Klik op een omslag om naar Google Boeken te gaan.
Bezig met laden... Dorothea's Wardoor Dorothea Crewdson
Geen Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
The evocative diaries of a young nurse stationed in northern France during the First World War, published for the first time. A rare insight into the great war for fans of CALL THE MIDWIFE. In April 1915, Dorothea Crewdson, a newly trained Red Cross nurse, and her best friend Christie, received instructions to leave for Le Tréport in northern France. Filled with excitement at the prospect of her first paid job, Dorothea began writing a diary. 'Who knows how long we shall really be out here? Seems a good chance from all reports of the campaigns being ended before winter but all is uncertain.' Dorothea would go on to witness and record some of the worst tragedy of the First World War at first hand, though somehow always maintaining her optimism, curiosity and high spirits throughout. The pages of her diaries sparkle with warmth and humour as she describes the day-to-day realities and frustrations of nursing near the frontline of the battlefields, or the pleasure of a beautiful sunset, or a trip 'joy-riding' in the French countryside on one of her precious days off. One day she might be gossiping about her fellow nurses, or confessing to writing her diary while on shift on the ward, or illustrating the scene of the tents collapsing around them on a windy night in one of her vivid sketches. In another entry she describes picking shells out of the beds on the ward after a terrifying air raid (winning a medal for her bravery in the process). Nearly a hundred years on, what shines out above all from the pages of these extraordinarily evocative diaries is a courageous, spirited, compassionate young woman, whose story is made all the more poignant by her tragically premature death at the end of the war just before she was due to return home. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
Actuele discussiesGeenPopulaire omslagen
Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)940.47541092History and Geography Europe Europe Military History Of World War I Prisons, hospitals, charities Medical department, surgeons, nurses EuropeLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
Ben jij dit?Word een LibraryThing Auteur. |
The diaries are well written and generally enjoyable to read. The text relates, mostly as simple narrative, Dorothea's days and nights at tent hospitals in northern France from 1915 to early 1919. She talks about her living arrangements with the other VADs, and the basic routine of her days. She faithfully records her more pleasant activities on days and half-days off, when she and other VADs would travel to local towns to shop or have tea. She relates some interesting events, such as the concerts the hospital staff would put on, sheltering in the woods when the hospital is bombed from the air, and taking a battlefield tour at the end of the war. The book illustrates what Dorothea's day-to-day life was like after she made the bold move to volunteer in France. She was obviously a pleasant, dedicated and hardworking nurse.
What she doesn't do, though, is give the reader an understanding of the nursing itself. She occasionally makes brief mention of patients by name and their particular injuries or illnesses, but doesn't much go into what she is called upon to do to help them. Her days and nights seem to consist mainly of sweeping and tidying the wards, making beds, giving meds and "blanket-baths" and serving meals--and perhaps that was true. I suspect, though, that she saw so much pain and suffering that she chose not to discuss nursing specifics in her notebooks.
I would have liked to know more of what she felt and thought about the people around her and about things that were going on. Patients are typically referred to throughout the book almost as generic "poor lads," with very little about their individual stories or personalities. While I don't for a moment question her compassion and interest in the soldiers, I would have liked to read more about interactions between Dorothea and her patients.
In more than 300 pages of densely packed text (it's one of those books with narrow margins), it got a bit tedious to slog through, over and over again, her life and activities with other VADs and with the nursing sisters. Throughout the book I felt frustrated that many things must have been happening that she wasn't telling us. But then, there is no reason why she should, since the diaries were for her personal use. I am sure that Dorothea would be very surprised to hear that a hundred years later, strangers would be reading her diary.