David Galler is an intensive care specialist at Middlemore Hospital. This is a memoir about his experiences as a medical specialist and the incidents that have influenced his life and thinking. It opens with the death of his father, and closes with the death of his mother, both Polish Jewish migrants to New Zealand in the 1940s. In between these two moving stories, he describes a variety of cases he has worked on, and muses on the politics of health care, euthanasia, organ transplants and other difficult issues. He is always compassionate, well-reasoned and intelligent, with the dignity of his patients most in mind.
The most extraordinary chapter is about Carlos, who was out cycling when he was hit by a truck. Galler describes his emergency treatment in 20-odd pages with the pacing of the best thrillers. It's an incredible passage, excruciating to read.
Anyone who has read Atul Gawande or any of the other medical memoirs which are very popular at the moment, this is a worthy, local addition to that genre.