Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery

by Henry Marsh

As I read this book, I pondered how many stars I would end up giving it.

I do believe this is the first time I have actively considered the end rating as I was reading but this was the kind of book that required such thinking.

Do No Harm is all about neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, his patients, their outcomes and how the British health care system would frequently get in the way. The book also came off as disjointed in that it really (to me) didn’t follow a specific path, instead meandering through Mr Marsh’s patients and cases. In the end, not having the cases presented chronologically didn’t detract from the fascination of the cases themselves and Mr Marsh, but it remained something in the back of my mind as I read the book.

It’s a rather long book and Mr Marsh is a very good writer with both the cases presented and the patients fascinating. If you’ve enjoyed other books of this ilk, then I’m sure Do No Harm will sit proudly on your shelf (physical, or in my case, cyber).

I finally decided to give the book 4 stars – well-worth reading, but not at the very top of the genre.

[review published 05 February 2018]

Next up, Fascinomas – Fascinating Medical Mysteries by Clifton K. Meador

Until We Come Up With Something Witty To Say…