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In accordance with the wishes of several readers, anything that I wouldn't normally put in a fiction review has been cut-tagged. (In case anyone was wondering, the final count was 38 magnetic markers and 23 paper markers. The book doesn't close anymore. I wish I could cite them all, but I'd blow LJ's max word count.)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
( publishing info )
The review part is quite simple: Everybody needs to read this book.
Interested in the history of science? You need to read this book.
Interested in medical ethics? You REALLY need to read this book.
Interested in racial relations in America, circa the 50s and 60s? You need to read this book.
Interested in depictions of class and racial privilege in modern America? This is your textbook.
Interested in the state of health care in America? You need to read this book.
Interested in reading about ( a decadelong [sic] adventure through scientific laboratories, hospitals, and mental institutions, with a cast of characters that would include Nobel laureates, grocery store clerks, convicted felons, and a professional con artist [6]? You need to read this book. )
The basic story is this: In 1951, Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital for the treatment of cervical cancer. The surgeon on duty biopsied the tumor before treatment and sent the cells to George Gey, who was experimenting with cell cultures, attempting to find a stable line.
The tumor cells were hardy beyond his wildest dreams. "HeLa" was the first immortal, stable, mass-producible cell line ever created, and the foundation of almost all cell research since. HeLa "factories" started as early as 1952 for use in developing the polio vaccine.
But nobody had ever asked Henrietta for permission. Nobody ever told her family - sharecroppers still living in their grandfather's slave shack - what was happening and why they kept getting called in to see doctors. White doctors. Eventually they found out *exactly* how important she was - and wanted to know "If our mother so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?" [168]
A lot of articles have told ( the story of the Hela cells. ) Skloot sets out to tell the story of Henrietta and her family, interspersed with a basic history of cell research and ethical issues thereof. ( Her reporting on the human side is minutely detailed, working hard to portray the personalities involved, and doesn't flinch from disturbing details as Henrietta becomes Hela becomes erased from history as Helen Lane. )
This is not an easy read. Part of it is the language. Everything the Lacks say is written in dialect. Words aren't misspelled to give the sense of their accents, but Skloot was specifically told, "If you pretty up how people spoke and change the things they said, that's dishonest. It's taking away their lives, their experiences, and their selves." [ix] The phrasing of the interviewees and the historical time is left intact, including constant use of the terms colored, Negro, and even nigger.
But mostly the difficulty comes from the simple fact that this is not a simple story. There is no mustache-twirling villain attacking the Lacks (at least not until the professional con artist shows up), but science itself - particularly applied to minorities before the 1990s - is full of them. Be prepared to be hit every other page with ( upsetting blowoffs and extremely disturbing case histories. )
Frankly, going through that - reading about the advances and abuses, the lives saved and lives ruined, and most especially, what Henrietta's life and death meant to those who knew her - may be hard, but all the more reason to read this book.
A portion of the royalties go to the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, established to finally make Hela give back to the Lacks family. Johns Hopkins has also made a statement regarding the publication of the book.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
( publishing info )
The review part is quite simple: Everybody needs to read this book.
Interested in the history of science? You need to read this book.
Interested in medical ethics? You REALLY need to read this book.
Interested in racial relations in America, circa the 50s and 60s? You need to read this book.
Interested in depictions of class and racial privilege in modern America? This is your textbook.
Interested in the state of health care in America? You need to read this book.
Interested in reading about ( a decadelong [sic] adventure through scientific laboratories, hospitals, and mental institutions, with a cast of characters that would include Nobel laureates, grocery store clerks, convicted felons, and a professional con artist [6]? You need to read this book. )
The basic story is this: In 1951, Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital for the treatment of cervical cancer. The surgeon on duty biopsied the tumor before treatment and sent the cells to George Gey, who was experimenting with cell cultures, attempting to find a stable line.
The tumor cells were hardy beyond his wildest dreams. "HeLa" was the first immortal, stable, mass-producible cell line ever created, and the foundation of almost all cell research since. HeLa "factories" started as early as 1952 for use in developing the polio vaccine.
But nobody had ever asked Henrietta for permission. Nobody ever told her family - sharecroppers still living in their grandfather's slave shack - what was happening and why they kept getting called in to see doctors. White doctors. Eventually they found out *exactly* how important she was - and wanted to know "If our mother so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?" [168]
A lot of articles have told ( the story of the Hela cells. ) Skloot sets out to tell the story of Henrietta and her family, interspersed with a basic history of cell research and ethical issues thereof. ( Her reporting on the human side is minutely detailed, working hard to portray the personalities involved, and doesn't flinch from disturbing details as Henrietta becomes Hela becomes erased from history as Helen Lane. )
This is not an easy read. Part of it is the language. Everything the Lacks say is written in dialect. Words aren't misspelled to give the sense of their accents, but Skloot was specifically told, "If you pretty up how people spoke and change the things they said, that's dishonest. It's taking away their lives, their experiences, and their selves." [ix] The phrasing of the interviewees and the historical time is left intact, including constant use of the terms colored, Negro, and even nigger.
But mostly the difficulty comes from the simple fact that this is not a simple story. There is no mustache-twirling villain attacking the Lacks (at least not until the professional con artist shows up), but science itself - particularly applied to minorities before the 1990s - is full of them. Be prepared to be hit every other page with ( upsetting blowoffs and extremely disturbing case histories. )
Frankly, going through that - reading about the advances and abuses, the lives saved and lives ruined, and most especially, what Henrietta's life and death meant to those who knew her - may be hard, but all the more reason to read this book.
A portion of the royalties go to the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, established to finally make Hela give back to the Lacks family. Johns Hopkins has also made a statement regarding the publication of the book.
