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A review by mlindsey441
Called for Life: How Loving Our Neighbor Led Us into the Heart of the Ebola Epidemic by Kent Brantly
3.0
So conflicted. So very, very conflicted. About 25% of my way into this book, I wanted to abandon it. I felt like I was listening to an Good Morning America interview -- many parts of this book didn't read like a story and had that disjointed feeling that I often find in my student's writing when they attempt to write a paper by just answering a list of question prompts. This disjointed reading experience was heightened by the decision to move back and forth between Kent and Amber's point of view. While I do think some readers will find Amber's experience to be interesting and may want to hear her thoughts, it felt like a distraction to the story -- kind of like -- okay, now it is time to hear from the wife. Obviously this would have been a terrifying experience for her and their children, but it didn't add enough to the story line to warrant the pages dedicated to it. I was also frustrated and a little bored with the need for us to hear their falling-in-love story. Yes, it helped make the book get to 200 pages, but I would have liked to have heard more about Liberia, the culture, the people, the medical situation there. There were also some timeline issues and I found myself lost in time more than once. Fortunately I was reading a hard copy of the book so I could flip back to sections to reread portions to orient myself to the exact order of events.
That's the bad. On the other side of this I have a high level of respect for Kent and others like him. Their willingness to serve in areas that many people would run away from inspires me. I appreciated his willingness to allow the world into his private suffering from an illness that humiliates the body. His vulnerability with his readers is admirable. He did not have to share this with us, but I am grateful that he did. I just wish greater care had been taken with the telling of his story. This could have been a five star book for me -- and instead I found myself at moments wanting to give it only one.
That's the bad. On the other side of this I have a high level of respect for Kent and others like him. Their willingness to serve in areas that many people would run away from inspires me. I appreciated his willingness to allow the world into his private suffering from an illness that humiliates the body. His vulnerability with his readers is admirable. He did not have to share this with us, but I am grateful that he did. I just wish greater care had been taken with the telling of his story. This could have been a five star book for me -- and instead I found myself at moments wanting to give it only one.