Review by lari03 -- Days of the Giants by RJ Petrella
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lari03
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Review by lari03 -- Days of the Giants by RJ Petrella
[Following is a volunteer review of "Days of the Giants" by RJ Petrella.]
3 out of 4 stars
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The story begins with a resident doctor at Boston City Hospital. The story of his murder is told in the prologue, but the identity of the murder victim is not revealed. The book proceeds with Slater Barnes, a medical doctor, reminiscing on his knowledge of events which climaxed in the murder of an innocent medical resident. Days of the Giants by R.J Petrella describes the challenges of becoming a medical doctor, through the story of Slater Barnes. The story has a backdrop of public service and capitalist interests in Boston’s medical institutions. The general theme as the story unfolds is about a proposed merger, between Boston City Hospital - a public hospital, and a private hospital referred to as Academy hospital.
The book mentions some important social issues. The mindset of medical personnel to their work; the importance of public health and free medical services; corruption in public service aided by greed, and the reluctance of people to change. The book ends with the collective desire achieved and a happy ending for Boston City Hospital. In real life, corrupt officials and capitalists are two sides of the same coin. They cannot function without the help of the other, because corruption is a two-way street. The giver as well as the receiver are both guilty of nursing evil intentions and working together to achieve their nefarious schemes.
I enjoyed the story as it unfolded. I admit that you cannot easily point to the identity of the person who was murdered in the prologue of the story, until you get to the part of the book where the momentum begins to increase in the direction of the strike action by the medical staff of Boston City Hospital. The motive of the murder is clear, but the culprit is not revealed until the later portions of the book. Empathy is an important trait all medical personnel should possess. When a medical doctor is more conscious of money, an issue mentioned in this book, it comes across through the person’s utterances and actions. The patient might not detect this easily or initially, but the coworkers will know the driving force behind such an individual.
The idea of a dead person recounting portions of this story will be a divisive point for some people. I dare say some people will find it offensive. The author could have used the main character’s mother, as that would seem normal, because I am yet to find a dead person narrating incidents which happened after their death, to people who are alive. I did not like this.
I also noted the author’s religious stance, and the use of “swearing” in this book. The author seemed apologetic of this and I think it was unnecessary. It ties with the personality of the dead person recounting some events in the story. Some people might lose interest in reading the book as a result of this. I think the author could have written a note at the end of the novel, explaining that he does not support profanity, but that its inclusion was necessary to make the story sound natural.
I would recommend this book to teenagers who are about to go to college, especially those who intend to become medical personnel in the future. This book would serve as an inspiration to them. It would also guide their thoughts towards becoming compassionate care givers in the medical industry. I will not recommend this book to atheists and people with religious beliefs different from Christianity. I feel they would not tolerate the author’s work.
There were some minor errors observed, otherwise the book was edited superbly. On account of this, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The rating is based on the author’s ability to weave a good story. For this reason, I rated it higher than 2 stars. I did not give it a 4 star rating, because of the flash points I disagree with.
******
Days of the Giants
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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The story begins with a resident doctor at Boston City Hospital. The story of his murder is told in the prologue, but the identity of the murder victim is not revealed. The book proceeds with Slater Barnes, a medical doctor, reminiscing on his knowledge of events which climaxed in the murder of an innocent medical resident. Days of the Giants by R.J Petrella describes the challenges of becoming a medical doctor, through the story of Slater Barnes. The story has a backdrop of public service and capitalist interests in Boston’s medical institutions. The general theme as the story unfolds is about a proposed merger, between Boston City Hospital - a public hospital, and a private hospital referred to as Academy hospital.
The book mentions some important social issues. The mindset of medical personnel to their work; the importance of public health and free medical services; corruption in public service aided by greed, and the reluctance of people to change. The book ends with the collective desire achieved and a happy ending for Boston City Hospital. In real life, corrupt officials and capitalists are two sides of the same coin. They cannot function without the help of the other, because corruption is a two-way street. The giver as well as the receiver are both guilty of nursing evil intentions and working together to achieve their nefarious schemes.
I enjoyed the story as it unfolded. I admit that you cannot easily point to the identity of the person who was murdered in the prologue of the story, until you get to the part of the book where the momentum begins to increase in the direction of the strike action by the medical staff of Boston City Hospital. The motive of the murder is clear, but the culprit is not revealed until the later portions of the book. Empathy is an important trait all medical personnel should possess. When a medical doctor is more conscious of money, an issue mentioned in this book, it comes across through the person’s utterances and actions. The patient might not detect this easily or initially, but the coworkers will know the driving force behind such an individual.
The idea of a dead person recounting portions of this story will be a divisive point for some people. I dare say some people will find it offensive. The author could have used the main character’s mother, as that would seem normal, because I am yet to find a dead person narrating incidents which happened after their death, to people who are alive. I did not like this.
I also noted the author’s religious stance, and the use of “swearing” in this book. The author seemed apologetic of this and I think it was unnecessary. It ties with the personality of the dead person recounting some events in the story. Some people might lose interest in reading the book as a result of this. I think the author could have written a note at the end of the novel, explaining that he does not support profanity, but that its inclusion was necessary to make the story sound natural.
I would recommend this book to teenagers who are about to go to college, especially those who intend to become medical personnel in the future. This book would serve as an inspiration to them. It would also guide their thoughts towards becoming compassionate care givers in the medical industry. I will not recommend this book to atheists and people with religious beliefs different from Christianity. I feel they would not tolerate the author’s work.
There were some minor errors observed, otherwise the book was edited superbly. On account of this, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The rating is based on the author’s ability to weave a good story. For this reason, I rated it higher than 2 stars. I did not give it a 4 star rating, because of the flash points I disagree with.
******
Days of the Giants
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like lari03's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Health Tips, Myths, and Tricks by Morton E Tavel, MD
