"Dr. Insomniac" by Samatha Polisetti
Posted by Margaret Walker on Sunday, June 7, 2020 Under: Book Reviews
In : Book Reviews
Tags: samatha-polisetti medical memoir autobiography real-life india doctor
Sometimes soul-searching and often gruesome, Dr. Insomniac is one of those medical memoirs of which you swear you’ll just devour one more chapter late at night until, before you know it, dawn is peeping through the curtains. It’s short but memorable. Samatha Polisetti manages to pack a lifetime of adventures into a few chapters, from the perspective of a young doctor in India working in many branches of medicine. The gender bias in the medical hierarchy and in the country in general is disturbing, and the horrors the author both observes and creates (as a result of long hours and an overwhelming workload) again have to be seen from a cultural perspective.
‘It’s ironic how the victim becomes the accused in an Indian family, especially if the victim is “a woman who fell in love.”’ Fascinating.
In : Book Reviews