Bookshelf photo
  Home Meetings Lists Events Archive About  

Review 192:
January 2023

 by.

First Published: 2021

Internet entries:

 The Author, .

The Author



"Many Different Kinds of Love"

A Story of Life, Death, and the NHS
by Michael Rosen.

The book was read on recommendation of a friend and hence chosen as a Book Club book.

It is the story of how Michael Rosen, Children’s author and poet, on succumbing to the coronavirus, was nursed through the affliction and eventually recovered. Michael owes his survival to the love and affection shown by friends and medical staff, without their actions he would have died.

Michael was fortunate to have a Doctor friend who insisted that he go to hospital when telephone assistance had said that he didn’t need to.

Michael spent many weeks in ventilation in intensive care in a coma. During this time many people spoke to him, read to him, and wrote notes for him to read on his recovery. The notes form part of the book and writing the book formed part of Michael’s therapy.

The book was generally well received by the Club both for its political importance and for its poetry and language. All books are unique, but this was also quite extraordinary. The straightforward style made it easily accessible if a little repetitive at times, and added to the book’s credibility.

Some club members had a favourite poem or anecdote, these included:

  • On being stopped in the park “I tell them I’m not dead”
  • Achieving sleep by making peace with the landscape of my body
  • Deja-whiff, the power of smell induced memories
  • My blood pressure will go back up to now they’ve given me the Daily Mail
  • The piece about the bed calling him to give up the effort of trying to walk again and return to its support and softness
  • Sticky McStick Stick

The book is subtitled “A Story of Life and Death and the NHS”. Many people, including one Book Club Member, are still affected by the grief of losing friends and family to the coronavirus pandemic


Reflection

A book about the NHS is inevitably political; it is interesting to note that it was written before the “Partygate” scandal

This book Is an important statement of what was needed to survive covid, and of course, there were many thousands that did not survive. Michael’s skill with words makes this book all the more powerful as a record of what it took to survive for those badly affected by the virus.


Doorly score: 4.5 (cf. Goodreads 4.6)

PC. 14th January 2023


Awards: