This book by John Berger, “A Fortunate Man,” is blowing my mind. It’s an account of the life of a country doctor in the English countryside in the early 60’s.
When talking about the nature of illness -
“It is a question of failing to find any confirmation for oneself in the outside world.”
And then the doctor’s role -
“Clearly the task of the doctor - unless he merely accepts the illness on its face value and incidentally guarantees himself a ‘difficult’ patient - is to recognize the man. If the man can begin to feel recognized - and such recognition may well include aspects of his character which he has not yet recognized himself - the hopeless nature of his unhappiness will have been changed: he may have the chance of being happy.”
“It demands from the doctor true imaginative effort and precise self-knowledge.”
Thought you’d enjoy.
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I can’t wait to get this book! Thanks for the tip. Sounds like this doc was a cross-cultural bridge builder–speaking English but invoking the spirit of Chinese medicine. That’s not easy to do. Thanks again. Julie