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

This was such a compelling book for being written by the sort of person I am sure I would not like at all in person. I have a particular aversion to arrogant, entitled and condescending men over sixty. However, like the reviews said, it is a very honest book. Reading it gave me the same anxious flutter I would get from an unsolved true crime story as every chapter is a new horror of terrible things that can happen to your brain. It is replete with insight on mortality, the NHS and patient-doctor-healthcare relationships, and liberally peppered with non-PC references that just had me shaking my head with an, "oh those baby boomers" chuckle. There is braggadocio and a little humility and a mix of empathy and the stereotypical surgeon coldness. However, I was surprised to find myself meaningfully connecting to many sections- trying to understand your profession and what it means after being in it for years, the tired fighting against institutions and situations where you have no power despite your experience, the utter humility that comes with age, the disappointments that we carry. Despite a clearly successful career, the failures that haunt Dr. Marsh and his candour in sharing them are what struck me as most brilliant. I am skeptical of the adage that age begets wisdom, but there is undoubtedly some of that here. And also, OMG nature is a sick sadistic killer that gives you awful, bizarre brain growths whose names you dare not speak because they are forty syllables long and more hideous in their manifestations than 100 cthulhus.

Do No Harm is a surprisingly honest and affecting insight into the life of a Neurosurgeon in the modern NHS. As someone who works in the NHS I was surprised how accurately Henry Marsh manages to capture the realities of working in it, warts and all.

But this book is about so much more than that - its a surprisingly frank and honest account of the personal highs and lows, the triumphs and disasters, and the confidence and insecurities of a man working in a complex surgical specialty. It reveals the human reality behind the popular concept of the "god complex surgeon". Its also searingly truthful about the real limits of modern medicine - throughout the book one is confronted with the reality that despite all the advances and heroic surgery so much still depends on luck. Often the final outcome cannot be changed but perhaps deferred. It may be of surprise and sobering to non medical readers brought up in a world of miraculous outcomes in TV and film.

The book is very well written and a delight to read. Mr Marsh has kept the prose concise but pithy, with an absorbing pace and a non chronological structure which makes this feel more like a clever novel than a memoir. It also has a perfect blend of humour and seriousness, carefully structured to give a flowing narrative-like feel and structure to his career despite jumping in time. I was left with an immense feeling of respect for the candidness and openness of his story, and I'm very grateful that he has shared it with the world. Well worth a read whether you have an interest in medicine or not - this is a human story about an interesting man which should offer something to everyone.