Why Reading Makes Me a Better Doctor
My life as a story glutton
Historically I have thought of literature and medicine as opposite sides of my personality. But I am coming to understand that my relationship with books and patients represent two sides of the same obsession. I am a glutton for stories. I am fascinated by what goes on in other people’s heads, how they view themselves and the world. More than that, I wonder if being a dedicated reader is precisely what makes me a dedicated doctor. I think that reading hundreds, maybe thousands of books over my lifetime has helped me to hold all the real-life stories that my patients share. I have developed a limitless appetite and curiosity for people, and the imagination to see a way forward when patients cannot bear to turn the page. I live in the world of books not to separate myself from my patients but to understand their worlds more deeply. If it’s a really great book, I’ll understand myself better too.
At work, I bear witness to stories of families, work, pain, addiction, loss, unexpected joy and incremental recovery. Over a morning there can be tears, laughter, frustration and vomit – sometimes in the same appointment. As a GP it is my job to listen, reflect, and then respond in some way that is helpful. I feel pressure to find solutions where sometimes there aren’t any. Often all I have to offer is my time and reassurance, empty as that may be. Just as many of my favourite books don’t offer simple resolutions, so too have I been better able to cope with uncertainty in my consults, and sit with patients in that place of not-knowing. Neat answers aren’t always honest. Literature has taught me as much.
Another important thing I’ve realised is that reading allows me to stay healthy for my patients. Books are the antidote to 15-minute appointment slots and frustrating bureaucratic billing rules. I like switching from being in charge, to being at the mercy of an author. It’s nice that when I have an opinion about a book, I don’t need to follow up in 6 weeks to check that my opinion was correct. The stakes are low but the benefits are, to me, inexhaustible. There aren’t many things in life about which that is true. When I think of the support network that allows me to do my job I think of my family and friends, but also of writers like Deborah Levy, Nora Ephron, Virginia Woolf and Shirley Hazzard. These writers squeeze into my windowless consult room and they teach me how to hold space for other people’s voices.
But what is the joy of reading without the joy of knowing WHAT to read? I have had a lovely month of books, starting with a couple more Booker shortlisted titles. Did you know that 50% of the books on the Man Booker shortlist this year were written by authors called Paul? I reviewed Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting last month, and have now polished off the other two Pauls, thus completing the trilogy. This Other Eden by Paul Harding is a beautiful but devastating parable of the damage we do in our intolerance for difference. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch was a grim dystopian drama set in contemporary Ireland and I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re feeling at all fragile about the state of the world.
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood was released this week, and if you think you might like a quiet, subtle novel featuring quirky nuns, I sincerely recommend it. I read it in two sittings. Wood makes you feel as if you are living and breathing the same hot dry air as her characters. Trust Exercise by Susan Choi is a novel that was popular in 2019. If you read my review you’ll see why sometimes being late to the party for a critically acclaimed book is really much better than attending the original party. Lastly for fans of non-fiction, I have read the whole backlist by a journalist-turned-author Michael Finkel, and reviewed two of his books. They are wonderfully addictive but beware a possible aftertaste.
Read my full reviews through the links below or visit kateisreading.substack.com to see the whole collection. This is not a commercial enterprise – just sign in to visit the site, no need to commit a pledge.
This Other Eden by Paul Harding
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
True Story and The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
Until next month - read well and be well,
Kate
