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What did you think about the relationship between the two? About the violent escape scene, the passing drugs to an addict which results in his death, the killing of the elder patient, and the fact that the protagonist wasn't punished for his acts?

I think it is a great thing the author has the power to do whatever they want to the characters. And all we can do is read it. Although we can dislike it. This is why I love books so very much. Power to the author.

Vermont Reviews wrote:I think it is a great thing the author has the power to do whatever they want to the characters. And all we can do is read it. Although we can dislike it. This is why I love books so very much. Power to the author.

However if the author abuses his power it can make the story appear unrealistic and not sway the reader. I've read a couple of books that I have written off as 'cheesy' because the author decided to add everything but the kitchen sink in their books. Or how about when young authors make their characters 'invincible'?

I didn't particularly care for the fact that the psychiatrist had no punishment for his part in the Maria's escape or, even prior to that, his relationship with her as his patient. Maybe given the time in history it would have been harder to trace his part in the addicts death and the drug smuggling, but it still seems strange to me that he would be allowed to continue to pursue a career in medicine after the fiasco.

gaporter wrote:I didn't particularly care for the fact that the psychiatrist had no punishment for his part in the Maria's escape or, even prior to that, his relationship with her as his patient. Maybe given the time in history it would have been harder to trace his part in the addicts death and the drug smuggling, but it still seems strange to me that he would be allowed to continue to pursue a career in medicine after the fiasco.

I found that odd as well.

This is what I love about the forums. We all get to express our opinions. We can agree to disagree.

I thought it was a little funny that he got played. The horrible part about it was that people were hurt through out the process. I blame the head psychiatrist in all this. He went on about all his years of experience, knew full well what this guy was going and then responded so mildly. it was odd.

Rhoe_Marrow wrote:I thought it was a little funny that he got played. The horrible part about it was that people were hurt through out the process. I blame the head psychiatrist in all this. He went on about all his years of experience, knew full well what this guy was going and then responded so mildly. it was odd.

I think that some of it could be attributed to the time period as mental hospitals were not exactly known to be the most safe and pleasant places to be back then. By today's standards, if a supervisor knew about an inappropriate relationship between a nurse and a patient, that nurse would be out of there so fast and the supervisor may even be liable as well. There didn't appear to be much oversight of the nurses or the psychiatrists in this hospital.

gaporter wrote:

Rhoe_Marrow wrote:I thought it was a little funny that he got played. The horrible part about it was that people were hurt through out the process. I blame the head psychiatrist in all this. He went on about all his years of experience, knew full well what this guy was going and then responded so mildly. it was odd.

I think that some of it could be attributed to the time period as mental hospitals were not exactly known to be the most safe and pleasant places to be back then. By today's standards, if a supervisor knew about an inappropriate relationship between a nurse and a patient, that nurse would be out of there so fast and the supervisor may even be liable as well. There didn't appear to be much oversight of the nurses or the psychiatrists in this hospital.

The main guy also made a good point when he told the doctor that him sticking to his original diagnosis contributed to all the mayhem. Maybe there is a part of the doctor that felt the same way and, because of this, chose not to punish the med student.

That's a good point. He wouldn't want himself to be investigated, would he?

I found the relationship with the patient much more disturbing than the passing of drugs to an addict. Both are bad behaviors, but the former seems like more of a violation of trust than the latter. Plotwise, I was not all that bothered by the lack of immediate and obvious punishment. The doctor appeared to be avoiding paperwork, which is an understandable motive, and our psychiatrist was punished in a more karmic sense later in life when he realized that he was only a tool. I can't admire these characters, but I think I understand them.

L_Therese wrote:I found the relationship with the patient much more disturbing than the passing of drugs to an addict. Both are bad behaviors, but the former seems like more of a violation of trust than the latter. Plotwise, I was not all that bothered by the lack of immediate and obvious punishment. The doctor appeared to be avoiding paperwork, which is an understandable motive, and our psychiatrist was punished in a more karmic sense later in life when he realized that he was only a tool. I can't admire these characters, but I think I understand them.

I found the relationship with the patient disturbing as well.

A good point about the Karma.

I love all the discussion about the book this month.

L_Therese wrote:I found the relationship with the patient much more disturbing than the passing of drugs to an addict. Both are bad behaviors, but the former seems like more of a violation of trust than the latter. Plotwise, I was not all that bothered by the lack of immediate and obvious punishment. The doctor appeared to be avoiding paperwork, which is an understandable motive, and our psychiatrist was punished in a more karmic sense later in life when he realized that he was only a tool. I can't admire these characters, but I think I understand them.

I agree that the relationship seems worse than passing the drugs. A patient in a mental hospital cannot legally consent, I believe. It also didn't seem to be too much reciprocated. He appeared in her room with flowers and there wasn't much she could really do about the situation. He kind of imposed himself on her, though she did have her wits collected enough to make use of the situation.

I agree. Psychiatric hospitals were pretty scary during the time period in the story especially since there were few medications and effective treatments. I doubt there was as much attention paid to appropriate staff/patient relationships either. Having worked in several mental health facilities over the last 20 years that kind of behavior would not be tolerated today.