7
Thursday, April 15, 2021
GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon
The Spanish Lady:
History truly does repeat itself
■ ■ Book Review: ‘Pandemic 1918’
by Catharine Arnold
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
I didn’t really want to read the
book.
But the nonfiction table at the
Baker County Public Library
drew me in with the promise that
these selections “read like fiction.”
I’m not a big nonfiction reader.
I love to learn, of course, which
is the big draw for nonfiction.
But when I open a book I like
to lose myself in a fictional world
that makes me laugh and makes
me cry.
(To be fair, nonfiction has
caused these reactions, as well.)
The bookshelves in our home
are stuffed with true stories —
crime and histories and all sorts
of nonfiction books, thanks to my
husband’s preferred genre.
The book that grabbed my eye
at the library was “Pandemic
1918: Eyewitness Accounts From
the Greatest Medical Holocaust
in Modern History” by Catharine
Arnold.
I knew why this particular book
made it to the library’s display
— we are still living through a
pandemic, although this one is
caused by a different virus than
the one that spread around the
globe in 1918.
I checked out the book, along
with a hefty stack of novels.
(Side note: Kudos to the Baker
County Library for staying open
through nearly all of the last year.
Our family sure appreciates hav-
ing such a great source of reading
material.)
The 1918 pandemic, in case you
don’t know, was caused by the
Spanish flu.
This strain of the flu did not
originate in Spain, but that coun-
try’s press was not censored like
so many others during World
War I. Spanish newspapers
reported on the outbreak, unlike
other countries that were not
allowed to print anything that
might damage morale.
Suffice it to say word about the
contagious illness did not spread
very quickly, and the sickness
marched on alongside the soldiers,
invading cities and towns around
the world.
The first part of the book
focuses on the war, and how one
sick person could quickly infect an
entire camp of troops. The Spanish
flu, the author explains, behaved
in a way unlike other influenza
viruses in that it overwhelmingly
killed young, healthy people.
My favorite type of nonfiction is
the style that tells a story through
other stories.
Arnold employs that technique
here by sharing anecdotes and
newspaper clippings that show
the progression of the disease.
She doesn’t hold back on the
grisly details of how victims
succumbed — it was no wonder
people became terrified of the
Spanish Lady, as the sickness was
dubbed.
What struck me, as I read
through these pages, was how his-
tory truly does repeat itself.
One hundred years after that
pandemic ended, the world is
facing another one — this time
against the novel coronavirus.
A chart in “Pandemic 1918”
shows a small bump in the sum-
mer of 1918, then a spike in the
winter, and other jump in cases
the spring of 1919.
It could be a graphic from
today’s news.
Although Arnold tells story af-
ter story of those who succumbed
to the Spanish flu, she weaves
hope into the pages, such as a boy
nicknamed “Diz” who lied about
his age in order to drive for the
Red Cross.
He contracted influenza but
survived — and went on to delight
generations of Walt Disney fans.
The medical stories are fasci-
nating as well. Without the tech-
nology to know what was causing
the sickness, doctors did their best
to care for patients and scientists
worked to develop a cure and a
vaccine.
They were not successful
because they thought the flu was
caused by bacteria, not a virus.
In the end, I learned a lot and
was glad I chose this book. And
in 100 years, I’m sure someone
will be reading about the great
pandemic of 2020.
the
BOOK NOOK
■ ■ Publishers Weekly bestsellers for the
week ending April 3
HARDCOVER
FICTION
1. “The Red Book” by James
Patterson and David Ellis
2. “The Four Winds” by Kristin
Hannah
3. “The Midnight Library” by
Matt Haig
4. “Win” by Harlan Coben
5. “Eternal” by Lisa Scottoline
6. “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo
Ishiguro
7. “The Invisible Life of Addie
Larue” by V.E. Schwab
8. “Life After Death” by Sister
Souljah
9. “Sunflower Sisters: A Novel” by
Martha Hall Kelly
10. “The Affair” by Danielle Steel
10. “Everything Will Be Okay:
Life Lessons for Young Women
(from a Former Young Woman)” by
Dana Perino
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HARDCOVER
NONFICTION
1. “The Hill We Climb: An
Inaugural Poem for the Country”
by Amanda Gorman
2. “The Women of the Bible
Speak: The Wisdom of 16 Women
and Their Lessons for Today” by
Shannon Bream
3. “Seeing Beautiful Again: 50
Devotions to Find Redemption in
Every Part of Your Story” by Lysa
Terkeurst
4. “Get Good with Money: Ten
Simple Steps to Becoming Finan-
cially Whole” by Tiffany Aliche
5. “Violence. Speed. Momentum.”
by Dr. Disrespect
6. “The Code Breaker: Jennifer
Doudna, Gene Editing, and the
Future of the Human Race” by
Walter Isaacson
7. “How to Do the Work:
Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from
Your Past, and Create Your Self” by
Nicole LePera
8. “Everybody Fights: So Why
Not Get Better at It?” by Kim
Holderness and Penn Holderness
9. “Eat Better, Feel Better:
My Recipes for Wellness and
Healing, Inside and Out” by Giada
De Laurentiis
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