5 Patients -Lib -OS [Library Binding]

Michael Crichton (Author)

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Rebound by Sagebrush (January 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061321546X
• ISBN-13: 978-0613215466
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,691,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for future doctors, March 22, 2004

By 

Omar (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5 Patients -Lib -OS (Library Binding)

This is a really good book for people who want to become a doctor or are interested in the health field. I really recommend this book to those of you who are interested in medicine. If you are not then there really is no point in you reading this book.

The book is mostly about a particular hospital. The five patients the title talks about are normal people that go to the hospital for surgery, check-ups, and treatment. Each of those five patients has it's own theme. For instance, when Crichton gives the story of the patient that had surgery, he gives information on surgery, from the history of surgery to the details on anesthetics. On the patient that got a check-up without the doctor being there, he gives info on technology and how it has revolutionized medicine.

Overall, this is a really good book if you're interested in this kind of stuff. You have to read it if you're interested in the health/medical field.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Education For Educations Sake, January 11, 2005

By 

Akiva Melatiya (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5 Patients -Lib -OS (Library Binding)

I am mainly writing this as a response to Omars remarks regarding who should read this book and who shouldnt bother. Any subject no matter how technically complex or mundane should never be anathema to a person looking to increase their knowledge. It dosent matter if you arent going to be a doctor to be able to enjoy this book. I believe that after reading Crichtons "Travels", that he would agree wholeheartedly with me in this respect. He is sincerely for the betterment of the self on the spiritual level as well as the academic level. Too many things in this world interest me, and I thank God for that curiousity and for the ability to grasp those things and bring them into my own sphere of understanding. Case studies, essays, diagnoses, fiction, non fiction, plays. When you boil them down, they are all stories. All of them tell a story. All have a history. I reccommend this book to anyone with a brain.

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a "typical" Crichton thriller, May 13, 2011

By 

Mya - See all my reviews

This review is from: 5 Patients -Lib -OS (Library Binding)

I generally love Crichton books but this one fell short... probably why I found it on the $1.00 rack at 1/2 Price Books. The book details 5 case studies of patients with various maladies. In typical Crichton fashion, it's easily seen that he devoted much research to this book. However, as a work of fiction goes he may have devoted a little too much as it reads more like a history book on the hospital and medicine. I won't deny that there was some intriguing information contained here, but I don't tend to enjoy history nor did I buy this book to brush up on my medical knowledge. His writing tends to involve jargon and references I have know understanding of largely because I have zero background in medicine. The stories of the 5 patients hold some potential to be captivating, but Crichton kept interrupting his stories with more history, statistics, and facts, slowing down the entire book to a textbook-like read.

Perhaps I could rate this book higher if I had known what I was getting myself into before I started reading it... like I said, it *is* interesting, but in a that's-an-interesting-bit-of-trivia way and not a that's-a-great-story way. Bottom line, if you're interested in this history of hospitals and medicine you may very well enjoy this. If you're looking for the type of Crichton story found in Jurassic Park, Airframe, Prey, or Pirate Latitudes, then there's really nothing to see here.