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By: CHCH 345
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2025-06-13 16:58:29 |
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An enjoyable read about someone who has lived a very interesting and inspiring life. Not the most literary work, but it had beautiful descriptions especially of the places she visited. Some of the descriptions and writing resonated with our own experiences. It was impressive how open she was to learning, having new experiences and stepping out of her comfort zone. Not many people could live the way she did, but it seemed very genuine. We appreciated how open the author was in sharing her self-doubt, it showed a vulnerable side of her experiences. |
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By: CHCH 020
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2025-06-10 19:26:55 |
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A good read and interesting recounting of carrying out all sorts of urgent help and minor surgery in very difficult and varied circumstances. The varied locations gave rise to various memories bubbling up to the surface. |
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By: TAUR 055
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2025-03-24 10:06:50 |
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It was exhilarating. It was very exciting to read and an amazing story of adventure medicine. |
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By: WELL 120
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2025-02-28 12:57:50 |
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Anecdotes interesting but the general writing style not really appreciated. |
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By: CHCH 247
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2025-02-20 11:49:35 |
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A very interesting read, but not all of our group enjoyed it. Some felt that the medical descriptions were too graphic, while others really liked the detail. Much of the discussion centred around how her daughters were somewhat side-lined in her adventurous postings. |
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By: WHANG 008
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2025-01-09 10:12:48 |
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Very readable. We enjoyed her insights into such things as the absolute importance of listening to a patient's story. She practised heroic medicine. |
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By: WAIUK 003
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2024-12-18 13:44:52 |
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Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this read. |
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By: CHCH 194
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2024-11-19 16:28:23 |
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A very interesting life - but it raised questions about her children's part in her life. Certainly full of adventure and showing great commitment to her patients. She displayed bravery to work in such remote places and yet had her own medical issues too. An average book for its literary content but we enjoyed our discussion. |
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By: ASHB 016
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2024-07-18 11:31:35 |
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We all enjoyed this book up until about three quarters of the way through at which point we all felt it lost its way and got a bit boring. Interesting that we all felt exactly the same. Felt that she was probably a good doctor but she did not have a lot of self confidence. We were sad for her daughter and how she reacted to her anorexia. Amazing that she loved the sea adventures but was so sea sick initially. Always interesting to read about other peoples lives so we did enjoy it overall. |
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By: HAMIL 059
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2024-02-22 10:25:42 |
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Easy to read but felt incomplete - not enough detail about the interesting places. Sometimes selfish with her plans, and somewhat repetitive about perceived inadequacies. |
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By: AUCK 009
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2023-09-25 14:29:29 |
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Antarctica Unleashed! Everyone loved this book, particularly Joan's Antarctic adventures, and marvelled at her ability to administer to her passengers' needs whilst being so seasick herself. |
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By: MAST 014
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2023-09-18 10:12:58 |
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The group all enjoyed the book. They liked that it was not just about herself but about her encounters with others and the places she worked at. |
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By: AUCK 454
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2023-08-21 13:12:34 |
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Overall the group enjoyed the book. We all felt that it was a "travel log", and there was not enough story weaving through her adventures to link them together. |
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By: WHANG 023
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2023-07-10 20:49:01 |
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Interesting story but only a mediocre book. |
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By: NELS 040
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2023-06-28 10:33:55 |
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This was a very popular book with our group. An account of a very interesting life as a doctor. |
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By: NELS 012
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2023-06-08 14:53:50 |
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An inspirational book. What a wonderful woman. |
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By: MATAM 001
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2023-05-24 14:15:44 |
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'A Wilder Life' was a jolly good read, even if it's not a literary masterpiece. We enjoyed hearing about some lesser known and isolated parts of the world that we shall probably never visit. Joan Louwrens impressed us with her intrepid spirit and desire to help folk in these remote areas. |
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By: HAVE 011
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2023-05-08 10:16:16 |
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We all enjoyed this easy read. Joan was a brave and adventurous woman, especially with two small children, to travel and be a doctor in remote places. |
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By: WELL 041
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2023-04-19 13:43:59 |
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A delightful true account of Joan Louwrens' journey after attaining her medical degree. Losing her husband early in their marriage and then taking sole custody of their two daughters, Joan continues on dealing with every medical challenge that comes her way, meanwhile going from the Arctic to the Antarctic, isolated communities on islands and many other countries. She is aware of her frailties but does everything she can to gain more knowledge. We all loved this book. |
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By: OMAR 001
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2023-04-17 14:44:00 |
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An interesting read. Interesting life. |
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By: JERV 001
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2023-03-16 14:19:53 |
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For most of us, this book left huge gaps. We were looking for a more rounded picture of the author, who undoubtedly has undertaken some extreme adventures. If the final chapter had been incorporated through the narrative it would have helped. A series of episodes and anecdotes that some found a tad boring and repetitive. A shame that the photographs and typesetting were disappointing too. |
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By: COROM 002
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2023-03-13 11:26:27 |
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All enjoyed the story of this woman's adventurous life, telling of her experiences in remote areas, including riding her bike from Istanbul to Beijing. Some wished for a bit more detail about these places, but there was history, and stories of people like Shackleton, Ranulph Fiennes and Nelson Mandela. We liked her idea of looking for the 'point of wonder' in a day, that special moment to see you through to the next day... |
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By: WESTP 001
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2023-03-13 09:57:14 |
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An enjoyable first read for the year - light, interesting descriptions of the environments Joan chose to work in, the animal and bird life she experienced, the characters she travelled with interspersed with medical stories, including conventional and unconventional treatments. Joan's humility and honesty helped the reader to relate to her stories. |
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By: HAMIL 007
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2023-03-09 13:09:08 |
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Most members enjoyed the book greatly, seeing it as a medical themed travelogue but with the author's reactions, insights, insecurities and successes woven in. Our discovery that this was her second book, with the first having been an autobiography, helped us understand and appreciate it on its own terms; it was not intended to be an autobiography as such and this helped explain its episodic nature and the feeling at a number of points that there was information missing...For all its slightly frustrating structure, the book worked overall, and was a worthwhile and enriching read. |
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By: TAUR 018
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2023-03-09 13:00:44 |
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All enjoyed this book of real life experiences about a brave adventurous woman. Amazing life lived to extremes with many risks and challenges. We wondered about her daughter's anorexia and her future. A very good read, clearly constructed. |
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By: TAUR 005
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2022-12-01 13:19:44 |
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The style of writing was slightly sloppy - but very readable. Interesting selection of anecdotes regarding her chosen medical career, which we all enjoyed and found interesting. |
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By: GOVER 005
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2022-11-11 21:57:43 |
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Generally the travel descriptions and medical anecdotes were interesting but we felt the book could have been better edited and seemed a little disjointed, more like a travel blog than a memoir. |
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