A quick description of the book from the publisher:
In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Kidder’s magnificent account takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.” At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”–as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.The group was somewhat divided in opinion about the book, with ratings ranging from quite low to very high. Everyone was in agreement that Dr. Farmer was an amazing person to read about, but the book was somewhat cumbersome to read at times.
Dr. Farmer's story made for some interesting conversations about personal sacrifice (what good do we do not for ourselves?), generosity, tradeoffs that we make, and distribution of wealth and medical services throughout the world. The title was an appropriate one for this one and for life in general, as as you struggle and fight to climb over one mountain, there is always another one beyond to provide further challenge.
After discussion of the book, Geri served a decadent apple cake with caramel topping where the group finalized plans for our holiday outing on Friday, December 2nd at Sanders in Grand Forks. This will be our meeting for the month and no books are planned for December. Looking ahead, we added These is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine to our reading list for January. Mary Weltz is planning to host that month. The book for February will by Ordinary People by Judith Guest.
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