Some Medical Memories

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28950, 18 July 1959, Page 3

Some Medical Memories

A Doctor’s Story. An Autobiography. By Victor Henrikson. Michael Joseph. 208 pp. Though this book bears precisely the same title as Sir Bowerbank’s autobiography reviewed in these columns some six months ago. Victor Henrikson’s story contrasts markedly with that of the New Zealand doctor, both in style and in point of view.'' Sir Fred Bowerbank told his story modestly and with restraint, Without being selLceutred. The span of “his hiedical career enjoyed the easy and informative way in which in plain language he described them. Dr. Henrikson, on the other hand, is a Swede, well-known in his native land through his radio talks. His experience has certainly been varied, for he has been on the staff of a number of hospitals, has been a country practitioner, an army doctor, a psychiatrist and eye surgeon. His story covers much the same period as Sir Fred Bowerbank’s, and describes conditions long before the discovery of modern “miracle" drugs and the establishment of welfare states, when both doctors and patients had to contend with conditions which have now almost completely vanished.

Yet Dr. Henrikson’s story is far more personal. He is intensely interested in his own emotional life, and since he writes with unusual candour and honesty, the centre of interest of his book lies more in his own individual experiences. For instance he loves to tell of the case history of his most interesting patients, and describes vividly the terrors of the first operation, the ugliness of professional jealousy, the fear of being sued for negligence, the mental torment that physicians and surgeons undergo when they ask themselves if they are doing the right thing, the burden of their responsibility and the dread of making an irremediable mistake. Yet this is a most enjoyable book, beautifully and smoothly translated by Maurice Michael. A generous splicing of anecdotes and stories of sensational medical cases adds striking colour to the narrative. Stories of other people’s illnesses seem to possess an hypnotic quality for some readers, and many will find this book even more exciting than fiction. For Dr. Henrikson is alive to the drama of everyday life; and he here provides a cup of literary medical tea full of movement and colour, tragedy and romance, comedy and heartbreak.