Random
I Caught A Little Cold
I have a little summer cold: sore throat, runny nose, stuffed up sinuses, medicine head, and so on. Unfortunately it came on at the silliest time: classes have just started and we’re moving into the new house this weekend. As I try to sleep each night, I think in my head how my cold is just a small thing in my life, and the pain of my sore throat will go away soon. This helps, I guess.
One book that I always think of when I get a sore throat is Boy by Roald Dahl. In the book, he describes having a doctor and parents trick him into a undergoing a tonsillectomy without anesthesia. Although I cannot remember the exact language of the scene, nor do I remember the details preceding the event, I vividly remember reading and imagining Dahl’s throat filling with blood as the doctor cut away his tonsils. This has stayed with me since I first read Boy as a boy, and, in addition to some other events of my childhood, might explain my fear of doctors, dentists, and other masked individuals.
What other books are out there that have unhealthy characters in them? What stories can I think of to soothe the annoying pain in my ears, nose, and throat?
Tags: Roald Dahl
Beckett Beckett Beckett.
Beckett Beckett Beckett.
I love Roald Dahl’s “Boy”. And then there’s the part where he’s in a car accident and gets his nose cut off by the windshield glass. That book has some pretty intense details.
I love Roald Dahl’s “Boy”. And then there’s the part where he’s in a car accident and gets his nose cut off by the windshield glass. That book has some pretty intense details.
i got the same thing you got ryan, it’s pretty nasty; been coughin’ up brown crap.
i loved ‘boy’ and ‘witches’ and ‘george’s marvelous medicine’ by dahl — they’re actually pretty morose books.
take theraflu and robotusin expectorant and nyquil; add some vodko or gin it helps. take care my brother, shout out to houston.
i got the same thing you got ryan, it’s pretty nasty; been coughin’ up brown crap.
i loved ‘boy’ and ‘witches’ and ‘george’s marvelous medicine’ by dahl — they’re actually pretty morose books.
take theraflu and robotusin expectorant and nyquil; add some vodko or gin it helps. take care my brother, shout out to houston.
i thought of that, justin, as soon as i pressed publish.
i thought of that, justin, as soon as i pressed publish.
yes. that and the tonsillectomy are the only things i remember from that book.
yes. that and the tonsillectomy are the only things i remember from that book.
been treating it with spicy texmex, moving furniture around, and allegra d. seems okay so far.
been treating it with spicy texmex, moving furniture around, and allegra d. seems okay so far.
One of my recent favorite children’s books is “The Tiger Rising” by Kate DiCamillo. The main character’s mother has recently died, so a father and son move to a motel in Florida called The Kentucky Star. I won’t say anymore. DiCamillo is no Roald Dahl, but she has something going on.
One of my recent favorite children’s books is “The Tiger Rising” by Kate DiCamillo. The main character’s mother has recently died, so a father and son move to a motel in Florida called The Kentucky Star. I won’t say anymore. DiCamillo is no Roald Dahl, but she has something going on.
Hemingway’s “A Day’s Wait” springs to mind. Sweet and touching, and just right the right length for your weary eyes.
Hemingway’s “A Day’s Wait” springs to mind. Sweet and touching, and just right the right length for your weary eyes.
Two kinds of Decay by Sara Manguso. Perfect sick read.
Two kinds of Decay by Sara Manguso. Perfect sick read.
Also, wasabi covered avocado sushi is the best remedy.
Also, wasabi covered avocado sushi is the best remedy.
Do you still have Your ‘Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark’ books from your childhood?
Well, in Volume 3, the best story, ‘”Maybe You Will Remember,” is about a girl who travels to Paris with her mother. Upon checking in, her mother becomes quite ill and the hotel doctor sends the girl on a wild goose chase to get the right medicine from his home. By the time she returns, her mother is nowhere to be found and the room they checked into is completely different and the hotel has no record of her checking in and they tell her to lie down. “Maybe you will remember…”
Spoiler Alert!
If you read the notes on the story in the end, it explains that maybe this is based on a true story of a doctor recognizing that the mother was near-death with the plague, and rather than the hotel being associated with a deathly contagious disease, they hid the body, repainted and decorated the room and then treated the daughter like she was a total nut.
Is that they kind of sick story you are looking for? One that heightens the hypochondria as well as makes you paranoid about international travel?
I thought so.
Do you still have Your ‘Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark’ books from your childhood?
Well, in Volume 3, the best story, ‘”Maybe You Will Remember,” is about a girl who travels to Paris with her mother. Upon checking in, her mother becomes quite ill and the hotel doctor sends the girl on a wild goose chase to get the right medicine from his home. By the time she returns, her mother is nowhere to be found and the room they checked into is completely different and the hotel has no record of her checking in and they tell her to lie down. “Maybe you will remember…”
Spoiler Alert!
If you read the notes on the story in the end, it explains that maybe this is based on a true story of a doctor recognizing that the mother was near-death with the plague, and rather than the hotel being associated with a deathly contagious disease, they hid the body, repainted and decorated the room and then treated the daughter like she was a total nut.
Is that they kind of sick story you are looking for? One that heightens the hypochondria as well as makes you paranoid about international travel?
I thought so.
The Russian/Soviet classic is “Doctor Aybolit,” a poem by Kornei Chukovsky (1929). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Aybolit. (here’s one rather inadequate translation of it: http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/children/texts/chukovsky/doctor.html).
The main plot of the tale has the good doctor going to Africa to cure the local sick animals of all diseases (malaria, measles, appendicitis). His cure? Chocolate and thermometers. And also a mysterious drink called “Gogol-Mogol,” which in my grandmother’s interpretation was milk with melted butter and honey.
The Russian/Soviet classic is “Doctor Aybolit,” a poem by Kornei Chukovsky (1929). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Aybolit. (here’s one rather inadequate translation of it: http://www.marxists.org/subject/art/literature/children/texts/chukovsky/doctor.html).
The main plot of the tale has the good doctor going to Africa to cure the local sick animals of all diseases (malaria, measles, appendicitis). His cure? Chocolate and thermometers. And also a mysterious drink called “Gogol-Mogol,” which in my grandmother’s interpretation was milk with melted butter and honey.