The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, And The Science Of Suffering (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
I found this book terribly difficult to get through. I was interested in the topic because two family members suffer from chronic pain. My heart hurts for them. My perspective on this book is also tempered by my years as a medical librarian. I expected this book to be a layman's version of the state-of-the-art knowledge and understanding of chronic pain and its biological basis, anticipating an expanded version of the type of writing one might encounter in the health section of a major newspaper. To some extent, it was. However, the author throws her personal experience with pain into the narrative in such a manner as to approach memoir. Although I appreciate a good memoir, I found the fusion of reporting versus storytelling to be off putting. I felt that the quality of the research on medical practices and the current understanding of pain mechanisms was good. But, the personal experiences laced throughout the narrative caused me to feel the science reporting was somewhat biased. I will be curious to see if others agree. Excellent insights for anyone with chronic pain and a taste for the philosophical and historical. Essentially a history of the views and attitudes about pain and how it has been treated from the beginning of civilization until today. The author also weaves into this history her personal 10+ year struggle with debilitating pain in her neck and arm (alas, it is never vanquished). It may shock or surprise you to learn that the discovery of unconsciousness-inducing anesthesia was greeted with sheer hostility by surgeons, for a litany of religious and cultural reasons; perhaps similar factors are at play as chronic pain sufferers today are viewed with suspicion or disdain. The author also delves very deeply into what pain, as an experience, actually is, and how, far from indicating that something is necessarily wrong with one's body, pain is entirely a product of the brain and mind. Very compelling.
What do You think about The Pain Chronicles: Cures, Myths, Mysteries, Prayers, Diaries, Brain Scans, Healing, And The Science Of Suffering (2010)?
Very interesting topic, interesting interviews and take, but too dismissive of the joys of pain.
—Zooz
A big book about the elusiveness of treating and curing chronic pain.
—tjbro13
