Very well written, with memorable characters, deep into the real problems and issues of the world of medicine, it is a jewel of a book. Most books on medicine emphasize the "privilege of caring for patients" and how that makes doctors important and more human (all of it typically in a very cheesy and transcendental way and very separated from reality). Contrary to that, The House of God deals with how medicine dehumanizes doctors and makes them wanting to commit suicide. In fact, The House of God makes a very good parody about other books on medicine ("How I saved the world") because they are so unrealistic and idealized. I put it into nonfiction because although it is fictionalized, the author repeatedly stated that this is true and it definitively looks like the truth of medicine. That is why all doctors reading it love it. I only rated this book 10/10 because there is no 15/10 available. Amazing book.

"The worse the Private, the better the bedside manner, and the higher the patient's regard."

"I wish she would die so I could just go to sleep."

"It's an incredible paradox that being a doctor is so degrading and yet is so valued by society. In any community, the most respected groups are doctors. You mean the whole thing's a deception? An unconscious one, a terrific repression that makes doctors really believe that they are omnipotent healers. If you hear yourselves saying, 'Well, this year wasn't really that bad', you're repressing, to put the next group through it. Why is it that these fine young men do this at all? Because it's so hard to say no. If you're programmed from age six to be a doctor, invest years in it, develop your repressive skills so that you can't even recall how miserable you were during internship, you can't stop."

In the very heart of The House of God campus, in the corner of Crossover street with Pilgrim road you will find a traffic sign pointing to the Pilgrim road garage. The book is semihidden behind the sign and the post that sustains it. Enjoy the hunt and the great book.