The engaging memoirs of a physician whose professional life has revolved around pain—and who packs his personal story with solid information on how and why we experience pain and how we can manage it. Brand was born in 1914 in India, the son of English missionaries who practiced medicine in the hill country near Madras. Educated in England, he took a one-year course in medicine designed for overseas missionaries, and was caught up by the wonder of it. In 1946, Brand returned to India as a missionary surgeon and soon was performing reconstructive surgery at a leprosy sanitorium. Later, in 1965, he moved to the US to set up a rehabilitation program at a leprosy hospital in Louisiana. His work with lepers gave him a unique perspective on, and appreciation for, pain—he calls it the ``beloved enemy''— and direct experience of the hazards of painlessness. Nerve damage in leprosy (and in various other disorders, such as diabetes) causes loss of the sensation of pain, putting its victims at risk of unknowingly incurring disfiguring and even deadly injuries. Brand (assisted here by Yancey, Where Is God When It Hurts?, etc.—not reviewed) selectively includes tales of his childhood in rural India, his student days in London during the Blitz, his work with lepers and other patients, and even his own personal encounters with pain, showing how these experience have shaped his outlook. His observation of different cultures' views of pain have convinced him that one's attitude toward pain largely determines how it's experienced—and that fear, anger, guilt, helplessness, and loneliness all intensify it. Brand's stated goal is to restore balance to how we think about pain, and he succeeds admirably. Valuable for its insight into pain; unforgettable for its glimpses into the lives of lepers.
Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-017020-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
