From Scalpel to Spade （Arthur van Langenberg）

This delightful memoir is the story of a life well lived—a Hong Kong doctor who worked as a surgeon for over fifty years and who later turned his hand to his other great passion, gardening. It encapsulates the author’s perspective of how medical practice deals with the grim reality of being sick, and how practice has evolved over the years. Dry humor appears from time to time to lighten the mood whenever it is needed. The author goes on to describe how his passion for gardening has provided balance throughout his life and enhanced his respect for Nature.
 
In the subtitle to the book “A Surgeon’s Road to Ithaka,” the author likens his life journey to Odysseus’s road to Ithaka, a metaphor for finally reaching a desired destination.
 
Arthur van Langenberg has lived in Hong Kong all his life except for four years in Macau during World War II and two years in Britain undergoing medical training. He has practised surgery for some 50 years, first at the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, and then in private practice. His lifelong interest in reading and gardening has helped him morph from surgeon to gardener and writer, finding fulfillment and a simpler way of life over the years. He is the author of Growing Your Own Food in Hong Kong (2014), Urban Gardening: A Hong Kong Gardener's Journal (2005), and a regular contributor on gardening to various periodicals.