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1 Hawthorne Literature- A to Z

The Children's Hospital

by Chris Adrian

The Children's Hospital Cover

ISBN13: 9780802143334
ISBN10: 0802143334
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Staff Pick

You would think that any novel attempting to conflate the best elements of Scrubs, Noah's Ark, and Lord of the Flies would necessarily be too overwrought and/or gimmicky, but this story is intensely compelling from its first pages. Adrian is obviously well-versed in medical terminology, but it never overwhelms the sheer force of the plot or undermines his finely honed characters. Yes, it's long, but you won't put it down — I promise.
Recommended by Nathan, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “one of the most revelatory novels in recent memory . . . Cleverly conceived and executed brilliantly,” The Children’s Hospital is the story of a hospital preserved, afloat, after the Earth is flooded beneath seven miles of water, and a young medical student who finds herself gifted with strange powers and a frightening destiny. Jemma Claflin is a third-year medical student at the unnamed hospital that is the only thing to survive after an apocalyptic storm. Inside the hospital, beds are filled with children with the most rare and complicated childhood diseases—a sort of new-age Noah’s Ark, a hospital filled with two of each kind of sickness. As Jemma and her fellow doctors attempt to make sense of what has happened to the world, and try to find the meaning of their futures, Jemma becomes a Moses figure, empowered with the mysterious ability to heal the sick by way of a green fire that shoots from her belly. Simultaneously epic and intimate, wildly imaginative and unexpectedly relevant, The Children’s Hospital is a work of stunning scope, mesmerizing detail, and wrenching emotion.

Synopsis:

A hospital is preserved, afloat, after the Earth is flooded beneath seven miles of water. Inside, doctors and patients are left to remember the world they've lost and to imagine one to come. At the center, Jemma Claflin, a medical student, finds herself gifted with strange powers and a frightening destiny.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
amabre, June 13, 2009 (view all comments by amabre)
This book took a long time for me to read (its over 600 pages) but Chris Adrians words are beautiful and it was nice to savor them.

The first half of the book is smooth and quick reading. Not because its better than the second half-just because the author is very good at introducing his characters and forming relationships and surprising us. He never abandons these attributes. The story just gets more complex.

I felt a connection with Jemma that I have never felt with any other character. I could really relate to her and the fact that her character was concieved by a man still leaves me perplexed.

I really enjoyed the chapters that take us back to Jemmas childhood. I felt nostolgic for her. At some point we are taken to her 4th birthday and Jemma's mother is constantly tossing her from activity to activity so she misses out on her own birthday cake. She is sent to bed after the whole thing has been eaten up by her guests...without saying too much...the end of this chapter made me cry. This is the only book that has ever made me cry.

The premise is quite abstract-but its carried by intimate language that makes you feel truly vicarious.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780802143334
Author:
Adrian, Chris
Publisher:
Grove Press
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Science Fiction - General
Subject:
Fantasy fiction
Subject:
Angels
Publication Date:
June 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
615
Dimensions:
8.94x6.06x1.61 in. 1.79 lbs.

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