A plain but honest memoir and an inspiring story of how one person can make a profound difference.
A memoir about the author’s efforts to help a struggling hospital in Africa.
Gorman’s debut recounts her journey to the struggling African country of Chad to help a maternity ward, as well as the events leading up to and following her trip. The author was living a comfortable life in Wales as a neonatal nurse when she was moved to action after watching a BBC program that showed how young mothers in Chad frequently died for want of simple medicines such as magnesium sulfate and antibiotics. Her initial plan to get her union to contribute some money for medicine quickly turned into a larger, grass-roots effort, which eventually led Gorman to travel to Chad with three other volunteers and a BBC film crew. The author effectively describes her impressions of the struggling African nation (“Occasionally we would see some areas with greenery and pools of stagnant water near the roadside”). She also recounts what they saw in the hospital maternity ward—including hopeful stories that show how the medicine they brought saved lives and grimmer stories about patients they were unable to help. The book includes traveloguelike stories about meals and places they visited, as well as a description of the local hospital’s medical practices and the author’s basic training for midwives. Gorman also provides many details about the journey and its daily events, and some may seem extraneous to the overall story; there are also times when the book becomes repetitive, although on at least one occasion, the author notes this (“If these words sound familiar, it is because I know that I have already described them in an earlier chapter”). In many ways, Gorman’s down-to-earth nature makes the book feel like a long letter from a close friend. She shows an appealing willingness to share humorous personal details, such as her fear of African insects and an incident in which she accidentally left a package of her underwear among supplies being donated to the hospital.
A plain but honest memoir and an inspiring story of how one person can make a profound difference.Pub Date: April 24, 2007
ISBN: 978-1425992002
Page Count: 272
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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