Addison Wolfe never wanted to be a physician. He wanted to be an astronaut, and went to medical school as a roundabout way of achieving it. But his plans backfire when NASA turns him down and he has to complete his internship at University Hospital in Jacksonville. He faces a daunting year of learning the ins and outs of being a doctor, while juggling his colleagues, his love-life and the evil Director of Medical Education.
I was offered an e-copy of The Reluctant Intern by its author, Bill Yancey. I always jump at the opportunity to read books by medical doctors, and I was very intrigued by a book with a main character who really doesn’t want to be a doctor. It’s unorthodox, but doesn’t it immediately sound like a cool story?
Unfortunately, I guess the book and I were a bad match (it has a lot of really stellar reviews on GoodReads). I struggled to get my feelings together about it, so I decided to do a bit of visual organization, inspired by Kelley’s review of The Murder Complex. (Hers is WAY better. I’m still learning to do this stuff.)
In addition to the premise being a fantastic idea (everybody always writes about the passionate doctors, yawn), I love hearing about medical training in years gone by. I always try to get my supervisors to talk about their med school days. So I loved that aspect of the book.
The biggest problem, essentially, comes down to the fact that I think the novel really just needed a good editor. The book was produced independently, but the writing tone and grammar very often needed a bit of polishing. I’m a bit of a grammar/spelling/vocab-nazi at times, and it really came out while reading this. Also, the use of “etc” was very glaring, very often.
I know it was intended as part of the historical setting, but the racism/sexism/old-boy camaraderie really put me off. I guess it just felt so… blatant. I don’t know, but it was the part that made this most difficult for me. Perhaps also because I still encounter a lot of these elements in my training and so it was uncomfortable and a bit close to home.
Finally, I felt that the plot lacked direction and Wolfe lacked agency as a character. It was more a chronicle of Wolfe’s various rotations and the things that happened to him. They were very anecdotal. But I have to say: some of the anecdotes were really funny and/or interesting. There was a really unexpected twist near the end, I didn’t really enjoy the twist too much because I felt it added to some of the stereotyping. At any rate, it did make me jump!
Although it is a bit subliminal, there is some good comment about medical training and the things that happen in the medical community, which I loved reading as they tend to be brushed under the carpet.
So, you see why I don’t think this was a good match for me although it does have some great points. I do think there is promise in this novel but I would love to see it more edited and polished.
I received a copy of this book via the author in exchange for an honest review. This has not affected my opinions in any way.
Whispers Unto the Aether 
This book sounds like it could be fascinating (I also find it hard to resist books — especially memoirs of some sort — written by medical doctors). It’s a shame that this one didn’t work for you. Based on your flowchart (high five!) I can understand why it was problematic. (Although I’m a bit confused by your “intended for” bubble…?)
Oh, but I guess this is a work of fiction, not nonfiction, so that sort of changes things. The old-boy-camaraderie is present in my industry too, and it’s highly disappointing. I can see why it would be important to include if this was a historical memoir, but as a work of fiction… I dunno, I mean, maybe they were trying to show how it really was back then, but now doing a good job? I think the lack of editing would have gotten on my nerves too.
In any case, great review, and I’m glad the flowchart tool helped! 🙂
Aaah, I didn’t see that my text got cut off in that bubble… darnit… basically what the bubble is supposed to mean was that the author intended to expose the racism/sexism in the profession and country at the time. I still felt a bit iffy about it though, because I felt that there was a strong undercurrent. I don’t really know how to explain it o.O But, yeah, it’s fiction (though based on the authors experience as an intern) so… yeah.
Thanks for the idea of a flowchart. I might use it more often now, even for my unpublished reviews. And for studying – I must try that!
Interesting review! Almost can’t resist reading this book now, in a way just to see if I agree with your points on it. Good post! Well done.
Thanks! Please do read it, I’d love to discuss it – even if your opinions are different to mine! So many other people seem really to have enjoyed it, and I’d like to have an in-depth discussion with someone!