Saturday, December 11, 2010

Breakthrough


Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg truly take us "through the discovery of Insulin and the making of a medical miracle" in their book Breakthrough. The authors clearly take you on the journey of what a miracle the discovery of insulin truly was.

The story is framed around the story of Elizabeth Hughes, the daughter of Charles Evan Hughes, a former presidential candidate and eventual secretary of state. Elizabeth's diabetic condition was kept a secret, a common Victorian position. A diagnosis of diabetes was equivalent to a death sentence as there was really no treatment or cure. Juvenile diabetes was a truly devastating disease.

Elizabeth received treatment from Frederick Allen who had developed a revolutionary treatment that could only extend life. His treatment consisted of extreme control and restriction of a patient's diet which would eventually lead to starvation and death. Dr. Allen's hope was that he could extend life long enough that a cure could be found. The process was tortuous for the patient and family.

During Elizabeth's treatment, a Dr. Banting in Canada awakes from a dream after a troubling, depressive night. He had been reading an article on how to potentially isolate the unknown factor that controls blood sugar. He came up with an idea that grabbed hold of his entire being and caused him to sacrifice nearly everything in his life to prove it. Other individuals enter into the story and with much effort, insulin is developed and lives saved.

I'm glad to have read this book. The discovery of Insulin was truly a miracle.

Book rating: 4 stars

The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.

Thursday, December 09, 2010

The joy of keeping a root cellar


The joy of keeping a root cellar by Jennifer Megyesi is a beautiful book on a rather boring topic. Food preservation is one of those lost domestic arts that is seeing a small resurgence. I imagine few people know what it takes to preserve the harvest for those lean winter months. I wanted to learn more.

The book is written by a woman who runs a family farm and actively preserves the harvest for her family. The book is beautifully laid with beautiful photography. That aspect alone motivated me to the romantic notion of preserving the harvest. The book lists various foods and gives recommendations on a certain preservation method. I managed to pick up a few suggestions that did help me with this years harvest.

There are sections on various preservation methods but these sections are pretty weak. They lack a lot of pictures of the methods in actual application. The text does not go into depth. To be fair, the book would be three times the size and cost if the author did more hand holding. If you really wanted to pursue food preservation, you would need to refer to other, more in depth books or videos.

Book Rating: 3 stars.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

North and South


After watching the recent BBC version of North and South, I had to read Elizabeth Gaskell's original story. I have to admit I was lost for most of the beginning of the movie. Even after watching the whole movie, there was still some things I didn't understand. I didn't know if the screenwriters did a faithful adaptation or if it was just poorly directed. I'm glad I read the book and I can easily say that this book is among my top favorites of all time.

If you were to only watch the movie version, it would be easy to assume that the story is merely another historical drama romance for which the BBC is well known. The book is far deeper and skillfully crafted than you would expect. Elizabeth Gaskell is a master storyteller, crafting a story that is both a political statement as it is a romance. Gaskell manages to not pass judgment on which ever side her characters fall.

Margaret and her family move from southern England to the North when her father decides to leave the ministry. Margaret's father takes on the role of a teacher for the upper-middle class and working class in a factory town that process cotton into cloth. Margaret becomes stuck between social classes. She primarily associates with the upper class but has sympathies for the working class. She observes the struggle between the mill owners and the union, the educated and non-educated. It is through Margaret's eyes that we are able to be observers of both sides of the conflict.

I like that Gaskell allows the reader to explore both sides of the argument and allows the reader to decide who is right or wrong. And the distinction is not clear cut. Both sides have clearly justified positions. Admittedly the beginning of the book is slow but I'm glad I stuck with it.

Book rating: 5 stars




The books I select for review are books which I personally select from my local library. I do not receive any reimbursement from authors or publishers or free books. I do provide links to Amazon as a convenience to the readers of this blog. I do earn a small referral pittance which is not even enough to buy a soda.