Bookends Meeting Thursday May 15, 2014
Location: Marvel's home
Members: Virginia,
Carmen, Margaret, Joanne, Bea, Marvel, Wilma, Gisela
We had a lovely meal of Lebanese food prepared by Cedars on Bank Street.
"The Tennis Partner" was chosen mostly because Cutting
for Stone by the same author was a very good book. The Tennis Partner was autobiographical and
was very interesting. The author wove
both Tennis and Medicine throughout the book and quite often made comparisons
between the two.
It was interesting to read a book about male friendship as well as
learning about addictions (especially among physicians). The majority of books that we read are about
female relationships so it was nice to read something from the other
perspective.
A lot
of discussion focused around the relationship between Abe and David Smith, the resident who was a former pro tennis
player. At the hospital Abe was the
teacher and on the tennis court David was the teacher.
The
tennis stories were interesting, and Abe’s love of tennis beginning in
childhood and his obsession with watching the pros play and keeping track of
the highlights of all of the games he watched on television was well
written. Not being a tennis player some
of the descriptions were lengthy but still interesting.
The
discussion around addictions and how they affect the lives of people other than
the addict was also enlightening. Is
addiction a disease? A genetic disorder? A brain wiring disorder? Does one
addiction lead to other addictions?. For
instance David admits to being a sex addict as well as being addicted to street
drugs.
Overall
the book was well received; most people felt that it wasn’t as interesting as
Cutting for Stone. They were two
different types of book one fiction, one autobiographical.
Personally,
I don’t think that I would read the other book he wrote regarding being a
foreign medical graduate, although I am sure it would be interesting. I do
enjoy his writing style and his ability to make his stories come to life.
The
next meeting is on Thursday, July 17, 2014
at Gisela’s to discuss A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchey.
Notes respectfully submitted by:
Marvel on May 16, 2014
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