I had read a few things about this book and all were positive, there was much praise about it. I don't often read non-fiction, but I was drawn to this one, even though the subject matter is the devil itself - cancer. We have all been affected by cancer in one way or another - I've heard the most scary statistic, that one in two of us will be stricken down by it. The worst thing in the cases that I have personally been aware of, and I'm sure millions have been through this, is that you fight it, you beat it, but it's not to be kept down. It stands back up again and overcomes you. A cure for all cancers cannot come quick enough.
This book follows the journey of 37 year old Paul Kalanithi, neurosurgeon, neuroscientist, and cancer sufferer. He was diagnosed with lung cancer at age 36, and he found himself going from doctor to patient. This book is not a diary, it's a journey of a young man who is on the verge of becoming a highly revered and very successful neurosurgeon, when he suddenly has the devastating news that he is facing death much earlier than he wanted to. His chapters on his time as a junior doctor through to his being at the top of his department are absolutely fascinating. What is hard to digest is that he is writing this while battling cancer, while going through chemotherapy, while looking into a future that may not exist further than the next 6 months.
He questions everything - mortality, the meaning of life, being a doctor, being a patient. He and his wife Lucy have many things to discuss before he dies, the main one being - should we have a child, even though they know that Lucy will be bringing it up on her own, and the child may not be old enough to remember her father when he passes away.
You know it's going to be an emotional ride when you start, and boy does it have you in tears at the end, but it's written by a very brave, and very strong, individual.
How To Be a Woman
by Caitlin Moran
Caitlin Moran is a columnist for The Times. She is also Twitter user extraordinaire. You should follow her, she really is quite funny. Be warned - she is also rather rude. In a way being one of her many followers on Twitter prepared me for her crude language in this book. She seems to have been using bad words since childhood. To her, the 'f' word and the 'c' word are just that - words, to be used in place of other words that are also just words. But that's by the by.
This book is all her thoughts on the topic of being a woman - from pre-pubescent child in a poor family wearing mum's hand-me-down knickers, to overweight teenager, through drug-addled alcoholic late teen era, boyfriends, jobs, marriage, birth, miscarriage, abortion and plastic surgery. The main topic throughout is feminism, what it means to be a feminist, how to know if you are one and why we all should be. There is not one topic that we don't know her thoughts on. She lays it out for all to read, there is no holding her back. It's hard not to disagree with her. The only times I thought "Hmm, hang on a minute love" were a) when she threw in a very generalised statement "pornography is not bad, it's just sex"; and b) having unprotected sex and then being surprised she's pregnant. But I forgive her these moments of stupidity and thoughtlessness.
The chapters range from very humorous to downright tearfully sad. I defy anyone not to come away teary-eyed from the chapters on going through an awful labour before the birth of her first child, and her decision to have an abortion later in life. Though I did find the detail of the procedure very hard to read. I spent the whole time with my hand over my mouth trying not to be sick.
But that's Caitlin for you. She will tell you anything, she wants you to know everything about her and all of her thoughts. She is not embarrassed by or about anything. She is just having a good old girly talk with us all and sharing her life. You just want to go on Twitter and tell her how great she is.
'Moranthology' is definitely on my birthday list.
I had read a few things about this book and all were positive, there was much praise about it. I don't often read non-fiction, but I was drawn to this one, even though the subject matter is the devil itself - cancer. We have all been affected by cancer in one way or another - I've heard the most scary statistic, that one in two of us will be stricken down by it. The worst thing in the cases that I have personally been aware of, and I'm sure millions have been through this, is that you fight it, you beat it, but it's not to be kept down. It stands back up again and overcomes you. A cure for all cancers cannot come quick enough.