The House of God

I always knew doctors were practicing medicine just until they got it right. This jaw-dropping book has my opinion's back. Humor, wit and wisdom, pathos, seriousness (but thankfully not overbearing) and other stuff I'd need to look up in a thesaurus. Oh, and the bestest raunchyist erotic descriptions of sex I've read since Tom Robbins. Thanks Mr. Shem. I need to take some of that there acedamenathin stuff now. I'll get back to you. Is early morning a good time?

Just finished Samuel Shel's "The House of God," a sarcastic comedic portrayal of the medical field with a "Catch-22" like quality. It is a perfect blend of humor and tragedy. Shem’s storytelling is sharp, filled with wit and irony, yet he never shies away from the human cost of a system that can often seem dehumanizing to patients and caregivers alike. His novel exposes the emotional and psychological toll that medical training takes on doctors, especially interns. His characters are memorable, particularly the protagonist Dr. Roy Basch. They are richly drawn, and their experiences feel both harrowing and real. Here, too, Shem somehow blends a sense of camaraderie against the isolation that comes with working in the medical trenches. This novel was a recommendation from my fraternity book club, so I can not wait to discuss it with those in the medical field. "The House of God" remains a classic for a reason—it’s both timeless and unforgettable. It’s sometimes shocking but always compelling. Check it out.

To be honest, most of this book was absolutely horrid to me. I'm about to enter medical school myself and even acknowledging a lot of the problems in medical education and the healthcare system in the United States, I have a lot of hope for medicine and for my life as a physician. So, reading this very dismal, dark, sarcastic, catch-22-esque book was uncomfortable to say the least. I almost didn't make it through to the end, and if I hadn't I would have given it one star. But don't let the middle fill you. Part 3 is what makes this novel worth reading. The main character grows so much in the final chapters and is able to, finally, call out and critize all the terrible things he did and went through. This criticism forms the basis for the bigger the picture of the novel: the criticism of the brutality and lack of caring in medical education and medical practice (mainly during the 60s and 70s but to a certain extent today as well). I also highly recommend reading the authors note at the end of the book to get more perspective and insight into why the author wrote the book and what he hoped to accomplish. While part 3 gave me many of those reasons, it was fulfilling to hear from it from the author's own voice.

I read this as a PGY3 and cannot begin to describe how much this resonates. Obviously the work hours are less grueling but the people, the patients, the relationships, the rules hold true. I would recommend this book to others later in their training; I don’t think it would resonate or really be enjoyable for those not in medicine or those early (pre-med or med school). In fact it may feel upsetting to read during intern year so wait until that’s done. Be warned it has quite a lot of explicit scenes so just be prepared for that. Overall an excellent book that was difficult to put down and provides an interesting reflection on medical training.

There are books - good books! - that are written by putting what's in an authors brain, in a fairly formulaic manner that seems at times, a little forced. Books that are written to be read; easy, digestible prose in unoffensive and perfunctory doses. And then there are books that seem to have been inspired by a muse that sits on the shoulder that the author channels into paper. This book is one of the latter category. The House of God is a book written, as the author would put it, from deep within the author's cardiac muscles and hits you straight in the sigmoid colon. Many have compared the book to Catch-22, and they are right to do so. Both are about people essential, much respected professions, the impossibility of their lives and the cynical ways they cope with the pressures of their occupation. Both are also, about redemption, growth, and love. Both had me laugh uncontrollably and sometimes shed a tear, and both are a must read for any person that believes that humanity is the most hideous and terrible infliction that has been borne upon the universe and at the same time, the most exalted. I don't use the term "love" on inanimate objects often, but I loved this book. So a quick synopsis - but you will find many of them already everywhere: Dr. Roy Basch, a new intern fresh off the BMS ("Best Medical School" - a thinly veiled referenced to Harvard Medical) is off to intern at the "House of God" (again, a thinly veiled reference to Beth Israel). Eager and naive at first he quickly realizes that hospital patients fall into two broad categories: Gomers - elderly patients that refuse to die and are kept alive for monetary purposes (HOUSE LAW NO 1: GOMERS DON'T DIE) and the dying young: younger patients who have their whole lives ahead of them that unexpectedly contract something horrible and die. There to guide him through the conflicts and dilemmas of medical practice (and occasionally non-practice and mal-practice) is the book's unexpected hero: The Fat Man. Some would call him an anti-hero, a combination of a cynic and a humanitarian, The Fat Man has a very Dr. House air about him and is certainly one of my favorite characters of all time. The theme of the book is the conflict between death and life, love and hate: it is dotted with a variety of sexual exploits, where Dr. Basch and some of his friends escape to to avoid thinking about death, constantly. Raunchy in their depiction, they contrast the constant stench of people dying with the interns' attempt at living. All in all - the book deserves a place of honor in my book case. I only hope that the authors' other work is as sublime; Catch-22 was a one off in Heller's work. I am eager to find out if this is a one-off in Shem's.

Libro per tutti i medici, ma soprattutto per chi si affaccia alle professioni sanitarie ospedaliere. Scritto quando non esisteva ancora la "correttezza politica", per cui schietto e vero. Divertentissimo, ed un'ottima scusa per migliorare il proprio Inglese (soprattutto gergo ospedaliero americano). Infatti, utilizzando il dizionario in linea degli e-book, la lettura risulta particolarmente facile anche ai neofiti. Divertente anche per i non medici, tanto per rendersi conto delle mani in cui mettono a volte la loro vita.

Nice book for doctors and others. I had fun reading it, I think is a helpful guide for medical students and young doctors, and for anyone who wants to discover the other side of the medical care.

Good

This story is more than ‘for the ages,’ it is even deeper and kinder and more compassionate than Heller’s Catch 22 (til now, my favourite book ever). Shem’s weaving in and out, back and forth between the science and the sadists, the madness and the mayhem, the tragedy and hilarity of ‘healing’ is matched by the profound wisdom in his reflections on the human condition. A story that scarifies the scientistic bullshit of the clinical medical model, while offering hope to those who want to hold out for healthy human relationships and honest conversations. In an era of neoliberal compliance and accreditation creating ‘busy work’ in every field, this book bursts that whole balloon. EVEN MORE RELEVANT TODAY THAN WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED

Ein Muss als Mediziner - beinhaltet viele Zitate, die man auch heute noch gängig verwendet (z.B. Gomer, orthopädische Höhe,…) auch wenn man deutlich merkt, dass es noch in einer ganz anderen Zeit geschrieben wurde, wo der Mann der Arzt war und die Frau die Krankenschwester.