Customer Reviews

Strong Medicine

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Arthur Hailey was a great man. He provided insights into so many industries. Perhaps he got the best commercial works out of Airport and Hotel, but his commentary on other works was his greatest legacy.

Don't get me wrong - Hotel and Airport were great works. The looked into the problems of those industries. He books contained great merit; the adaptations to screen showed a big disater movie (Airport... and then Airplane).

Strong Medicine was his look into the ethical drug world, with all it's triumphs and problems. Medical breaktrhoughs in drugs are not without their costs. Can some drugs lead to harmful side-effects? Yes. Can some drugs be helpful to men and science? Yes. Can the FDA both cause good drugs to be delayed, and catch harmful drugs before they hit? Yes.

Arthur Hailey is a master of industry reseach. He understood no industry was without it's drawbacks and costs, and well as it's advancement to mankind. Strong Medicine shows both sides at their very best. Drug companies want the best ethical drugs they can make - but they are also not immune from making mistakes about their strong medicne.

Arthur Hailey is one author whose judgement I'd trust implicitly. He "captured" my trust when I was 13 years old when I first read "Final Diagnosis". "Strong medicine" is another great story in the same great Hailey tradition - attention to detail, an investigative journalism kind of style and best of all, real, believable characters.

Arthur Hailey is one of the best, Strong medicine is one of his best books and Celia Jordan, a remarkable character. Mr. Hailey, more power to you. Hope to read lots more from you in the years to come. Thank you for creating Celia Jordan (Strong Medicine), Dr.Pearson (Final Diagnosis), Margot and Alex (Money Changers), Jamie Howden (In High places).

Looking forward to more from you,

I had randomly chosen this book from a shelf of books in one Victorian style inn while we were spending our holidays in US (it was meant to help spend sleepless morning hours and thus fight the jet lag). I of course had to put it back before leaving the hotel. But it caught me so much that I ordered my copy right after we had gotten home. It's of course wonderful novel of Arthur Hailey - standing in one row with other best-sellers, such as "Hotel" or "Airport". He is a master of keeping reader's attention and curiosity from the first to the last page without any effort. It's so easy to read!

But more than that I picked up other important angle of the book - Celia's character, her frustrations and joys, philosophy of life and work. It was extremely interesting to find very similar or even the same questions arising in her mind as I myself had spent a lot of time trying to answer. I found quite a lot of myself in her character. It's wonderful that author has managed to create such a comprehensive and compelling as well as buoyant and sincere character - it's well able to become a mentor of the reader. I think, this book is a must-read for every young lady knowing well what she's aiming at in her life and career.

I wouldn't dare to question Hayley's storytelling skills - the the story is narrated well and kept my attention from the beginning to the very end. Mrs. Jorden is certainly an enjoyable character, settings are attractive, so far, everything is fine.
The characters are enjoyable, but not believable. They are archetypical to the core - Mr. and Mrs. Jordan are a perfect husband finding a perfect wife. Loving each other, carefully respecting their differences, if they ever have an argument, they rush to apologize before the end of the page, both claiming the other one was right and ensuring themselves (and eventually their childern) they still love each other. Talented scientist comes with miracle cure, dishonest one pays for his pride, responsible boss only makes mistakes (though major ones) when he acts against Mrs. Jorden's better judgement (and I don't remember -her- making major mistake) etc.
The book is extremely predictable, especially with its retrospective composition, packed with number of suspicious random events (right when the company is about to produce a dubious medicine for gravid females, several characters hurry to get gravid) and generally too simple for a novel which intends to explore moral dilemas of pharmaceutic industry.
I wouldn't call it bad, but more then a drama it's a modern business fairy tale.

this is an excellent book written with great care and after doing a deep study of the world of pharmaceutical research and medicine.

I read it a while ago, and it captured me right from the first page. Arthur Hailey has a way of describing things very vividly, and even though I don't know anything about medecine or the technical language it doesn't matter because you still understand it and it's easy to feel and see all the characters in your mind. I recommend it for the reader who wants to be entertained and nothing else, it's not a book which raise highly philosophical questions (maybe makes you think a little about what's really going on inside the pharmaceutical industry) and likes to read a good well-written book.

A woman can scale the same heights as a man when it comes to a profession seems to be the theme of this novel set in the world of large Pharmaceutical companies. We see drugs in stores, buy, use and then throw them away but what really happens before they come before our eyes? Research goes on for many years, followed by testing to ensure that the drug is safe, then there is the application to FDA after whose approval the drug is released for sale. All along the way there are delays which have to be overcome. There is cut throat competition between firms and within firms for the top position. Though Hailey has included family life of the heroine Celia Jordan in his novel, the main site of action is the corporate world. Not leaving out politics, he includes a senator out for avenging his humiliation, a FDA officer with a shady past, a British researcher who promises a wonder drug - but is the promise fulfilled? And a bitter scientist set to find a miracle drug that will counter the side affects of hordes of other drugs. But will the Thalidomide tragedy be repeating by Felding-Roth Pharmaceuticals? Is infamy in store for Celia? Or will she stand tall and proud on the ladder of success?

"Strong Medicine" may be the best Hailey novel of all. The characterizations are believable throughout. This applies to all of the Jordans, plus Vincent Lord, Noah Townsend, Gideon Mace, Senator Donahue, and many others. A vast improvement over earlier works such as "Wheels" and "The Moneychangers".

It shows the dramatic rise of a woman in a chauvinist drug company. It also deals with a lot of dilemmas to be faced amidst one's popularity. Inside politics, bribery, fame, family life and sex. Name it and the book offers it in different dosages, of course. Medicines are a must but do we have to abuse them for our interests?

This book changed my life. When I was 16, a friend called me on the phone in sheer excitement. "I just read a book about a woman who reminds me of you! " Needless to say, I rushed out to buy the book, stormed through its captivating pages, and was puzzled. The heroine is a modern career woman with principles and intelligence. I was a teenager. Why was she like me? Yet, over the years, I have found that the heroine has given me courage and guidance in times of challenges and has even led me to propose to my husband! Though not a recently written book, the heroine is a wonderful, encouraging, and inspiring role model for the women of today who want it all - a career, family, and self-realization. It is absolutely captivating and one that you will go back to read a second time and a third if not more.