Hospital by Han Song is a dystopian, sci-fi book set in the near future. If the title didn't already give it away, this tale is told in the setting of a hospital so trigger warning for anyone who is afraid of hospitals. This book also touches on chronic illnesses/ disabilities, and contains some sexual content that might be triggering for some.. There did seem to be (although it could just be my fault) where some of the words/phrases did not seem to translate well.

"Hospital" is a modern-day Orwellian dystopian. Through Song's Buddhist perspective,, the "Hospital" offers an opportunity to examine our medical and political system, cosmos, and beliefs. Song's use of the hospital as a city seemed especially relevant to 2020.

While "Hospital"explores what it means to be sick, and what healing means, it also presents an incredibly unflattering view of the chronically ill. Song writes of the ill as merely wanting to be sick, finding comfort in pain, desiring diagnoses because they WANT to have X condition, and want unnecessary treatments. While there MAY be SOME truth in that diagnosis and treatment are reliant on the patient, the depictions bordered on groteqsque. It did however raise some valid points: (doctors make mistakes and shouldn't be under threat of getting sued, harassed, or threatened/abused.)

It also takes a deep dive into the VAST corruption of the medical system and the Doctor-God complex. In the book, the hospital confiscates personal belongings and signs all their belongings as collateral for future costs incurred, charges INSANE interest rates, and blames patients for not accepting treatment and not placing enough faith in the hospital/doctors. It explores the corruption that is the US health-care system.

Despite my many gripes with this book, I also thought it offered a unique perspective and served its purpose: to make the reader think critically.. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

This book is intelligent and makes you think.
A good piece of social satire that’s a bit unconventional.
I don’t know if I enjoyed the book. Still, I will remember how it made me uncomfortable and questioned how sickness is perceived in society and power dynamics.

“It’s not important who you are; the only thing that matters is what kind of illness you suffer from”
This book is intelligent and makes you think.
A good piece of social satire that’s a bit bizarre.
I don’t know if I enjoyed the book but I will definitely remember how it made me feel uncomfortable and questioning about how illness is perceived in society and power dynamics in particular.
This is a book you could read at anytime and take something new from it!

DNF - it' fun at first, but after 150 pages it just feels aggressively bizzare. I didn't understand it at all, but if it really is meant to criticize chronically ill people, then I understand even less - why would you bully people who didn't have a say in their health and are just trying to get by?

This book was hard to get into for me. I didn’t like the beginning which made me not want to read further. I pushed through but decided to DNF it. The writing style was too slow for my taste.

Oh wow. This book. It's going to cause a quite a bit of controversy! Why? Because in a lot of ways, the way the author portrays illness in some , is very true. ( In my opinion) In other ways, it could be taken as unsympathetic to chronically ill people. I do believe it was excellently written. It makes you think. It tells a lot of harsh truths. It is just going to be one of those books that people either love or despise....take the wrong way or completely understand and relate . I do look forward to reading more from this very talented author.