aloevera's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Very enlightening, I appreciated his insights and found the writing very engaging. He clearly has an ego but he’s also quite candid about it which helps a bit. Not my favorite but glad I’ve read it. Very graphic though, some bits were particularly hard to stomach.
feathersmcgraw's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
I found this really hard to put down!
Each chapter is essentially an anecdote about a particular case and whilst Marsh doesn't shy away from using medical terminology, I thought it was quite accessible. Many of the other reviews here and elsewhere mentioned how unsympathetic Marsh is; if anything, his honesty was quite refreshing. I get the distinct impression that those same traits that meant he would be difficult to work with are a key part of his success as a neurosurgeon. If you're literally holding people's lives in your hands day in, day out, you're going to have a very different perspective on life than the rest of us.
Each chapter is essentially an anecdote about a particular case and whilst Marsh doesn't shy away from using medical terminology, I thought it was quite accessible. Many of the other reviews here and elsewhere mentioned how unsympathetic Marsh is; if anything, his honesty was quite refreshing. I get the distinct impression that those same traits that meant he would be difficult to work with are a key part of his success as a neurosurgeon. If you're literally holding people's lives in your hands day in, day out, you're going to have a very different perspective on life than the rest of us.
stabilesero's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
Life without hope is hopelessly difficult but at the end hope can so easily make fools of us all.
I enjoyed this book more in the beginning than what I did towards the end; the further I got into it, the more I understood why people had to put it down due to Marsh's personality.
Despite this, I thoroughly enjoyed the information on the surgery and conditions/diseases he worked with, as well as his honest, heartwarming but equally heart-wrenching views and positions within the NHS and his work in Ukraine.
This book dropped from a solid 4.5/4.75 to a 3.75 purely due to his attitude on substance abuse and "obese" people. Certain sentences actually hurt to read, which was a shame because it only became evident in the last few chapters. This and the repetitive nature of his mentioning of his own surgeries and the glimmering spotlight he chose to shine on the private medical sector.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
Minor: Fatphobia
claire_n's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
nadia's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I found this utterly fascinating. Luckily I haven't had any direct experience with brain surgery — either via myself or my family — so I learnt so much about the different types of problems that can arise and how hospitals and treatments work with regards to neurosurgery.
I also liked the variety of personal stories that Henry Marsh shared.
There were some downsides to the book. I sometimes struggled with the narrative voice of Henry Marsh — sometimes coming across as arrogant and cavalier. The themes/structure of the book became a little repetitive too, causing me to sometimes drift in and out during certain stories.
Despite that, I'm a sucker for BTS stories and this was great one and and it left me feeling super grateful for good health and inspired me to really make each day count.
I also liked the variety of personal stories that Henry Marsh shared.
There were some downsides to the book. I sometimes struggled with the narrative voice of Henry Marsh — sometimes coming across as arrogant and cavalier. The themes/structure of the book became a little repetitive too, causing me to sometimes drift in and out during certain stories.
Despite that, I'm a sucker for BTS stories and this was great one and and it left me feeling super grateful for good health and inspired me to really make each day count.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, and Grief
caroleheidi's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
dustycabbage's review against another edition
3.5
3.65 stars. I've dabbled into my fair share of medical memoirs, and this one was just largely okay. Granted, I do think this one is a little less digestible compared to others, but that is the nature of neuroscience and explaining it to people with virtually no medical understanding (me). The terminology generally went through one eye and out the other, but I was appreciative of Marsh's thoroughness in explaining anecdotes. What I found unique about this memoir though, was how it unapologetically divulged one's mistakes. Like Marsh highlights in the beginning, the culture around medical narratives is very rarely about one's failures. This book is rife with that, and whether they were errors on Marsh's part or oversight in a general sense, it was haunting to read about tiny mistakes that changed patients' lives forever. A part of why I read medical narratives is to reinforce for myself my desire to never enter the field (in addition to my great reverance and awe for people who persist in this line of work) and this book surely did that for me.