神様のカルテ

I read a lot of medical-related fiction (and non-fiction), and I tend to like it, so I thought I'd share some of what I read, in case others would like to pick them up.

That being said, I read in a variety of languages so I cannot guarantee that the books will be in English.

Anyways, the book I would like to recommend today is called 「神様のカルテ」(God's Chart). I actually didn't manage to find this book in the original Japanese, so I own a Chinese translation, but I do own its sequel in Japanese.

The story takes place in a small town in Japan, in a hospital that is severely understaffed and seriously overworked. It's hard to summarize any part of it without really ruining the little bits that make the story and writing so delicious, but part of what I like about this book is that it tells it like it is.

Of course, that is not to say that it is full of mundane trivia, and there is also obvious and plentiful amounts of storytelling in it. However, this is not a story about doctors who are able to save everyone. This is not a story about doctors who always do or say the right things.

This is a story, I think, about living and dying, about meeting and parting, and really, a story about ordinary miracles.

The name of the book itself comes from the idea that God may have a chart (i.e. a patient's file) that holds the medical data for everyone in the world, and that, if we were to have that chart, we would be able to save everyone's lives. However, the book states quite plainly that this is a story about people who do not have such means, and who do not possess "the hands of God"...these are people who do the best that they can to save the lives in front of them, and that is all.

Not quite done the first book yet, but already looking forward to the second, as well as the third one coming out in August!