Mountains Beyond Mountains : The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Written Book About a Brillantly Humanitarian
Review: Again, another fabulous book by Tracy Kidder! Paul Farmer is an amazing, albeit intense individual who exemplifies what many of us wish we could do for this world. Rather than coming away depressed or discouraged, I find myself again looking at the choices I make for myself, my family and friends, my community, and beyond. Reading this book gives one the opportunity to rethink any potential strategies to help the world at large, even if only on a small scale. Perhaps it does sound a bit trite and pedantic, but it really does ring true: once you have lived and worked in desperate places similar to Haiti, one's worldly outlook will never be the same, and as a result, one is always on the lookout for ways to assist people in need. The only cynical thing I can think of is, "What's the catch? What's he playing?" Paul Farmer is almost too good to be true, however as much as I have always trusted Kidder as a writer, I must cling to the belief that Paul Farmer is the real deal, and I have Tracy Kidder to thank for bringing Farmer's story to life.

Rating:
Summary: A Contrast of What Should Be with What Is
Review: "Mountains Beyond Mountains" is no exception to Tracy Kidder's excellent body of work. I have been a fan since he wrote "Soul of a New Machine." Kidder impressed me then, as he does now, with his upfront investment of time before putting pen to paper. Fortunately for us, his hard work translates to first class storytelling.

The title "Mountains Beyond Mountains" is a metaphor for life - once you have scaled one mountain (challenge), there are more to come. This is especially true for Paul Farmer, MD, who has devoted his life to what most people call "the impossible." He has faced mountain after mountain in his quest to help mankind.

Farmer starts out devoting his life to providing the most rudimentary medical care to impoverished Haitians (the shafted of the shafted). By age 27, he had treated more illnesses than most doctors would see in a lifetime. With time, he finds himself on the world stage trying to find a cure for drug resistant tuberculosis, undertaking the difficult role of a global fundraiser, and fighting big pharma for lower drug prices. He is a modern day medical hero.

For me, Farmer serves as a startling contrast to Robert K. Maloney, MD, the well known Los Angeles ophthalmologist who has been featured on TV's "Extreme Make-over." Maloney, who was profiled October 26, 2004 in the Wall Street Journal, said that after he completed his medical training, he came to a disquieting conclusion: "I really didn't like sick people." Maloney has since specialized in LASIK refractive surgery (considered cosmetic surgery) and pampers his patients with 25 person staff, and a suit-and-tie concierge who serves pastries and coffee in the waiting room. He then follows up after his patients return home with a gift box of gourmet chocolate chip cookies and a mug bearing the invitation, "Wake up and smell the coffee." He says he now earns more than the $1.2 million in salary and bonuses he made during his last year at UCLA (several years ago), but he won't say how much.

Farmer serves as reminder of what medicine aspired to be - the buck as only a means to an end....ending poverty, ending tuberculosis, ending the plight of many humans who cannot receive treatment from a qualified and trained doctor. Dr. Maloney serves as a reminder of what medicine has become - the buck and celebrity as ends. We should all get one of Maloney's mugs so we, too, can "Wake up and smell the coffee" ...before it is too late.

Read "Mountains Beyond Mountains," if only to regain hope of what medicine can be.



Rating:
Summary: riveting
Review: A wonderfully written book that has kept me up much longer at night that I want to be... All about infectious diseases, the socio-political story behind them, and one man's vision of the way medicine should be on this planet. Eye-opening... evokes inspiration, frustration, compassion, and anger at the way media has been twisting our perceptions.

Rating:
Summary: Unexpectedly compelling, brilliantly written
Review: I confess that when this book was selected for my book club, I was relatively unenthused. I work for a non-profit and am interested in public health issues, so it wasn't for lack of interest in the topic, but the title and subtitle just made it sound somewhat repetitive and lengthy - I suppose I thought the read itself would be an uphill battle. I was completely wrong. The book was compelling throughout, and the writing was brilliant. Kidder makes the medical terminology extremely accessible, while also making the imagery of the various countries, landscapes, and people come to life.

While I won't go into the details of Farmer's quest (the other reviews and summaries do it justice), I will say that I was duly inspired. This inspiration was partially circumstantial, as I read it while I was experiencing an inertia and lull at work, but all the people I've spoken with concur that it had the same effect on them. However, despite the glowing portrayal of Farmer's visionary quest, Kidder also did a great job of illuminating some of the monsters among Farmer's windmills, the drawbacks of his lifestyle, and the (though few) less-than-charming quirks. I think this was important psychologically for both Kidder and his readers, who could easily be overwhelmed by the enormity of Farmer's vision and impact.

This book made for a great book club discussion and it would also be excellent for high school and college classroom discussions, as it raises a number of issues related to social justice, ethical dilemmas, international politics/policy, personal responsibility, and global health. I highly recommend it and I look forward to checking out some of Kidder's other works.

Rating:
Summary: it will probably change you
Review: if you have ever experienced moral confusion or despair about human suffering or a wish for clear purpose or curiosity about extraordinary people .... whatever ... you should read this book. paul farmer is unlike any other character you've read about in non-fiction and tracy kidder is, as always, masterful.

Rating:
Summary: Outrageous
Review: If you read the first page, you will continue to read. You will lose sleep, just like its subject, because there is far more to do. This is the account of a man, Dr Paul Farmer, who is willing to travel across the world in a rumpled suit to fight for social medical equalities, and across Haiti in 7 hour treks by foot to make 'house calls' to the most oppressed peoples in the Western Continent. 'House' is an irony, because in this Tracy Kidder book 'house' is a 2 Haitian room hut with a mud floor that is lucky to have a straw mat and rat-proofing on the grain equipment. Paul Farmer's clinic in Haiti is really the Soul the New Machine. Children, in a country that has been raped of all hope and the deforestation to symbolize it, are gathering water in terpentine cans. Can you imagine if it were you who was sick in the rainy season, hungry, ill, in the mud, and on a straw mat, and with no hope? It is an outrage to think that this happens in a world where the US spends more on pet grooming than on meeting even the basic needs of the oppressed. DOESN'T THIS MAKE YOU ANGRY??????

This is a great book about a man that has so much passion to get at the heart of what really matters, doing onto others how you would have them do onto you. I have read and enjoyed other Tracy Kidder books, but I think this one is especially wonderful. Kidder trails Paul Farmer who is an amazing, energetic, passionate person who takes the Golden Rule to the nth degree and will stop at nothing, neither in Boston, nor in Haiti or Lima or Siberia. The book is about dialogues, Farmers' youth, Farmers' loves, about Farmer's quirky and feisty way with the English language brought on by his passion for equitable public health and medical care. I can't tell you exactly what makes this a great book, but Tracy Kidder has a great way with words and you both will not want to put this book down. And then you will go to Partners in Health and wonder what you can do from afar (or perhaps nearer).


What can I say. You must read the book. And I do hope that Amazon,com is contributing to Partners in Health, for every sale of this book. I just saw something by the Earth Institute that says that the US media spends 1/10th of what European countries spend on hunger and issues of the developing world. The US IS ASLEEP!!! Let's get out of the thread-count mentality and start thinking what sanitation and potable water could do as starters!

This is a must-read for any citizen of the world.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book. Period.
Review: It doesn't matter if you've never heard of Paul Farmer, if you have no interest in medicine or public health or third-world countries. I didn't. I only picked this book up (at the library---sorry Amazon, sorry Tracy Kidder) because I've read a few other things by Tracy Kidder and studied the genre of creative nonfiction. I'm very glad that I overlooked the topic to give the story a chance. What you get is a portrait of a man who rises from some interesting circumstances to become first a doctor, then a leader, then someone who changes the lives of thousands of people. It's moving, it's gripping, it's just really well written. And it gave me, at least, a glimpse of how it's possible---really, really possible---to make a difference in the world. I've been recommending it to my friends when we start devolving into that mid-30s life-going-nowhere-real-fast conversation. You know that conversation? Well, then, try this book and figure out which mountain is yours to climb.

Rating:
Summary: Moving
Review: Mountains Beyond Mountains is an excellent work of inspiration and hope. Obviously it's a look inside the life and career of Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer came from a meager background but excelled enough in his studies to find himself in a unique position. He could doctor to the world-not just the affluent but the poor. Perhaps the people who need it most. At a young age Farmer found himself visiting Haiti (one of the poorest and most third-world of places) and was changed forever. He set up a health clinic there that provides services to the poor and even occasionally hikes hours into the countryside of this tumultuous country to call on patients. This book shows that being a good human, that is, doing what's right pays off even if everyone doesn't follow suit. Farmer wouldn't like it but this book shows him to be a moral exemplar of how we all should be. Throughout the book you'll read about how Farmer has been involved globally to help eradicate TB in places like Peru and Russian prisons, how he has spoken at various forums around the world to show that each patient is a priority regardless of if it is cost-effective or not to treat them. Also, one comes to realize by Farmer's example and efforts that there are more important things in the world than accumulating wealth. What's the old saying that it's better to give than to receive? Early on in the book one of Farmer's patients proclaims that he's a saint. After reading the book it's easy to see why.

Rating:
Summary: An impressive, readable biography on an inspiration
Review: Tracy Kidder, in his telling of the life and work of Dr. Paul Farmer "Mountains Beyond Mountains," gives readers a multi-dimensional look at a man whose accomplishments are amazing and whose heart seems to know no boundaries. It is easy to tell that Kidder did his research - on the subjects that were discussed in the book (such as multi-drug resistant tuberculosis or Haitian politics) and on the subject of the book: Farmer. He interviewed numerous people including Farmer's relatives, friends, students, colleagues, and teachers, and included his impressions of his interactions with Farmer to give quite a comprehensive picture of such an important figure in public health, global health, and medicine. He also followed Farmer to places like Haiti, Peru, Russia, and Boston to show while Farmer's "roots" were in Haiti his concern for the poor was global.

In the book, there is an anecdote about a sign Kidder sees in one of the offices of Partners in Health (an organization that was co-founded by Farmer) that says: "If Paul is the model, we're golden" and that underneath the word "golden" there was another word underneath on another sheet of paper that had the word "f**ked" to give an alternative quote: "If Paul is the model, we're f**ked." I believe that this anecdote aptly describes how I felt as I read "Mountains Beyond Mountains." While I know that I could never do the things Farmer has done, I felt inspired to make a difference my own way. Farmer's story is one of compassion, drive, and of helping lives that inspires people to make their own contributions to causes they believe in.

This book is very accessible and its subject matter fascinating. I give it a full five stars!