the practicalities of walking the famous Salt Path, and some of the controversial choices made by the couple.  The first half of their journey is described in considerably more detail than the second and it is unlikely that, if you have not visited Falmouth or Penzance, you will be any clearer about these and many other famous South West towns.
 

To be fair, this is not a guide book, and Winn frequently acknowledges that such a book has already been well written by  Paddy Dillon.  But it also fell flat as an enduring, classic tale of transition. If there are lessons to learn from this story, we could not easily unravel them.  Frustratingly, having completed our own page by page trek, we were none the wiser about loss, love, life, or, indeed, the South West coast.  We did however recognise the importance of decent sleeping bags when camping rough. 

We were not tempted to light the Primus stove and boil up some noodles, and instead we dined at   The Rat Inn at Anick.  If you are in the area  (camping, hiking, or simply living),  we can highly recommend the quality of the food and the service.  

Sadly, this unreserved recommendation does not extend to the Salt Path.
 

Our next read takes us into the NHS and the daily trials and tribulations of a junior doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.