This is a pop history of Tuberculosis.
I had expected a little more of the science behind the illness I suppose, and perhaps I personally wanted that to be the case sometimes while reading, but I think overall the book is better for the route it took. John Green notes himself at the end of Chapter 14 that he's not a scientist or a medical doctor but simply an author who has become obsessed with the topic. And so rather than a textbook we get something more akin to a story. There is a light touch on detail in favour of a more layman perspective on the disease, brought forward by many small human stories that weave a broader narrative.
The narrative displayed is fairly grand in scope when viewed in whole. It is the story of humanity fighting against one of it's greatest enemies, disease. This particular fight is one we could actually win, but we haven't yet. And in the book Green offers some insights in to where we are with the fight, why we haven't won and what hurdles we still have to overcome...perhaps the secondary topic is the injustice inherent in the way we fight these kinds of wars against disease.
It's a very easy and quick read, which I think again leads to a strength. This is approachable to anyone who might be literate, and could be read by kids of a fairly young age without much trouble. A different decade would probably have seen it already making its way to classrooms. Maybe I'm being too cynical and it already has...?
I like the Green brothers. I don't know what they are like personally, obviously, but I like who they are publically. Whenever I temporarily let them in to my life I'm encouraged by their humanist optimism.
Finished reading - 16/04/26