Life and Death in the Charity Ward (1 Viewer)

I was re-reading that story the other day. There was something I never really paid much attention to. Since he lost so much blood, he needed a transfusion. But he couldn't get one because he had no blood credits. What are blood credits?
 
one of my favorite stories....best is at the end when he walks into the bar after being in the hospital and the bartender asks Buk what was new, to which he replied "not much"....classic Buk
 
It is a great story. I picked up a German reprint (in English) of the 1974 London printing not long ago.

As for the blood credits, according to the story, Buk got the transfusions after mentioning his father to either a nurse or doctor. His father had apparently donated blood in the past, so he had credits that Buk could use. It's interesting that Buk doesn't seem to have a bit of gratitude toward his father for that. To me, that has always effectively sealed Buk's resentment toward his father based on childhood experiences, largely written about in Ham on Rye. Whether or not that resentment was completely justified is, of course, another matter.
 

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