Bill,
I have not been bashed in the head, am not a doctor nor have
I played one on
tv, but I do know it can be very serious. Look at bad boxers
who became
punch drunk. The more you are bashed the more your brain is
injured. You see
football(American) players who have had two or three
concussions retire
because they are warned by doctors not to play. A reader or
movie watcher
who thinks hard boiled protagonists can be knocked out by a
blow to the head
two or three times in 48 hours and recover rapidly with no
side effects must
employ the same "willing supension of disbelief" required of
sf devotees.
In a similar vein, I heard a doctor lecture about gunshot
wounds. Even if
the bullet does not hit a vital spot, it still will destroy
muscle and
nerves. Muscle posibly can regenerate with a lot of work and
time, but
nerves don't. Most protgonists come out with no apparent
damage. Some hard
boiled writers such as Joe Gores have dealt with this pretty
realistically,
but most can't and don't.
Mark Blumenthal
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