Status Updates From The Invisible Life of Ivan ...

Belarus in 2005 was very poor, so no matter what they tried, Polina could not get a blood transfusion. From my place in the book, she just died, and right before she died, her best friend came to visit her just before she died, but she was not able to come to the hospital until then. This was because of money, and how scarce it was in Belarus.

Polina is on the brink of death, and Ivan is trying everything he can, but resources are scarce and everything seems hopeless. Polina is not going to make it. And that's why I'm procrastinating on finishing. They've decided to read a book together, Polina's last book, they decided.
I noticed about halfway through part 2 of this book that Ivan was counting down, presumably to Polina's death, and I started crying.

In Ivan's world, there is a still a power dynamic between staff and patient, even if Ivan seemed so above it all. He tried to blackmail the director, but found that the director was still in charge. That, coupled with the fear of one of the nurses during the night while they were rendezvousing, showed how Belarus- or at least this hospital- values adults' power over children.

Ivan just learned that Polina is going to die, since she is becoming a "three monther". Since Polina is the most intelligent of the other children at the hospital, she was a prime subject of interest to Ivan, who wept for the first time in forever, since he was Belarusian. It was absolutely heartbreaking, and I am not in a hurry to finish the book and see Polina meet her end.

Finished Chapter 21- but I'm on audiobook, so I'm not sure about the page number. Something interesting about Belrusian culture- according to Ivan and the nurses around him, in comparison to Russians, Belarusians do not cry. They tend to be too proud, male or female.

Ivan & his comrades seem to be facing conflict in merely the way they were born, and the way they are treated by the nurses and the media, who cannot really understand what is happening in their heads. It's kind of insane how much I sympathize with Ivan, despite not having it nearly as bad as he does. It's a great story.
pt. 2/2

While this book seems to be more about Ivan's life in the hospital than the outside culture's world, it is interesting to see how the nurses act, and the culture inside the hospital differs from our own hospitals here. For example; I'm sure that no nurse in a similar hospital in the states would put up with Ivan's vulgarity or want for alcohol at the age of 17 at 5am.
pt. 1/2