Review: Happily Ever After & Everything In Between by Debbie Tung

4 stars for Happily Ever After & Everything In Between by Debbie Tung.

This cute graphic novel is a welcome change from my previous read, The Bell Jar. It is lighthearted, adorable and quietly touching. It offers a glimpse into the lives of a newly married couple, that of an introvert and an extrovert, and the lovely and mundane moments that come with marriage and commitment.

I take my time to slowly enjoy this collection of comics about married life. But all too soon, I come to the end of the book. Based on the last few sketches, I can guess what to expect in the next collection by this same cartoonist and illustrator. I can't wait for the next book to be published and made available.

I quote below a comic strip from this book. It is short on words but the meaning it brings across is so sweet.

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

3 stars for The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

This book has been at the back of my mind ever since my ex-colleague turned friend Gi mentioned to me in passing, that she has read it. I know vaguely that the story has something to do with depression, but other than that, I have no idea the writing style nor the finer details of the story. Due to recent happenings, I decide to read this book, to see if it can offer me a better understanding to this mental illness.

The Bell Jar is a depressing story of a woman struggling with mental health. The protagonist, a 19-year old Miss Esther Greenwood, feels inadequate all the time. Even though she excels academically, she sees herself as anything but good; she is a terrible cook, she cannot dance, cannot ride a horse, cannot ski, does not know shorthand and does not know enough languages. She has trouble sleeping, eating and reading. As her condition progressively worsens, she undergoes the dreaded bell jar experience, the sudden descent into deep depression, one that triggers suicide attempt, and was finally warded. Through it all, the novel explores social expectations of women in the 1950s. It examines Esther's quest to forge her own identity, to pursue what she wants in life, to be herself rather than what society expects her to be. The book also gives an account of the treatment of mental health in that same period of time.

It is interesting to note that the protagonist's descent into mental illness parallels that of the author's own experience with what may have been clinical depression. Author Sylvia Plath died by suicide at the age of thirty, a month after the book's first United Kingdom publication. The writer's suicide on 11 February 1963 brought her instant fame in England. Unfortunately, the limelight comes too late to help this young American woman stranded in the British countryside with two young children and no money in the early sixties.

Truth be told, I find no joy in reading this book. It is sad and gloomy and all too depressing. Each time I put the book down for a break, I find myself dreading to continue with this cheerless story. I am also put off by the way the story flits about and moves on before finishing the parts that are clearly left hanging in the air. The book list down all possible ways to end one's life. You name it, the story has it. It is definitely not a book for those who are suffering from depression, anxiety or panic attacks. At the end of the book, I find myself none the wiser about major depressive disorder. It does not offer me any further information to what I already know about depression, except that this book, the only novel by the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath, contains references to real people and events in the author's life.

Review: My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor

3.5 stars for My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor.

This book is a personal account, as seen through the eyes of a neuroscientist, about what it feels like to experience the deterioration of the left brain and then gradually recover it over the years. The author hopes that her book will offer insight into how the brain works in both wellness and in illness, and that it will help to give direction and hope to stroke patients and their families and caregivers.

Author Jill Taylor suffers from a rare form of stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain when she was thirty-seven years old. This stroke rendered her completely disabled; unable to walk, talk, read, write or recall any aspects of her life. In her book, she gives a step-by-step explanation into the deterioration of her cognitive abilities and what she experiences in that unforgettable morning of the stroke. The chapter on "The Morning of the Stroke" is informational and helpful in that it tells us the symptoms of an impending stroke, and what and when to look out for it. The later chapters on recovery are equally useful. They include more than fifty tips for the road to recovery. One only needs refer to Appendix B for a bird's eye view on recommendations for recovery.

Though this is a book about stroke, it is ultimately not a book about stroke itself but insights gained from the traumatic event in which the author is very kind and generous to share with us. It is also about the beauty, resilience and adaptability of the human brain - its ability to repair, replace, retain and recover. Not only do we get to know the pre and post-stroke author Jill Taylor, readers also have a better understanding of the human brain, the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere and the asymmetries of the two cortical hemispheres.

I have no doubt that this book can help people in recovering from neurological trauma. But first, the book needs to be read, from beginning to the end, to have a good understanding of the human brain, and then, the insights gained from the author's journey and experience. This book is not, what I will say, an easy to read book altogether, especially the portion after the surgery. Maybe it is due to the dry facts of the matter, or repetitive narrative at times, I have a tendency to drift off into my own la-la land while reading. Don't get me wrong. I do not mean to say that this book is not a good one. It is just that, well, the stars of this book are not so well aligned with my attention for reading.

Overall, the insights the author gained from her stroke is amazing. Perhaps the most significant insight of it all, at least it seems to me, is the inability of the medical community to know how to communicate with someone who has suffered a stroke, especially one in the left hemisphere of the brain, impairing language. This is surely something that the medical community can work on.

Review: Extraordinary Hearts: A Journey of Cardiac Medicine and the Human Spirit by John A. Elefteriades, MD

3 stars for Extraordinary Hearts: A Journey of Cardiac Medicine and the Human Spirit by John A. Elefteriades, MD.

This book is about the human heart and the human spirit that dwells within. The author is a medical doctor and heart surgeon. In this book, he shares ten of the cases that have touched him the most and leave a deep imprint on his being.

Besides getting to know the daily life of this cardiac surgeon and some of his patients, readers also learn about the different heart conditions such as coronary artery disease, aortic aneurysm, aortic dissection, and cardiac reparative procedures. I especially enjoy the author's sharing of real-life clinical application of suspended animation in cardiac surgery under Still Life in chapter 5. It is also interesting to learn about the two nurses, the scrub nurse and the circulating nurse, in any operating room, their responsibilities and importance.

Though there are shortcomings that still exist in modern-day medicine, it is amazing to see how science and medicine have advanced to the stage where the heart-lung machine has been invented to enable heart operations to take place smoothly. It is an eye-opener to see how modern surgery offers solutions and treatments in a bid to prolong life.

Extraordinary Hearts is a good to know book. It is informational as well as educational. However, I cannot help but wonder if it is also about fame and wealth and riches. Almost all the cases mentioned involved patients who are well-known and in all likelihood, well-to-do. I wonder if the author will remember a patient enough to want to share his or her story if it is the average man in the street. I doubt so. Also, I feel that the doctor gets carried away by the background of the patients he chooses to share in his book. He delves too much into the specifics of these patients' careers, what they do, and how famous or popular or well-liked they are by their community.

Finally, what I cannot stand the most in this book, is the author's constant reference of his cases in relation to his religious belief. Yes, we never know what will happen to those patients with severe heart and health issues, both during and after the heart operation. They may not survive. Or they will pull through to be long-term survivors, and if they do, they are not miracles but statistical outliers. They have a chance to continue living because of the surgery performed by the good doctor.

As I mentioned above, Extraordinary Hearts is a good to know book. However, it is not a book suitable for all. Half of the book is dedicated to knowing the human heart and open-heart surgery, the other half to the human spirit and whatever else. So, depending on one's worldview and religious beliefs, this can either be an enjoyable read or an annoying one.