Book Review "Flu"
Things are slow right now. I am waiting for what will hopefully be some full time, yet stay at home work, while dressed in pajamas and a funny hat. The Holy Grail of software developers everywhere. If that works out, then life will be sweet, if not, who knows what I'll do. Because I have nothing to write about, and an unrelenting urge to talk about myself, I have decided to do a book review of my latest fait accompli.
Melanie knows right where I live, and for Christmas bought me a book entitled "Flu, The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused it" by Gina Kolata. Is that really the title or did I just read the first chapter? For a while, until something else pulled me in a different direction (temporarily) I had been reading lots of books on microbiology and viruses. I have no idea why I am so fascinated with viruses, they are nothing more then an RNA or DNA strand and a few proteins, yet they can, and have changed the world.
I had read about the 1918 influenza pandemic before, but this book provided a good look some of the people, and their stories from this horrific global event. The numbers are staggering. In a single year, this influenza outbreak killed more Americans than World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam combined. The global fatality count is estimated anywhere from 20 to 100 million, no one knows for sure.
I like history that focuses on the personal stories of the people that lived through the events. Gina Kolata does a great job of digging out stories like the tale of Johan Hultin, a Swedish pathologist, and his world travels, and eventual unearthing of frozen flu victims from a remote village in Alaska. So many people worked very hard to try and determine the specific virus that caused this pandemic. She does a great job of researching and telling those stores.
At times I had difficulty getting my bearings in the story. Events are not always chronological, and numerous times after a protracted build up, the expected delivery was usually not there. Many times I wondered, what happens next. Maybe I was expecting answers that are just not there, yet it certainly seemed as if they were right around the corner. Despite some frustrations, if your weird and into viruses (who isn't really) then I think you will enjoy the book.
Melanie knows right where I live, and for Christmas bought me a book entitled "Flu, The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused it" by Gina Kolata. Is that really the title or did I just read the first chapter? For a while, until something else pulled me in a different direction (temporarily) I had been reading lots of books on microbiology and viruses. I have no idea why I am so fascinated with viruses, they are nothing more then an RNA or DNA strand and a few proteins, yet they can, and have changed the world.
I had read about the 1918 influenza pandemic before, but this book provided a good look some of the people, and their stories from this horrific global event. The numbers are staggering. In a single year, this influenza outbreak killed more Americans than World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam combined. The global fatality count is estimated anywhere from 20 to 100 million, no one knows for sure.
I like history that focuses on the personal stories of the people that lived through the events. Gina Kolata does a great job of digging out stories like the tale of Johan Hultin, a Swedish pathologist, and his world travels, and eventual unearthing of frozen flu victims from a remote village in Alaska. So many people worked very hard to try and determine the specific virus that caused this pandemic. She does a great job of researching and telling those stores.
At times I had difficulty getting my bearings in the story. Events are not always chronological, and numerous times after a protracted build up, the expected delivery was usually not there. Many times I wondered, what happens next. Maybe I was expecting answers that are just not there, yet it certainly seemed as if they were right around the corner. Despite some frustrations, if your weird and into viruses (who isn't really) then I think you will enjoy the book.
posted by Unknown at
11:33 AM
1 Comments:
Wow! That sounds like an interesting read! When you get a chance, tell us a couple of people stories from it.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home