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19th out of 34 books
—
11 voters
This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes
"Whoever Saves a Life, It Is Considered as If He Saved an Entire World"
Dr. Rick Hodes arrived in Africa more than two decades ago to help the victims of a famine, but he never expected to call this extremely poor continent his home. Twenty-eight years later, he is still there.
This Is a Soul tells the remarkable story of Rick Hodes's journey from suburban America to
...moreebook, 288 pages
Published
April 13th 2010
by HarperCollins e-books
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Sep 05, 2010
MsBrie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to MsBrie by:
Found on my Uncle's table!
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Jul 01, 2010
Linda (Evanston)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in current events and global issues
Recommended to Linda (Evanston) by:
NY Times review
Rick Hodes is a doctor working with orphans and street children in Addis Adaba, the capital of Ethiopia. He cares for and arranges treatment for children with horrible deformities, such as TB of the spine, facial deformities, cancer and other illnesses. He has brought a number of orphans into his home and is raising them as his own children. The author, Marilyn Berger, interviews Dr. Hodes for an article. She becomes so involved with his program and the children, she and her late husband, Don He...more
Read before my trip to Ethiopia and got a chance to meet the man. Truly amazing story, simple read. It was a powerful moment to meet Dr Rick and his Ethiopian children. Will never forget it...
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This is a fantastic book. I couldn't put it down. If you liked Three Cups of Tea ( about Greg Mortenson) and Mountains Beyond Mountains ( about Paul Farmer), you'll love this book. It's about Dr. Rick Hodes and his business of saving and improving lives in Ethiopia. His specialties are spines, hearts and cancer and there are more than enough patients to go around. Because many of his patients are orphans, he tends to have about 20 children/teens living with him at any one time. His unorthodox Or...more
This book combines two of my current reading interests, non-fiction works that take place in Africa and non-fiction books about or by doctors. The latter interest relates to a project I anticipate starting in 2012 about a family doctor. "This is a Soul" did not get great reviews by other readers, but for my purposes it was good. I feel like Marilyn Berger managed to give a fairly clear picture of Dr. Rick Hodes. Yes, he is a compassionate man who is doing good works, but he also gets angry, his...more
amazing, singular, dedicated human being. uncanny sensitivity and intelligence. dr. who went with the jewish joint as a dr. to ethopia and ended up staying there to take care of kids who would otherwise have died from preventable diseases no longer seen in the western world, due to vaccinations. he, now an observant jew, practices with no equipment, just a stethoscope, in an office next to mother theresa's mission. a unique example of someone who could not stand idly by as others suffer needless...more
The book took me some time to get through. It is filled heavily with medical terminology, but wonderful stories of dr. Rick Hodes and the extraordinary work he does. The last two chapters were filled with personal and emotional happenings, unlike the rest of the book which felt much like a lecture. I recommend the reading for the incredible story, but not necessarily the story telling.
Mar 18, 2011
Janeene
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Janice H.
Shelves:
read-in-2011
I enjoyed this book very much - not necessarily because of the writing, but because I have been fortunate to have met Dr. Hodes, as he gave a tour of Mother Teresa's to a mission group I was with in October 2008. He is an amazing man with a tremendous dedication. We all left there so thankful that he was "accidentally" our tour guide (they forgot we were coming and he happened to greet us when we came in - when he found out we didn't have anyone to show us around, he took the time to do it). He...more
Jul 07, 2010
Carol Rich
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography,
non-fiction
This is a fascinating account of the work that Dr. Rick Hodes has done for the past 20 years in Ethopia. Dr. Hode's dedication to saving children's lives is inspiring and transformative. His devotion, love and kindness reminds us that amid the most desparate circumstances, one person can make a big difference.
Due to the nature of his amazing work, this book becomes a list of all the children Dr. Hodes has saved. Little discussion of the reasons behind the poverty and effectiveness of efforts to relieve it. Not much followup on what happens after the operations he arranges either.
I struggled to finish this but I'm glad I did. This is almost the most extreme example I have read of a compelling story almost ruined by banal writing. Dr. Hodes deserves to have his story told by Tracy Kidder.
This is the incredable story of a man's life-time humanitarian mission, unfortunately the narrative is so jumbled and disorganized it was fairly painful to wade through it.
FABULOUS! If you enjoyed Mountains Beyond Mountains or Three Cups of Tea, this book is for you. What a wonderful man you are Dr Rick Hodes! I salute you!
3.5 stars. It was a really interesting and a fascinating story of his life. The reason it didn't rank higher is that the story is somewhat jumbled in terms of time line and especially with all the names and people. That made it hard to follow, and I would have much preferred that the organization was easier to understand. Still worth a read to learn about Dr. Rick's passion and the effect he has on the world!
Powerful story, horribly told. Problematic on so many levels, particularly the author's preoccupation with herself, which leads her to focus too much on name-dropping and not enough on asking tough ethical questions, particularly as they pertain to her "adoption." (I use the quotes with purpose.) Story is told in a disjointed, haphazard manner. I'm inclined to respect Dr. Hodes, but find the author's groupie mentality to be off-putting, and to lead me to question whether she gave him the rigorou...more
Ethiopian kids in need of serious medical help and a real helper in Rick Hodes.
Great story - writing was not consistent. Lots of inspiration.
loving this----can't wait to go to Ethiopia this year....
Dr Rick is an amazing individual. Great story.
His work is marvelous, but the book is not.
This man is a saint! Highly inspiring.
Heart-warming and compassionate. A marvelous story of how one person can make a major difference in the lives of disenfranchised people. You want to give up everything and help him in his work!
Very inspiring read.
This book was selected by my book group as our next nonfiction read. While Rick Hodes is an inspiration and has done many amazing things, the writing did not grab me in the way that I felt this story should've been told. It seemed fragmented, and I really wanted to know more about Rick Hodes and his relationship with his extended family.
Although the book isn't well edited, it is worth reading. Because Rick Hodes is such an amazing human being, reading his story and all that he does for people, mostly children, suffering from life threatening illnesses is very powerful. The world definitely needs more people like Rick.
I loved reading about the life of Rick Hodes. It was inspiring and convicting and gave me lots to talk about with my doctor husband. But, I didn't care for the writing style. I felt like I was reading the transcript of a "60 Minutes" story and found it distracting.
If the world had more Rick Hodes, it would be a far better place. we are fortunate that he works on our planet. This is a good book about a man who tirelessly saves and changes lives one at a time when others might be paralysed by the sheer magnitude of the tragedy.
This is the story of an amazing human being who has joyfully given his life to help "the least of these" in Ethiopia. He is my hero. It is not the best written book but it is the story of his life that is remarkable.
Totally agree with Christina's review. Although the writing is somewhat unpolished, Rick Hodes' dedication to the children of Ethiopia, his persistence, his selflessness, his huge heart are absolutely to be admired as a shining example of humanitarianism.
Wonderful book about a selfless American dr who has devoted his life to great acts of kindness in Ethiopia. His focus began with children who suffer from TB of the spine but expanded to helping or getting help for many different ailments. Amazing
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