Wyspa potępionych. Prawdziwa historia wyspy Blackwell

by Stacy Horn, Tomasz Bieroń (Translator)

Aby Nowy Jork mógł stać się miastem snów, część mieszkańców skazano na koszmar.

Przyprawiająca o dreszcze prawdziwa historia wyspy Blackwell – jednego z najbardziej ponurych eksperymentów społecznych w dziejach Ameryki.

W XIX wieku Nowy Jork rozbłysnął – Thomas Edison oświetlił Manhattan elektrycznymi latarniami. Ale nie wszyscy mogli cieszyć się ich blaskiem. Na wyspie Blackwell stworzono szpital i przytułek dla niewygodnych mieszkańców – sierot, biednych, zniedołężniałych, chorych psychicznie oraz przestępców. Mieli tam otrzymać opiekę i szansę na resocjalizację, ale trafili do prawdziwego piekła na ziemi, z którego nie było ucieczki.

Prawdę o nim ujawniła reporterka Nellie Bly, która spędziła na wyspie dziesięć upiornych dni. Udając obłąkaną, pozwoliła zamknąć się w szpitalu, by móc opisać warunki na wyspie. Jej relacja wstrząsnęła opinią publiczną i postawiła pod znakiem zapytania moralność rządzących miastem. Stała się także jednym z epokowych dokonań reportażu.

Więźniowie przebywali w wykutych w skale celach, które bardziej przypominały rowy niż pomieszczenia. Nie dbano o ogrzewanie i wentylację, wierząc, że osoby obłąkane są niewrażliwe na temperaturę. Sami nadzorcy przyznawali, że wobec przywożonych na wyspę sierot najbardziej humanitarnym rozwiązaniem byłoby podanie śmiertelnej dawki opium. Na pacjentach szpitala przeprowadzano eksperymenty – gruźlicę leczono lewatywą z siarkowodoru lub wstrzykiwaniem mleka do krwi.

Stacy Horn pokazuje, co się dzieje, gdy bezwzględna i cyniczna władza spotka się z problemami społecznymi. "Wyspa potępionych" to wstrząsająca opowieść o tym, jak w demokratycznym społeczeństwie zgodnie z prawem można stworzyć instytucję niosącą cierpienie i śmierć.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Audiobook, Mental Health, Historical, New York

352 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2018

About the author

I've just finished up my seventh non-fiction book, the Killing Fields of East New York, followed by a very long subtitle. First I thought I was telling the story of why a particular neighborhood in Brooklyn had the highest number of unsolved murders in New York. Then I realized I was also telling the story of white collar crime and how it is more destructive than street crime. In the end, I saw that the core of the story went even deeper and was far more terrible.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A true to life horror story. I guess you could say, well, that's in the past, but is it really? Blackwell Island, New York, four institutions built to shelter, the poor, the mad, the sick or the mad, supposedly compassionately. Almst from the beginning this did not work, not enough money, doctors, supplies, criminals providing care for the insane, you can imagine how that worked out. Charles Dickens touring the facility was beyond appalled, the smells, the noises, lack of care, thought he had toured hell.
The author spends most of her writing on the ssylum, where the most records were available for research. She brings to like several different cases, including of of a sister of charity who was committed by her sister. I can't believe some of the things I read, all the inmates took baths, using the same water, even those ridden with lice or encrusted with feces. Makes me shudder. The book explains how this came to be, but certainly something different could have been done.

It would be easy to dimiss this as ignorance in the past, but challenges in the poor, sick, criminal and mental health areas are still critical today. Granted, there are better treatments available, but prison reform is desperately needed as all the above groups are often imprisoned together, some that certainly shouldn't be there. Mental health cuts, unconsciousable, programs being cut right and left , with nothing provided in their place. We can say we are better now, know better now, but again are we? Do we?

Eye opening and informative, cringe worthy reality.

[Katy O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Algonquin Books for this free review copy!

OH MY GOODNESS. This book was a total binge read for me - I received it in the mail on Saturday, picked it up to read Sunday night at 7:30 and finished it by 1:30 on Monday afternoon. And then I proceeded to spend WAY too long online looking at any pictures I could find of Blackwell's Island (today Roosevelt Island) and the structures/people/interiors/EVERYTHING. I'm absolutely fascinated with medical history and NYC history, and this book is a great addition to the other titles I have read on these topics. It is very accessible and very character-driven, and gives equal page-time to the main structures on Blackwell's in the 1800s ~ the Lunatic Asylum, the Workhouse, the Almshouse, the Hospitals for the Poor, and the Penitentiary. While all of the history of this time period absolutely blows my mind (how DID anyone actually come of out it alive???), what hit me the hardest is how little some things have changed over the years. The book ends with a striking discussion involving Rikers Island, and instantly the reader is pulled out of history and into present day, asking, "Why can't we do better?". A must-read for fans of history and social policy nonfiction.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1828, New York City purchased a small island. Located in the East River, Blackwell Island was the perfect location for a new asylum. At first, the plans were for a humane facility to help the mentally ill, indigent and criminal elements in the city. They estimated the number of mentally ill in the city to be less than .5% and planned an initial structure to house 200 people. The mentally ill and criminals would never be housed together and the facility might be able to help some of the chronically indigent in the city as well. They got a big surprise when the initial facility opened and had 199 patients (almost at max capacity) within days. The asylum was enlarged multiple times, and the plans for a humane facility was overpowered by cost cutting measures, bad planning and ignorance. In the 100 years Blackwell Island was used as an asylum the conditions, treatment of patients and medical services there were suspect and often cruel. Damnation Island tells the story of Blackwell Island and its inhabitants.

This book is very well researched and documented, which made it difficult to read. I had to read a chapter at a time...and go cool off....then return. What a grim picture of life in the 1800s. People could be committed for eccentricities or completely fraudulent reasons. Many women were committed because they were in the way or difficult, not because of any mental illness. Conditions in the institution were abysmal. Treatments were even worse. And this went on for 100 years!! Racism even played a part in the treatment of patients. The Irish were seen as incurable and intrinsically insane. Wow...really?? This book is a real eye opener about the use of institutions to pack away citizens seen as problems, without any real care about the quality of their life, health or care. At one point, the city was proud that they could run the institution at a cheap per-patient cost, completely oblivious to the fact that meant there was not enough food or medical supplies to go around. Patients were overcrowded, exposed to diseases and vermin, kept in unsanitary conditions and mistreated. Criminals housed on the island were hired as orderlies and workers and further mistreated patients. Just a sad tale all around.

I enjoyed this book, despite the grim subject manner. I am glad that there have been vast improvements in the mental health field, laws passed to protect people from fraudulent commitment, and health and safety regulations for institutions. I know that atrocities still occur, but I'm hopeful that they are nowhere near the level that happened on Blackwell Island.

Stacy Horn is the author of several non-fiction books including The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad and Waiting For My Cats to Die: A Memoir. Damnation Island is well researched and interesting. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Algonquin Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out with a bang as the author set the stage for the description of the treatment of the poor, criminal, and mentally ill in NYC in the late 19th century.

Blackwell Island (now Roosevelt Island) located on the East River across from Manhattan was the site of detention of the "unworthy" and contained five buildings to house them: the Lunatic Asylum, the Workhouse, the Almshouse, the Hospital for the Poor, and the Penitentiary. The administration of these facilities was under the supervision of the Department of Public Charities and Corrections, a group of political hacks with connections to the infamous Boss Tweed. They had neither interest nor compassion for the inmates of these medieval-like institutions and basically ignored any efforts for betterment of the living conditions on Blackwell Island.

Disease, starvation, and utter filth was killing off a multitude of the residents and at one point the inmates were being fed at the cost of seven cents per day. It was a death sentence to end up on Blackwell Island.

But about halfway into this book, the author started to become repetitive and the story drifted off the original track. She began telling the story of individual inmates and they were basically all the same except for the names. She also seemed to forget the Rev. William French, who was the main character in the first few chapters......a clergyman who hoped to relieve the suffering of the inmates and worked toward that goal with very little success. His story was interesting and inspiring but he somehow got lost in the latter part of the book.

Don't be put off by my less than positive review.......this is a book worth reading and one that is chilling as it illustrates how the "huddled masses" were treated with cruelty often in the name of Christian charity. But is seemed to stall at some point which caused me to give it a lesser rating than it may deserve.

[Ti.Me · Rating 5 out of 5]

An alarming, heartbreaking history of the handling of poor, ill, convicts, vagrants, and child criminals in NY City starting in the mid 19th century. Several locations are documented, with the focus mainly on the place known today as Roosevelt Island.

As a native New Yorker who held only the mildest curiosity about the tram sliding back and forth above the East River and seeing road and train signs to Roosevelt Island, I'd only ever heard vague whispers of that place's dismal past. Well, the blissful ignorance is gone now, and Stacy Horn has shown this reader the brutality and disregard shown to thousands over many decades.

Several times, the eye watering content made it necessary to take breaks from Damnation Island. There was no way to quit the book, though. It's just too good*.

I highly recommend Damnation Island to those interested in the following historical topics:

New York City
Mental healthcare
Healthcare
New York State prison system
New York City jails
Child protection
Government oversight of private charities
------------------

*The book could do with better proofreading.

[Marilyn Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from Goodreads. This is an important book for several reasons. It tells the sad and very political story of what became Roosevelt Island in New York City and it tells, through some grim historical accounts, the mistreatment of this city's poor and mentally ill in the 19th century. How many misconceptions and poor treatment practices are in place today? Although this is not an upbeat and pleasant topic, it is an important one and this book should be read by much of the public who think prisons are the place for our mentally ill citizens.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, sad look into the sad residents of early NY incarceration (criminal and "insane") facilities.

[David Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a well written and well researched on the horrors of the past. It is not light bedside reading, it is a great read for anybody interested in learning about the history of Roosevelt Island at this time.

[Geraldine Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.

As a New Yorker who has explored some of the ruins that could be found on what is now called Roosevelt Island, I was always interested in the stories of the island. Home to several hospitals as well as a prison in the 19th Century, then Blackwell Island was used as a place to banish the poor. Conditions in the hospitals for the insane were horrid, as documented by Nellie Bly at the time.

Her account and many others are included in this well researched, well written volume. It is not easy to read about the cruel methods used, and it is hard to acknowledge that our treatment of the poor and mentally ill is still poorly executed. A really good read.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read. At times this book can be quite depressing, but it does a great job of telling about the lives of those that tried to improve the conditions on the island. I cannot believe how horribly people were treated in the late 1800s.

[Sarah Furger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solidly researched and well constructed history of Blackwell’s Island. Horn pulls no punches - this is a nasty slice of American history. While it is extremely dark and unpleasant, it is certainly something 21st century Americans should consider when looking at our current correctional and mental health care systems...

[Antigone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apart from booking a flight, we rarely consider New York City from a geographic perspective. This internationally-renowned metropolis does not often bring to mind the image of islands scattered like so many glacially-deposited game pieces on a field of Atlantic blue. We're aware, of course, of the isle of Manhattan. And Long Island, and Staten. And if we take an instant we can call to mind Ellis Island, Fire Island, Riker's Island, and Liberty. There are, in fact, dozens more...one of which sits inserted like a long, stony splinter in the middle of the East River.

It was Hog Island, initially; purchased from the Canarsie tribe in 1637. When the English defeated the Dutch in 1666 it was rechristened for a minute as Manning Island. This fellow, Manning, had a son-in-law who took possession in 1686 and gave the land the name it would carry for the next two centuries: Blackwell.

None of this information will be presented to you in Stacy Horn's Damnation Island. She does not dress the historical stage or bother with its characters. What might have taken a page or two, purely as an introductory grace for the reader, was forgone to favor a bizarre little prologue tying the launch of electric lights to the opening of various institutions of confinement on Blackwell's Island. It is, at best, a bit clunky. Yet this, as any keen and active reader is aware, is the pass we've come to. Authors of the Internet Age are stepping forward, many of whom present material bereft of foundation, context, and conclusive aim. These appear to have become irrelevant. It's all about the outrage now. No one really cares how we get there, or how we leave. Welcome to the Era of OMG.

Horn picks a fine subject to service this goal. In the year 1828, the City of New York purchased Blackwell's Island and began to construct buildings to house the mad, the poor, and the criminal. Each institution is gifted a section of this book and a recounting of its horrors. And it was quite terrible - the lunatic asylum, the workhouse, the almshouse, the hospitals, the penitentiary - many of the tales sink the heart and pain the soul. Charles Dickens, who visited the asylum, wrote: "...everything had a lounging, listless, madhouse air...The moping idiot, cowering down with long disheveled hair, the gibbering maniac, with his hideous laugh and pointed finger, the vacant eye, the fierce wild face...There they were all...in naked ugliness and horror." The author doesn't stop there, though. Horn goes further to address the many ways in which the institutionalized were abused; the poor conditions of their cells, the miserable nature of their diets, the violence they were subjected to, the neglect, the sickness, the death. A great deal of research has been done, and it is reported faithfully. Problem is, in a wider literary sense, it just doesn't accomplish much of anything.

Except of course, you know, delivering that mighty hallelujah moment of OMG.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book received from NetGalley.

Review to come.

[Katie B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a couple of historical fiction books that have had storylines loosely based on the Blackwell Island Asylum so I was interested in finding out the history behind it. Even though the place closed well over 100 years ago, your blood boils as you read about everything that went on there. It's absolutely appalling.

The book is well-researched but I wasn't a big fan of the writing. The facts were there but the book as a whole just didn't have a cohesive flow to it and felt disjointed. I'm glad I was able to learn about the place but I couldn't help but wonder how a different author might have been better at tackling the subject.

[KayDee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling account of the infamous Blackwell’s Island. Set within viewing distance of glittering Manhattan, Blackwell Island was home to a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals. Built in the 19th century and touted as the most humane and modern facilities, it quickly became a house of horrors for the unfortunates incarcerated there. Stacy Horn brings the long-dead voices of its inhabitants to life in tis investigative report.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad at times heartbreaking revealing look at how we treated the mentally ill first locking them up in horrible conditions then throwing them out on to the streets.A harrowing look at a horrible time in our history.All students of history should read this,

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though we all know how awful many if not most mental health facilities were, even into the 20th century, this book was a revelation.
In the 1800’s, Blackwell’s Island, now Roosevelt Island in New York’s East River, was home to a lunatic asylum, prisons, hospitals, poor houses and work houses. All built with the greatest of intentions, but all ending as abominations. From over-crowding, physical abuses, and utter disregard for sanitary practices, these buildings meant to protect, rehabilitate, and heal were actually death traps and torture chambers.
Horn focuses on a few major and minor players for a well-rounded look into lives that were so tragically affected, and a few who tried in vain to change the system.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars

There is a 2 mile strip of land just off New York City's shoreline. Currently known as Roosevelt's Island, when it was purchased in 1828 it was named Blackwell's Island.

The first building built on the Island was the Penitentiary in 1832. The original building was to be 240 cells, but before completion it had grown to 496 cells. Then one man cells had to house two men. Another 240 cells were added. Still not enough. The prison ballooned to 865 prisoners and continued to climb. There were no segregated cells for children. Boys as young as 10 years old were incarcerated as thieves, girls as young as 13 for prostitution.

During this same year, 1832, a Hospital for the Poor was built. It was to serve the poor of New York City and also the inmates of the prison. However if a person were seeking treatment for a venereal disease, which was wide spread, they had to first go to court and be deemed a vagrant, then once a prisoner they could be treated at the hospital.

Blackwell's Island, located in the East River, was seen as the ideal place to send the mentally ill. Named the New York City Lunatic Asylum, the next building opened in 1839. It was not long before it was over crowded, under staffed, taking in children as young as 10 years old and being seen to by the 'floor moppers' the 'grounds keepers', the prisoners, and the many "nurses' without a degree.

Next on the Island was the Almshouse. Completed in 1848 this building was to house the poor and disabled. The Almshouse would eventually take up almost a third of the lsland. It would split into three separate entities, the Almshouse, the Hospital for Incurables and the Asylum of the Indigent Blind. These structures were also always over crowded with each building being built for 600 patients. More than 2500 people a year would circulate through. Most residents of these three houses knew their fate would be Potter's Field, buried in a trench with 150 other bodies. Prisoners were given the job of digging the trenches. This practice is currently still in place today, using the labor of prisoners from Rikers Island to dig the graves of Potters Field.

The last institution to be opened on Blackwell Island was the Workhouse. This was in 1852. This was also a prison of sorts. It housed people convicted of a crime that were given a sentence of 10 days or less. Those people were known as the 'unworthy poor'. These cells were built for multiple occupancy. The Workhouse, unlike all other buildings but the Lunatic Asylum, had windows in their cells. The Workhouse also had 6 'dark cells' - for solitary confinement and one padded cell. With little foresight this idea failed as quickly as the Lunatic Asylum did. It was not unusual for 20,000 to 33,000 people to move through the Workhouse every year, deeming it insufficient.

Everyone who entered the Island came by the same steamboat and basically went through the same intake process. They were all entered into an admission book, noting their crime and sentence, a few personal details and their destination on the Island. Next they were put to a 'scrubbing', which consisted of a bath, in water that may have already accommodated 100 or more arrivals, filthy and infested with vermin, then outfitted with clothes, that may or may not have fit them or been sufficient for the weather at that time of the year. They were then assigned a job, if they were able bodied, since the Island tried to be as self sufficient as possible.

During most of its tenure, the Island was over seen by only 3 men, known as The Department of Public Charities and Corrections. For years a group called the State Charities Aid Association worked to separate the two into different organizations, one Charities and one Corrections. In 1895 this passed legislature. Through many name changes over the years, The Department of Charities ultimately became The Department of Social Services, as it is known today.

In the 1950's Blackwell Island was finally abandoned. Most of the buildings were eventually torn down, however a few bits and pieces still remain. It was overhauled in the 1960's as a handicapped accessible community and the name changed to Roosevelt's Island. Blackwell's final prison population was transferred to Riker's Island, which is now recognized as one of the worst prisons in the United States.

This is a well researched and factual account of Blackwell's Island. A non-fiction book, sometimes reading like a text book, but often reading like fiction due to it's character driven accounts. Many common people were reported on through various newspaper articles. This is a gripping and compelling read of the history of how we have treated our poor and disabled in the past - a past that should not be forgotten or repeated.

[L. M. Ransom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of nonfiction work; if I do, it's usually about horses or airplanes. Every once in a while a title comes across in the Book Pages magazine we get at the library that looks intriguing - such was the case with this particular book.

From the get-go, it's an interesting read, but it's also depressing. The book is divided into different sections that deal with the different types of groups situated on Blackwell's Island. The first section is about the "lunatic" asylum buildings and those forced to reside there, whether warranted or not. If you desire to read more about nurses with psychopathic tendencies who viewed their patients as not human, here is your next read. If, that is, you're the kind of person who enjoyed Nurse Ratchet in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." I am not, but this book is as interesting as it is horrific.

I did get lost within all the numbers the author throws at you, from court cases to how many people were contained in one building, but that didn't detract from the overall book. I would say enjoyment of it, except that this is hard to read from the standpoint of knowing how those people were treated (you can argue they were insane or criminals or whatever, but no one deserves what these people endured - NO ONE). It's actually quite depressing, because I don't think we as a nation have overcome most of the problems Blackwell's incurred. We are not much further along in understanding mental diseases, or in curing our criminals.

One last thought - the island is now Roosevelt Island, and if you look it up, there are new buildings and developments, and most people will never know the horrors that lurked there. I, however, believe that the spirits of those poor souls relegated to living out their last days beneath the tyrannical nurses and overseers still linger and are drifting through those new buildings. Or, if you aren't into ghosts, then look at them as demons cursed to roam a place where evil reigned supreme for many, many years, and who haven't yet been allowed to leave.

[Michael Kearney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This thoroughly researched book examines the states administration of mental health and other services to the poor. Somethings just don't change. While well intentioned the actual care for the mentally ill has been a disaster. The conditions described were hard to read. Taking a bath in water that was used by others gives one the idea of just how bad off anyone sentenced to Blackwell Island had to endure. Really, how much could a tub of clean water have cost? I wish there would have been more photos and tables, but overall another great book by Stacy Horn. I have always admired her commitment to the forgotten ones.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stacy Horn has pieced together a history of the institutions on Blackwell’s Island (now Roosevelt Island) in New York City in the 19th century. The book is structured in sections that align with the buildings – an insane asylum, workhouse, almshouse, penitentiary, and hospital. These structures were almost instantly overcrowded and underfunded, leading to appalling conditions – limited ventilation, infestations of vermin, rampant diseases, starvation, violence, and prisoners serving as attendants. The author shows how good intentions went horribly awry.

Considering that records had largely been destroyed, it is apparent that Stacy Horn has done extensive research to find these detailed stories of people who lived, worked, and were confined on the island. She highlights the lives of abused, neglected, and murdered patients as well as those that tried to change the system or lessen the dreadful conditions.

This account is extremely detailed. Horn examines the flawed legal system and misguided social milieu that lumped together the poor, mad, sick, and criminal. She shows how these blurred lines have contributed to issues that persist today.

Memorable quotes:

“Although the insane were no longer thrown in prison (mostly), the criminal and the insane still formed one group in people’s minds, along with the poor, who were often thought of as defacto ‘guilty.’”

“Today around 28 percent of Americans suffer from some form of anxiety disorder, an affliction that would have been enough to get you committed in the nineteenth century.”

“In reality it was as easy to get an innocent person sent to the Workhouse as it was to get a sane person committed to an asylum.”

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives a look at what life was like for the poor, insane and criminals sent to Blackwell's Island in New York City during the 1800's. The best parts were the stories of actual people like Sister Mary Stanislaus and Adelaide irving. The hero of the book was the Rev. William French who spent his life ministering to the poor souls on the island.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting of NY and Blackwell Island and a reflection of what was happening all over the country at that time. The author has so much work in this book. Well done

[Peter F · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read on the history of a piece of NYC that no longer serves its original purpose.

And an honest view of the impacts of good intentions that aren't matched by actions.

[victor harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will need a strong stomach to tolerate the depravity, cruelty, and sadism that marked the treatment of criminals and the insane in one of NY's most infamous settings. Whatever reforms that were introduced proved to be piecemeal as powerful political forces controlled the institutions and their membership was largely indifferent to the squalid conditions and despicable abuse of the inmates. The corruption contaminated the entire law enforcement and judiciary system which fed the incarceration leading to intolerably overcrowded facilities.
An engaging but depressing account of the 19th century mindset that blamed the victims for their misfortune.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifying. How did we go from locking up everyone who is mentally ill to just letting them roam the streets homeless. A shocking reflection on how the mentally ill have been and ARE treated.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio #144

Well-written microhistory
Focus on late 19th century
All topics in title are discussed

[Terry Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a free copy of this book in a on Goodreads.

Nonfiction:

Roosevelt Island ( NEE Blackwell Island ) was originally purchased in the 19th century to house facilities created to tuck away the insane, the ill, the indigent, and the criminals from the general public. The injustice bestowed on the island's inhabitants is nothing short of cringe-worthy .

Descriptive, horrific yet oddly fascinating. A damn good piece of history.

[Lectus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good source of information if you are doing research about this place. Engaging? No, but I don't think it is supposed to be; it is just a recount of history. I personally didn't enjoy it because I am not interested in the subject, but I do recognize its information and historical value.

[alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

i hate a “I was born in the wrong generation” type of person because brother I was born in the RIGHT generation. the one with electricity, and running (potable) water. the one where doctors wash their hands before surgery and also wash their surgical tools after surgery

^ my thoughts reading this book

(also perhaps not the best takeaway from the book but my point still stands lol)