And Finally
Matters of Life and Death
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3.9 • 33 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling neurosurgeon and author of Do No Harm, comes Henry Marsh's And Finally, an unflinching and deeply personal exploration of death, life and neuroscience.
As a retired brain surgeon, Henry Marsh thought he understood illness, but he was unprepared for the impact of his diagnosis of advanced cancer. And Finally explores what happens when someone who has spent a lifetime on the frontline of life and death finds himself contemplating what might be his own death sentence.
As he navigates the bewildering transition from doctor to patient, he is haunted by past failures and projects yet to be completed, and frustrated by the inconveniences of illness and old age. But he is also more entranced than ever by the mysteries of science and the brain, the beauty of the natural world and his love for his family. Elegiac, candid, luminous and poignant, And Finally is ultimately not so much a book about death, but a book about life and what matters in the end.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this immersive memoir, retired neurosurgeon Marsh (Admissions: Life as a Brain Surgeon) recalls the transformation he made from doctor to patient when he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. After suffering a bevy of symptoms, 70-year-old Marsh received the news at the beginning of 2021 and plunged into a state of denial: "I thought I was being stoical when in reality I was being a coward." He recounts his radiation treatment ("It all became very routine") and the lessons he learned before he retired at age 65; for example, he once operated on the wrong side of a man's neck, which taught him to be honest with patients, no matter how difficult the situation. Similarly, he recalls telling an elderly patient, who was completely paralyzed from the waist down, that he would never walk again, a memory that forces Marsh to imagine his own last hours of life: "I became increasingly desperate as I imagined how miserable my death might be." Throughout, Marsh interweaves tender moments from his personal life, including storytimes with his granddaughters, with discussions of gene editing and other medical topics. Readers will find much to appreciate in this pensive probe into what it means to face mortality.
