THE HOT ZONE by RICHARD PRESTON

"... また共同研究者も、実際、USAMRIID で Ebola virusを用いた研究をおこなっており、そのdataを見ながらのdiscussionを行ったこともあるので、この本が、これ以上ないほど適切に、しかも冷静に、Hot virusの研究の一面を切り取っている事がよくわかる。まず、これから本書を読もうとする読者にはっきりと伝えておきたいことは、これは、（脚色なしの）完全な現実であること。そして、このような自然との驚異に立ち向かっている、名もない多くの研究者がいるという事を知ってもらいたい。Bio-safety level 3の研究でも、私の場合は完治を可能にする薬剤のないvirusを研究対象にしているため、研究を初めて最初の一年は、半年おきに、行われる、血液検査を見るのが怖くて..." "私はTOEIC500点代と英語力もありませんが何というか文が癖が無く非常に読みやすい。知らない単語も沢山出て来ますが勘で進めても全く私には支障ないレベルでした。何よりもストーリーが面白い点で英語学習にはいい動機になります。2日で読破できたのは初です。2周目で単語チェックしようかなと思う位に苦にならなかった作品は今まで自分にはなかったです..."

"The author takes us into the world of emerging viruses and somehow manages to make the book read like an engrossing fiction account instead of a dry recording of past events. I found myself holding my breath for the people in the book multjple times, hoping that the extremely dangerous viruses being worked with weren't about to cause another catastrophic 'crash and bleed' scenario. There is a good level of scientific explanation without it disrupting the story or reading like a textbook. The writing is beautifully poetic at times and comes back..."

"I found the book to be fascinating. Maybe over embellished in the bloody areas but generally it helps to understand the severity and lethality of the virus’ spoken of. I’m interested in wildlife and also zoonotic diseases. With the current COVID-19 pandemic it made me feel more intrigued to understand how it may have come about, how much warning we should have had and how we should have and now could help prevent such a pandemic in the future ..."

COVID-19 이후로 요즘 다시 관심을 갖고 읽기 시작한 책들이 있는데 Albert Camus의 The Plague와 이 책 THE HOT ZONE이다. 개인적으로는 Albert Camus의 작품이 더 좋은 거 같다. 이 책은 에볼라 바이러스에 대해서 다루고 있는데 현재의 상황을 생각하면서 읽으면 좋다. 일본의 한 독자가 말하는 것처럼 문장이 비교적 쉽고 진도가 잘 나가는 편이다.  2019년 미국에서 에피소드 6편의 드라마로도 만들어졌기 때문에 책으로 보기 힘든 분들은 드라마도 좋은 듯싶다.