‘A news story in the paper about a hospital porter who’s been jailed for pretending to be a doctor for the last few years. Just finished one of those shifts where I wondered if I could get away with pretending to be a porter.’
- Adam Kay
‘This is going to hurt’ is a spectacularly hilarious read by Adam Kay, a former doctor and current comedian and writer for television shows and film. It is a compilation of several diary entries from his time as a junior doctor in England working for the National Health Service.
This book conveys the hard and disturbing truths of being a doctor through a humorous writing style, keeping the reader engaged with wit and sarcasm. The anecdotes included in the book give a real insight into life as a doctor without overlooking the gruesome or horrifying parts but fully appreciating the rewards that come with the job. It tells the story of a real person and most doctors, of how they are underappreciated, made to struggle, underpaid, and worst of all, taken for granted. People disregard the work done by doctors, even think of them as non-human, emotionless, detached and as never making mistakes, however, this book falsifies these assumptions with ease and comedy.
The writer keeps a light, sarcastic tone throughout the book except in the minority of entries which are thought-provoking and deep but equally well written. He includes satire and irony to convey the unabridged truth about the daily lives of doctors. Better still, his thoughts and opinions are naked to the reader, the book being a first-person account.
The diary entries vary in length from only a few lines to a few pages at most, so they can be read in breaks and are great for those having short attention spans.
This book has won several national book awards such as the ‘Blackwell's Debut of the Year’ and ‘Books are My Bag Non-fiction Book of the Year’. It has sold more than a million copies and has received excellent reviews by several national dailies like the Sunday Times, The Times, the Daily Express, the Guardian, and more. I can personally confirm that it is most definitely a book deserving of such high praise.
This book truly left me in hysterics, rolling in laughter by the end of the majority of entries. I couldn’t put the book down, however, it certainly allowed me to do so, each entry being so short. I found the accounts wonderfully entertaining while also putting across the hard truth concerning the plight of doctors.
I would recommend this book to not only aspiring doctors but anyone who is up for a good laugh. However, I would say that it is a book for a slightly mature reader as it does include some references unsuitable for younger readers and some strong language.
In conclusion , it is a riot of laughter, sarcasm, life, and death, and is not a book you will regret reading.
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