Friday, March 2, 2018

An Irish Country Doctor


An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor – To be discussed on Wed March 7, 2018 at Geneseo Public Library

Barry Laverty, M.B., can barely find the Northern Ireland village of Ballybucklebo on a map when he first sets out to seek gainful employment there. But Barry jumps at the chance to secure a position as an assistant in a small rural practice.

At least until he meets Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly.

The older physician has his own way of doing things. At first, Barry can't decide if the pugnacious O'Reilly is the biggest charlatan he has ever met or the best teacher he could ever hope for. Through O'Reilly, Barry soon gets to know all of the village's colourful and endearing residents and a host of other eccentric characters who make every day an education for the inexperienced young doctor.

Ballybucklebo is a long way from Belfast, and Barry is quick to discover that he still has a lot to learn about country life. But with pluck and compassion, and only the slightest touch of blarney, he will find out more about life--and love--than he ever imagined back in medical school.
Questions:
1. Just a few pages into An Irish Country Doctor, its main character, Barry Laverty, speaks of his love for and devotion to Northern Ireland. What do we learn about the soul of the country, by the story’s end? What makes it such a compelling home for Barry, and for Taylor’s other characters? 
2. Barry’s first encounter with Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly is surprising, to say the least. What is your initial reaction to O’Reilly? Does your opinion of him change along with Barry’s as the book progresses? 
3. By many standards, Dr. O’Reilly’s medical practice is often unorthodox. Is he an effective physician? Is he a moral one? Have you ever known a doctor who resembled him? Would you trust O’Reilly with your own medical care? 
4. There are several instances throughout the book in which O’Reilly breaches traditional ethics—in maintaining confidentiality, in telling patients the truth, even in prescribing “tonics”—while caring for his patients. How does Barry react to this? How do those breaches make you feel? Are there ever medical situations like these in which you think the end justifies the means? 
5. An Irish Country Doctor portrays two people who each lost their partner long ago, and who have now platonically shared a home and a life for decades. What do you think makes O’Reilly and Kinky such good colleagues in the running of his practice and his day-to-day life? How do they play off one another’s temperament? At any point in the story, did you wonder why they had never fallen in love with one another? Why has each remained single for so long? 
6. Barry’s first meeting with Patricia seems to have a quality about it of” love at first sight,” of his being smitten by her beauty and she by his slightly awkward charm. Is there more to their attraction than that? Do you think that “love at first sight” can form the basis of an enduring relationship?

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