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Doctor Knows Worst

Of pills and pain
by
February–March 1986, no. 78

Pillbox by Gary Langford

Macmillan, $19.95, 228 pp

Doctor Knows Worst

Of pills and pain
by
February–March 1986, no. 78

At times I was delighted by this novel and at others was absolutely irritated. It is a novel which swerves between metaphors of wit and wisdom and crass punning. It is interesting structurally and it is crudely constructed. It is a novel of commitment, keen observation and loving sympathy. In some ways it is a novel of simple faith reminiscent of the Christian novels I was given as Sunday School awards which emphasised salvation through acceptance of a life of no smoking, no drinking, no dancing and certainly no going out with those who did them. But I’m putting this too strongly, for Gary Langford is not as simple minded as to attack modern medicine as the invention of the devil and doctors as the devil’s disciples. But the central thesis is that the protagonist, Mary Stewart, is the victim of our faith that the doctor knows best.

Pillbox

Pillbox

by Gary Langford

Macmillan, $19.95, 228 pp

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