The Children's Hospital
by Chris Adrian
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Read in December, 2007
Oh, this was a strange one.
First, I hate when a book doesn't have a fly leaf to tell me a synopsis of what I'm getting ready to read. Usually that's more of a pet peeve than anything, but in the case of this book, it really was a necessity to figure out just what the heck was going on. I went to Amazon.com and read the synopsis, because this was one surreal book.
In a nut shell -- you start out reading about the goings-on in a children's hospital during a torrential rain storm. Suddenly...more
First, I hate when a book doesn't have a fly leaf to tell me a synopsis of what I'm getting ready to read. Usually that's more of a pet peeve than anything, but in the case of this book, it really was a necessity to figure out just what the heck was going on. I went to Amazon.com and read the synopsis, because this was one surreal book.
In a nut shell -- you start out reading about the goings-on in a children's hospital during a torrential rain storm. Suddenly...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Angels and nurses
I have never been very good at describing books to people.
Mostly, I think, because the story has already been told in a way uniquely perfect to itself.
And how could I try to improve upon that?
So I will not describe this book to you, at least not in detail.
It is 615 pages long, so even the description would be rather lengthy.
But I will tell you to read it.
Because you should.
I don't even know if you will like it.
I have read some reviews of it that weren't too enthusiastic.
But I h...more
Mostly, I think, because the story has already been told in a way uniquely perfect to itself.
And how could I try to improve upon that?
So I will not describe this book to you, at least not in detail.
It is 615 pages long, so even the description would be rather lengthy.
But I will tell you to read it.
Because you should.
I don't even know if you will like it.
I have read some reviews of it that weren't too enthusiastic.
But I h...more
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(3 people liked it)
1 comments
recommends it for:
Anyone who is a fan of literature.
One my my biggest gripes with modern fiction is that there are so few epic tales told in interesting ways. Say what you want about Stephen King, but I have never put down one of his books feeling bored or, worse, uninterested. One of the reasons I love the Harry Potter books is it's grand scope of story. The books I've been most attracted to recently are the ones that manage to tell a story in an interesting way. That's all. Not so hard, right? I read this book, The Children's Hospital, ab...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
people who enjoy magic realism or are into the mythology of religion.
Let's start with, "...Oh, my god..." in a very, very good way. So good, I kissed its cover when I finally finished it. What - you've never done that?
Now, first of all, I'll admit that there are a good 100-150 pages that could really be lobbed off the top. That being said, you must understand that it is these 100-150 pages that could either pull you in further or annoy you incredibly. Fortunately, myself belonging to the former category, there is a payoff to getting to know thes...more
Now, first of all, I'll admit that there are a good 100-150 pages that could really be lobbed off the top. That being said, you must understand that it is these 100-150 pages that could either pull you in further or annoy you incredibly. Fortunately, myself belonging to the former category, there is a payoff to getting to know thes...more
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Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
Rachel Bullock, Rick Kreinbring
Finally finished this epic on Sunday night. The sheer size of the book itself -- and the fact that it's a beautiful product and I didn't want to mess it up -- made it a bit difficult to lug around for subway reading. Anyway -- this story is phenomenal. I've never read a book like it, and I always appreciate originality, and not only is it original but it's beautifully written, the characters -- unlike this run-on sentence -- are extraordinarily well constructed (Pickie Beecher should go down as ...more
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Nathan's loaning this to me. I read an excerpt in a Mcsweeney's and LOVED the story.
The first chapter is awesome, as well. Problem is, the dang thing's too heavy (for a paperback) to lug around everywhere. So it's a couch-only read and must compete with M's and my shameful TV habits.
Update: almost done! trying really hard to finish ASAP, actually, bc i really ought to spend the weekend rereading Frankenstein for my class. Anyway, I'm completely drawn in despite the almost ridiculously...more
The first chapter is awesome, as well. Problem is, the dang thing's too heavy (for a paperback) to lug around everywhere. So it's a couch-only read and must compete with M's and my shameful TV habits.
Update: almost done! trying really hard to finish ASAP, actually, bc i really ought to spend the weekend rereading Frankenstein for my class. Anyway, I'm completely drawn in despite the almost ridiculously...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in March, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in January, 2008
Rage or saddness? From which emotion springs the better decisions and consequently the better reactions for individuals, for the world?
From Publishers Weekly
Medicine, magic, the biblical story of Noah and sociological ruminations about Americans in the throes of the apocalypse come together in physician Adrian's hip, wry and ambitious debut. When the world is submerged beneath seven miles of water, only those aboard the Children's Hospital, a working medical facility and ark built by arch...more
From Publishers Weekly
Medicine, magic, the biblical story of Noah and sociological ruminations about Americans in the throes of the apocalypse come together in physician Adrian's hip, wry and ambitious debut. When the world is submerged beneath seven miles of water, only those aboard the Children's Hospital, a working medical facility and ark built by arch...more
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"I have such violent dreams, and yet they are never nightmares. The nightmare is the one where I wake up fifty years from now, happily married, and see a picture by my bed of the family I have happily fathered, every face smiling, every heart black with the sin I put in it."
I read this book months ago and I'm still thinking about it, so I figured it deserved a bit more of a statement than just 5 stars. That quote above is, I think, a representative one from the book. If it reson...more
I read this book months ago and I'm still thinking about it, so I figured it deserved a bit more of a statement than just 5 stars. That quote above is, I think, a representative one from the book. If it reson...more
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Read in March, 2008
The only reason I picked this up, and the only reason I stuck it out for all 615 pages, was because I was captivated by the initial premise of the story -- people marooned in a children's hospital post-apocalypse -- and I wanted to see how it would resolve itself. Maybe it was because of my attachment to the premise that I found myself bogged down by the huge amount of (very well-written) detail about the characters' interior lives and the activities of a children's hospital. These things by the...more
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Read in November, 2007
Even though I have slightly less than zero recreational reading time these days, I borrowed this fat hardcover book from the library last week. I'm about 20 pages into it, and loving both the premise and the style. It'll probably take me months to get through it.
Hmm, I just read all the other reviews on this site, and wonder if I should have chosen such a deep and dense book to read in my snatched ten minutes here and there ... we'll see how it goes.
11-19: Well, it took me six weeks, but...more
Hmm, I just read all the other reviews on this site, and wonder if I should have chosen such a deep and dense book to read in my snatched ten minutes here and there ... we'll see how it goes.
11-19: Well, it took me six weeks, but...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
awesome people.
this book, to me, feels like playing pretend on a huge wonderful scale. it exists in the most real way in the world of imagination. and it is so blissfully long! i don't really want to finish.
update:
okay but now i did finish, and i was not disappointed. In a lot of ways, I was reminded of Harry Potter in the scope and magnitude and level of imagination and complete definition of an unfamiliar world, except The Children's Hospital soared over all of Harry Potter's weaknesses, and doesn'...more
update:
okay but now i did finish, and i was not disappointed. In a lot of ways, I was reminded of Harry Potter in the scope and magnitude and level of imagination and complete definition of an unfamiliar world, except The Children's Hospital soared over all of Harry Potter's weaknesses, and doesn'...more
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Read in January, 2007
The Children's Hospital has a premise that is incredibly strange: the world is destroyed overnight by a flood with the only survivors the medical staff, patients, and patient's families of an angelically-designed children's hospital. This is just the beginning of the story. The main character, Jemma, is a not particularly competent medical student who ends up playing a pivotal role in the destinies of all the survivors.
The Children's Hospital is a difficult (not to mention lengthy) book, a...more
The Children's Hospital is a difficult (not to mention lengthy) book, a...more
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Read in January, 2008
I am struggling to get through this book, of which I have read about a third of. For a short time I found the chraracter study chapters interesting, but then they became routine, and the characters are lacking the development they should by this point in the story.
I am also thinking that had Adrian written less about arcane medical terminology, I would be much more excited about this book. I don't have the time or desire to look up the diseases and procedures he write about in length. I reall...more
I am also thinking that had Adrian written less about arcane medical terminology, I would be much more excited about this book. I don't have the time or desire to look up the diseases and procedures he write about in length. I reall...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
pretty much everyone.
Such an incredible story. Detailing what happens when an epic flood destroys the world, leaving one magical children's hospital afloat, The Children's Hospital follows Gemma, a depressed intern turned possible messiah, and a group of eccentric, intriguing characters with plot twists that keep you fully immersed in their journey. Where are they going? Is everyone really gone forever? How can humanity continue? Should it?
What I found even more memorable than the fantastic events, was how in t...more
What I found even more memorable than the fantastic events, was how in t...more
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Read in January, 2008
My first book of the year, and it is a book of hope and sadness, of sorrow and despair and of new beginnings. A Children's Hospital finds itself afloat in an endless sea (literally) when the world floods. The hospitals is held up by the Preserving Angel. The main character Jemma, finds herself with extraordinary healing powers after the hospital has been afloat for a couple months, and also finds herself pregnant.
God, the book was so sad and depressing at the end. I absolutely loved it, becaus...more
God, the book was so sad and depressing at the end. I absolutely loved it, becaus...more
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Read in July, 2007
I'm only about 200 pages into this behemoth of a novel. There are some really lovely moments, but it is slow going. The plot, as others have said, is imaginative and curious, and I'm invested in the characters. But, the jury is still out. I'm really haunted by Calvin, and I often open this book with a sense of dread, which I think is an indication of the power in the work. But, at the same time, what can I think of a book that I'm almost afraid to read?
UPDATE:
At a certain point, the p...more
UPDATE:
At a certain point, the p...more
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recommends it for:
Sarah, Nate, Ira, Elizabeth
This book kept me up at night, NeverEnding story style, rain pounding the windows -- I was left paranoid and enchanted, wondering, hoping it would all come true. My wife would wake up to me shouting out the window into the deluge, "JEMMA!"
The ending left me bewildered and wanting more, but not in a bad way. It felt that it couldn't have ended any other way; it seems complete honest and personal, and I am left needing to know more about Chris Adrian. Did he have a brother that kill...more
The ending left me bewildered and wanting more, but not in a bad way. It felt that it couldn't have ended any other way; it seems complete honest and personal, and I am left needing to know more about Chris Adrian. Did he have a brother that kill...more
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recommends it for:
sentinent creatures
It's hard to know what to say here: I have a distinctly personal relationship with this novel. I want a copy issued to every American, but I don't think I can ever talk to anyone else about it.
"Children's Hospital" mercilessly pokes holes in whatever shield each of uses to ignore (forgo) recognizing what's happening around us: what we do to each other and how little we think about it. Lazy optimism and contented abstractions crumbled.
But despite how this might sound, the exper...more
"Children's Hospital" mercilessly pokes holes in whatever shield each of uses to ignore (forgo) recognizing what's happening around us: what we do to each other and how little we think about it. Lazy optimism and contented abstractions crumbled.
But despite how this might sound, the exper...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in December, 2007
recommended to Tom by:
Amazon.com
the premise of the book is certainly interesting, following the rapture story and the final existence of man. Unfortunately I found a lot of the imagery to be very disturbing and hard for me to want to read.
Many of the characters were memorable, and I do find myself thinking back to this book and times and considering the final state of humanity. Unfortunately that is often balanced with some horrible acts by the characters and many flashbacks to the main characters home life which are bot...more
Many of the characters were memorable, and I do find myself thinking back to this book and times and considering the final state of humanity. Unfortunately that is often balanced with some horrible acts by the characters and many flashbacks to the main characters home life which are bot...more
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