Life or soul?

THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN

Recommended reading by over 50 universities, including Stanford, Yale, London, and Johns Hopkins. A unique ethnography of the Miao people in America: the struggle between Eastern witchcraft and modern medicine. Neither love, faith, nor advanced medicine could save Liya's life. When cultural barriers become the starting point of conflict, beyond the choice between life and soul, are there new possibilities?
🎊🎊🎊🎊🎊
❊ Editor's Recommendation: "If you can't see that your own culture also has its own set of patterns for protecting its own interests, feelings, and preferences, how can you expect to interact effectively with other cultures?"
"I hope this book will be positioned not as 'the book' about the Hmong, but as one of many books about communication and misunderstanding."
◎ Recommended reading by more than 50 universities including Stanford, Yale, London, and Johns Hopkins. This book received rave reviews from numerous media outlets as soon as it was published in 1997. It won many awards, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the New York Times Book of the Year Award, and the American Salon Book Award. As a medical and anthropological work that explores the doctor-patient relationship and cultural conflict, it has been included in the recommended reading lists by more than 50 universities including Stanford, Yale, London, and Johns Hopkins.
◎Real cases that prompted changes in the U.S. healthcare system
On October 24, 1982, three-month-old Miao girl Liya suffered an epileptic seizure and was rushed to Merced Hospital in California by her parents. By the time Liya arrived, the seizure had already subsided. Due to a language barrier, doctors were unable to understand what had happened from Liya's parents, leading to a misdiagnosis. Even after being diagnosed by a professional, her condition remained unresolved. In the years that followed, Liya was frequently hospitalized. After a severe seizure, she was declared brain dead...
The case triggered the worst conflict in the history of Merced Hospital and attracted widespread attention. It later prompted the establishment of the witch doctor system in the United States and its systematic introduction into the medical system.
Everyone loves Liya, but no one can save her. When a doctor's treatment conflicts with a family's understanding of the situation, what does it mean to be a good doctor? What does it mean to be a good parent? Is the root cause of doctor-patient conflict the doctor's negligence or the patient's lack of cooperation? Is it a misunderstanding, an accident, or a cognitive bias?
◎A future apocalypse that improves doctor-patient conflicts and cultural misunderstandings. Herbs and scalpels, myths and science, tradition and modernity, East and West... When two different cultures collide, there may be an insurmountable gap between language, religion and social customs.
The Miao people believe that Western doctors "eat human brains", and doctors believe that the Miao people "eat placentas"; the Miao people believe that cutting their bodies will affect their health, so surgery is taboo for them. Western doctors believe that the soul rings worn by the Miao people are unhygienic and will simply cut them off; Western medicine emphasizes "life", while Miao culture emphasizes "soul"... Is it possible for two parties with different cultural backgrounds to reach a reconciliation?
This book is an in-depth account of the collision of Eastern and Western cultures. At the intersection of cultures, listening to both sides and deeply understanding their cultures is the key to finding solutions to cultural communication. It not only provides valuable insights into building harmonious doctor-patient relationships in today's society, but also offers inspiration to each of us in the era of globalization.
◎ The narrative is interspersed like montage, combing out the characteristics of the Miao people. On the one hand, the author uses warm and delicate language to describe the development of the story. On the other hand, he uses rational language and anthropological perspective to comprehensively describe the ethnic culture, historical memory and current living conditions of the Miao people in the United States. The two parts are interspersed with rich content, exciting plot and fascinating.
In a foreign land, they struggle to find cultural identity, unable to communicate properly, and unable to master the "simple" everyday tasks of Westerners. They encounter obstacles at every turn and yearn constantly for their homeland. "Few people know that the Miao people possess a rich history, a complex culture, an efficient social system, and enviable family values." This is a story about life and love, and also an ethnography of the Miao people in the United States. The author's reflections are imbued with humanitarian care and explore new possibilities for communication in a cross-cultural context.
This book tells the true story of a Laotian-American family seeking medical treatment for their daughter. Lea's family are Hmong refugees who immigrated to the United States from Laos in 1980. When Lea was about three months old, she suffered a seizure and was brought to Merced Hospital by her mother. The emergency room doctor, who didn't speak Hmong, misdiagnosed Lea with "early-stage bronchopneumonia," prescribed medication, and sent them away. In the years that followed, Lea was frequently hospitalized. Even after being diagnosed by a professional, her condition remained stagnant. The doctor discovered that Lea's parents had not followed the instructions for her medication.
Among the Miao people, epilepsy is considered a glorious condition, signifying a divine calling, and thus, Liya was particularly beloved by her parents. However, Liya's parents placed greater faith in traditional Miao treatments, believing that the medication prescribed by doctors not only failed to cure the disease but could actually make it worse. As Liya's condition worsened, they no longer trusted doctors to heal her.
The two sides do not speak the same language and have different cultural backgrounds. Western medicine emphasizes "life", while Miao culture emphasizes "soul". The language and cultural barriers have resulted in repeated medical communication becoming futile.
On the one hand, the author narrates the story in tender and delicate language, and on the other hand, he rationally discusses the folk culture, past experiences and current living conditions of the Miao people in the United States with an anthropological approach. The two parts are interspersed like a montage, presenting a story about life and love like a documentary, while weaving a vivid and magnificent group portrait.
⭐️Media recommendation
In 2019, it was named by Slate as one of the 50 greatest works of nonfiction of the past 25 years.
This book delves into the unease that arises when two different cultures coexist. It is fascinating and inspiring. ... The remarkable thing about Fadiman's book is that she presents these different cultures and their diverging perspectives with balance and nuance, and her fairness is not cold and unsympathetic but warm and understanding. She sees and embraces both sides of every issue. ... This extraordinary, informal cultural anthropology is eye-opening, readable and charming.
—The Washington Post
A penetrating and radiantly human anthropological investigation, written with poetic elegance, suspenseful, and thrilling.
—Newsday
This beautiful book tells a poignant tragedy... It has neither heroes nor villains, but it has rich, innocent suffering and a clear moral... It is a sad but excellent book.
—The New York Times
Fadiman uses superb narrative skills to depict the conflicting worlds of Western medicine and Miao culture.
—The New Yorker
Fadiman's highly sensitive reporting style is equivalent to navigating a huge cultural divide.
—People Magazine
Fadiman offers a narrative story as compelling as any thriller, filled with a vast cast of characters who all fall in love with Leah. This book is a passionate call for our medical elders to consider the perspectives of immigrant parents on illness and health. This astonishing book not only helps us understand other cultures but also our own—and can transform our deepest beliefs about the mysterious connection between body, mind, and spirit.
Elle Magazine
✨Celebrity Recommendation: This book is essential reading not only for medical professionals, cultural anthropologists, and journalists, but also for anyone interested in how to communicate in an increasingly shrinking world. Fadiman's empathy for the Hmong people, who are single-mindedly trying to solve their own problems, and her empathy for the dedicated doctors, social workers, and government officials, makes her story rich and full of humanity. Sometimes it's about the harmonious coexistence of multiple cultures and mutual understanding; sometimes it's about life and death, whether in wartime or in the emergency room. But no matter the setting, Fadiman's reporting is rigorous and her writing is a joy to read. From beginning to end, her achievement is truly impressive.
—Michael Bérubé, medical researcher and writer When Lea's family, trusting her, rushed her to Merced Hospital after her 1982 epileptic seizure, everyone lost control. Fadiman writes beautifully and poignantly about Lea's undoing at the hands of Western medicine and tells a compelling story.
--Steve Weinberg, renowned author and professor of literature. This book changes the way doctors view themselves and their patients. The author praises the complexity and peculiarities of human interaction, which has helped establish medical practice while pointing out the direction that should be corrected. It also makes readers feel heartbroken by the tragedy of cultural dislocation, the limitations of medicine, and the goodwill of self-proclaimed superiority.
—Perri Klass, leading physician and award-winning author "There are few nonfiction books I'd place on my must-read list like this one, which explores topics like culture, immigration, medicine, and the Vietnam War, and does so with such near-perfect craftsmanship. I left feeling both sad and inspired."
--Linnea Lannon, Senior Editor: Fadiman is a master. Her reporting is revelatory, her writing is elegant, and her stories are gripping. This is an unforgettable work of nonfiction.
—David McClintick, veteran investigative journalist and award-winning author “Anyone who has ever considered the current state of medicine in America will be deeply shocked. But it goes beyond that… Fadiman’s characters reveal their humanity, their vulnerability and their nobility.”
--Sherwin B. Nuland, renowned physician and award-winning author Anne Fadiman's first book is a fine one, vividly capturing the love of refugee parents desperate to protect their seriously ill daughter, their struggle to maintain ancient cultural traditions, and the hubris of social workers and hospital technocrats.
--Al Santoli, Senior Fellow and Asia Policy Advisor at the U.S. Foreign Policy Council. This story of a Hmong family and the American health care system highlights the many weaknesses of our health care system, which is said to be the best in the world.
--JudyAnn Bigby, Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services and a leading physician. Fadiman tells stories with the grace of a novelist, acting as a cultural intermediary, gaining insights into people who don't know each other, observing how stories might have different endings if we had known in advance what actions or words could be done or said.
--Richard Bernstein, veteran journalist and renowned author. A unique anthropological study of American society.
—Louise Steinman, a renowned author. This is a masterful work of both reason and emotion. I couldn't help but read it in one sitting, then reread it and ponder its profound meaning again. This book is a study of a medical tragedy.
--David H. Mark, a well-known physician and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association This book is Fadiman's masterpiece, which took him nine years to complete. It tells the story of a seriously ill girl in Merced County, California... The story of Lilia is both inspiring and thought-provoking.
--Kristin Van Ogtrop, Senior Editor, Lifestyle Magazine The other day I picked up a book I hadn't planned on buying. Eight hours later, pausing only to check out, I drove home and, after closing Anne Fadiman's "Lea's Story," I started calling friends... This is an important book.
Wanda A. Adams, a renowned author. Awards include the National Book Critics Circle Award, the New York Times Book of the Year Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the Salon Book Award.

2023-02-01

上海三联书店

the new wave

394

9787542679307