Large print book
An Irish country doctor / Patrick Taylor.
Record details
- ISBN: 0765319950
- ISBN: 9780765319951
- ISBN: 9780765316233
- ISBN: 0765316234
- ISBN: 9780765319951 (pbk.)
- Physical Description: 351 p ; cm.
- Publisher: New York : Forge : ThomasDoherty Associates, 2007, c2004.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- "This book was previously published in 2004 under the title The Apprenticeship of Doctor Laverty by Insomniac Press, Toronto"--T.p. verso.
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Laverty, Barry (Fictitious character) > Fiction.
O'Reilly, Fingal Flahertie (Fictitious character) > Fiction.
Physicians > Fiction.
Country life > Northern Ireland > Fiction.
Northern Ireland > Fiction. - Genre:
- Pastoral fiction.
Pastoral fiction.
Search for related items by series
Available copies
- 4 of 4 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Elkford Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 4 total copies.
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elkford Public Library | FC TAY (Text) | 35170000278309 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2006 December #2
Based on journals the author kept during his early years in medical practice, this debut novel describes a young man's apprenticeship as a doctor in rural Ireland during the early 1960s.Fresh out of medical school in Belfast, Barry Laverty is looking for a different experience from most of his classmates. He takes a position assisting Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly in scenic Ballybucklebo, a town so tiny it hardly makes it onto the map. Rule-following Barry doesn't know what to make of his boss, a GP who seems to practice by gut, conducting less than thorough examinations on some patients and stretching the truth to others. Charmed and bullied by O'Reilly, Barry quickly becomes acquainted with the patients, and embroiled in Ballybucklebo's mini-dramas. (The most tantalizing one involves a pregnant young maid who refuses to divulge the identity of either her employer or her child's father; the doctors suspect a powerful local man.) Barry still has his doubts about O'Reilly's methods, particularly when he catches a misdiagnosis, but he realizes that he has a lot to learn from the old guy after he makes a mistake of his own, underestimating the symptoms of a notorious hypochondriac. The fledgling doctor's personal life becomes complicated when he meets Patricia, a pretty young engineering student from a neighboring town who is crippled by polio. Though both are smitten, Patricia worries that she won't be able to devote enough time to the romance. She comes around, and as Barry becomes more confident about his abilities, he decides that there's nowhere that he'd rather practice than Ballybucklebo. The town is an easy place for readers to sink into as well, with likable characters and atmospheric dialogueâthough the plot is a bit thin.A sweetly affable story with little substance. Copyright Kirkus 2006 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2006 December #1
A straitlaced novice doctor gets initiated into the unorthodox world of a crafty rural sawbones in Taylor's American debut. Barry Laverty is fresh out of school and uncertain about what type of medicine he should practice when he answers an ad for a physician's assistant in Ballybucklebo, a small Northern Ireland town populated, it seems, entirely by eccentrics. Laverty is initially taken aback by his new boss, Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, whom he meets as O'Reilly is literally throwing a patient out of his office. Laverty spends most of the novel swaying between understanding O'Reilly's methods and second-guessing the boxer turned doctor who dishes out plenty of placebos and isn't above telling a white lie or a crude joke to worried patients. Though Laverty often comes across as painfully uptight, he also has an endearing-for-its-awkwardness streak that only surfaces around Patricia Spence, though she'd rather focus on her civil engineering studies than make time for a boyfriend. Serving as a foil to all the innocent fun is the lecherous, greedy Councillor Bishop, who, thanks to a scheming O'Reilly and a reluctant Laverty, gets his comeuppance. Despite the occasional whimsy overload, Taylor's novel makes for escapist, delightful fun. (Feb.)
[Page 35]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.