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boomgrrrl's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book. It's different than what I usually read, but her journey through med school took me on an adventure. This book makes you think about a lot of things. This was a fascinating book that will take you on an emotional journey through med school. The other really interesting thing is that the author takes you through the history of dissection. Absolutely fascinating.
steamedegg's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed the combination of both personal and historical anecdotes Montross includes, along with lessons in human anatomy to remind us of the intricacies of the human body and medicine. Perhaps if the premed classes I struggled through had been taught the way this book was written I would've stayed on that track..? (Just an excuse, I know)
joyejenkins's review against another edition
4.0
'I have learned that the body and mind are not as easily separable as I had once imagined and that the treatment of one nearly always demands an understanding of the other.'
'The human body harbors mysteries that are not solved by textbooks or studying, and, as I have been confronted with them, I have found myself amazed, humbled, and unnerved.'
'the most alarming moments of anatomy are not the bizarre, the unknown. they are the familiar.'
'The human body harbors mysteries that are not solved by textbooks or studying, and, as I have been confronted with them, I have found myself amazed, humbled, and unnerved.'
'the most alarming moments of anatomy are not the bizarre, the unknown. they are the familiar.'
mommynewyear's review against another edition
5.0
IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK! It's amazing to me how she creates such an intense relationship with her cadaver that even the readers can experience and understand. This book had me wanting to go to med school for the longest time!
emmettmaroo's review against another edition
3.0
meh, sorta interesting at times. nothing spectular. quick read, lots of skimmable parts.
alundeberg's review against another edition
5.0
This is a very enlightening memoir, not only about anatomy, but about an obscure part of medicine: the history of dissection and the procural of cadavers. Montross takes us through her anatomy class where she must dissect a cadaver and reflects on how this disturbing and disorienting process impacts her relationship with the human body, medicine, and how she provides care to others. She explores the muddy moral waters of the end of life and what does it mean to be no longer alive or to be dead, and are those the same things? While this is at times a hard book to read, it is important to read. She details the process of cutting into a dead person, and while she is reverential towards her subject, the process is still a disturbing one. Through this she shows how dissection allows future doctors to not only learn the body, but confront the discomfort of handling bodies, both alive and dead, and how they develop "detached compassion" to best guide their patients to make tough decisions about their or a loved one's health.
The discomfort not only comes from the process, but how cadavers have been (and in some places still are) procured. There have been many cultural taboos about disturbing the dead and most cultures are against using humans for dissection. Doctors and hospitals turned to unsavory methods to get their supply. Unsurprisingly, it was often the poor, criminals, and minorities who were preyed upon; mostly in the belief that their afterlife is not as important as rich white people's. Montross also explores the paradox of belief surrounding dissections.
This is not a knee-slapper of a book, but it is very interesting to know how med students become doctors and what is asked of them. I appreciated Montross's insights and connections to her own life and medicine's history.
The discomfort not only comes from the process, but how cadavers have been (and in some places still are) procured. There have been many cultural taboos about disturbing the dead and most cultures are against using humans for dissection. Doctors and hospitals turned to unsavory methods to get their supply. Unsurprisingly, it was often the poor, criminals, and minorities who were preyed upon; mostly in the belief that their afterlife is not as important as rich white people's. Montross also explores the paradox of belief surrounding dissections.
This is not a knee-slapper of a book, but it is very interesting to know how med students become doctors and what is asked of them. I appreciated Montross's insights and connections to her own life and medicine's history.
circularcubes's review against another edition
5.0
This book is astoundingly beautiful. Gruesome in some ways, yes, but really beautiful. It captures the awe and mystery of the human body, the unnaturalness of breaking down a human body, and how doing so is vital if one wants to understand how a body works, so that live bodies can one day be brought back to wholeness and health. I was so touched by how Montross describes her relationship with Eve, a body she comes to know intimately while in the course of a human anatomy course in medical school. I loved the history tidbits that Montross ties into her narrative, and her own relationships and friendships both inside and outside of the lab. I almost cried at the end of the book, when Montross describes how her grandparents dealt with their illnesses late in life. Honestly, I probably would have cried if I wasn't reading through that bit in a shared office on my lunch break. I will say, though... this book is not one to be read over meals. But read it anyway, because it's beautiful, and you'll come out of it more appreciative for the human body, and modern medicine, and the compassion that can exist between two strangers, even when one of them is no longer alive.
fdterritory's review against another edition
2.0
It's certainly an interesting concept for a book--observe the process of first-year anatomy lab at a medical school and watch the fur fly. There are a lot of good details here from Montross on both what the process means in historical terms as well as how it affects those who do it. However, Montross' prose when it comes to her self-observation is too simplistic to carry this book much beyond average. She writes in the tone of an emotional fourteen year-old on an online journal complaining about how someone has wronged her--the descriptions are too emotionally-loaded, too extravagant, too...much to do anything other than get in the way. But if you move quickly through these parts, there's a lot of good to see here as well. Mildly recommended.
muheb's review against another edition
5.0
Instantly became a favorite.
A great memoir about a very sensitive subject, and from a sensitive person.
As a doctor and a cardiac surgeon this book touched me deeply.
I felt like i have written it myself with all these feelings and thoughts.
In the anatomy lab we dissect cadavers as we should do, but more importantly we dissect our lives, our bodies, our existence.
This memoir is very personal, deeply personal and existential that it touches every reader.
I will read it again and again, as you should.
A great memoir about a very sensitive subject, and from a sensitive person.
As a doctor and a cardiac surgeon this book touched me deeply.
I felt like i have written it myself with all these feelings and thoughts.
In the anatomy lab we dissect cadavers as we should do, but more importantly we dissect our lives, our bodies, our existence.
This memoir is very personal, deeply personal and existential that it touches every reader.
I will read it again and again, as you should.