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The Citadel
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Buddy reads > The Citadel, Buddy Read Part 1

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message 1: by Hana, Hana is In Absentia (new)

Hana | 1104 comments Mod
I've just started this one and it's a great look at British medicine in the early 20th century with a sympathetic protagonist.


message 2: by Hana, Hana is In Absentia (new)

Hana | 1104 comments Mod
By coincidence part of the story in part 1 involves diagnosing and tracing a community epidemic to its source.


Bobbie | 89 comments Oh my, very timely! Do we have a date to start or just anytime?


message 4: by Hana, Hana is In Absentia (new)

Hana | 1104 comments Mod
I'm reading now so it's whenever! I just finished Book 1 and it's great.


message 5: by Hana, Hana is In Absentia (new)

Hana | 1104 comments Mod
Here's a link to The Citadel to read online or download for free: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet....


Kavan | 85 comments I am starting Sunday. This will be a second read for me. I just reread Cronin's Dr. Finlay's Casebook and really enjoyed it. So I am looking forward to this one.


Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ | 1234 comments I'll try to join too. I'll also add The Citadel to our group bookshelf.


message 8: by Karlyne (new)

Karlyne Landrum | 1964 comments Ok, I'll be starting it in the morning!


Bobbie | 89 comments I'll be starting as soon as I finish my current read. Looking forward to it.


message 10: by Karlyne (new)

Karlyne Landrum | 1964 comments I'm trying not to gallop through this; several things have already struck me.
Andrew's realization that the physicians are treating only one symptom reminded me a lot of how my mother was treated by specialists; I used to wonder if any of them had any idea of any of the others, although I know that they did. But they were, I think, blinded by their own specialities and just didn't see her as a whole person. So, she had an arsenal of pills, all reacting with each other. The more things change, the more they remain the same?

As a James Herriot fan, I also noticed Andrew's disgust with "half, no three quarters" of the medicines that were prescribed for the patients. Because they didn't work...

And Andrew's first meeting with Christine made me laugh and also made me wonder if the writers of Doc Martin had read The Citadel!


message 11: by Hana, Hana is In Absentia (new)

Hana | 1104 comments Mod
My favorite moment in Part I was the typhus epidemic and the explosive public health work that followed.


message 12: by Karlyne (new)

Karlyne Landrum | 1964 comments Until I read Middlemarch last month, I didn't know that typhoid fever and typhus were different. Typhus is food borne, including contaminated water, and typhoid is flea borne. My mother had typhus as a young child, from a contaminated well, and almost didn't survive it. She remembered being in bed for a year, and what really upset her was that after her hair fell out, it came back in dark and straight. Her straight hair drove her crazy all the rest of her life!

So, apparently, rotten sewers needed to be ... aggressively treated!


message 13: by Bobbie (last edited Apr 12, 2020 04:21PM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Bobbie | 89 comments Karlyne wrote: "Until I read Middlemarch last month, I didn't know that typhoid fever and typhus were different. Typhus is food borne, including contaminated water, and typhoid is flea borne. My mother had typhus ..."

Hi, I just looked this up because I thought you had it backwards and I'm sorry to correct you but it was Typhoid in the book. I am a retired nurse and so was pretty sure Typhoid is spread by contaminated food and water, which it is. For anyone interested, I read a book on Typhoid Mary not that long ago titled Fever by Mary Beth Keane which I really enjoyed.

I am enjoying reading about the medical conditions in that time and look forward to seeing what will happen in Andrew's career and life.


message 14: by Karlyne (new)

Karlyne Landrum | 1964 comments Bobbie wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "Until I read Middlemarch last month, I didn't know that typhoid fever and typhus were different. Typhus is food borne, including contaminated water, and typhoid is flea borne. My mo..."

I'm not even surprised that I had it backward! Although you'd think I would have noticed it, since my mom did have typhOID fever and not typhus. Silly me...


Bobbie | 89 comments Understandable with the names being so similar. Take care!


message 16: by Kim (new)

Kim Kaso | 99 comments I read this years ago as a teen. Am appreciating aspects now that I did not then.


message 17: by Karlyne (new)

Karlyne Landrum | 1964 comments Kim wrote: "I read this years ago as a teen. Am appreciating aspects now that I did not then."

With life comes wisdom, right? Or at least a chance to mull over ideas that we'd never thought of when young...


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