(Originally Published 2007, Hardcover Edition 292 pages)
Prior to her becoming a medical student at the age of twenty-eight, Ms. Montross was a poet as well as a university writing instructor and it shows. The author's eye for detail and ruminations about her and a few other students' reactions in dissecting a cadaver during their first year of medical school are insightful and poignant. I imagine there are some medical students who are not affected to the degree Ms. Montross was, but it's difficult to believe slicing-and-dicing an actual human being doesn't give the ole brain at least a few figurative kicks to the head.
The author also includes some background on the history of dissection. Apparently, an Italian named Vesalius was the dude who really got the whole ball rolling in medical dissection around 1594. She explains the difficulties Vesalius confronted by going against the decrees of the Pope as well as getting their hands on corpses to filet and examine. The profitable field of illegal grave-robbing and cutting into dead bodies at various stages of decomposition back in the good ole days makes today's anatomy dissection classes certainly seem like a veritable walk in the park. Ms. Montross also examines the different ways cultures view the practice of using dead bodies for medical research as well as the history of some of the silly superstitions and practices involved. There are also snippets of personal medical cases that highlight some of the difficult situations such as a man dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. The author's story about the declining health of her grandparents was especially tender and touching.
The book has a lot of heart and soul to it. Ms. Montross struggles with the unnatural act of cutting open and dismembering even a dead body. The memoir was well written, immensely informative about an area of medical education I hadn't ever really thought about, and darned right entertaining. Some descriptions caused me to squirm and made it painfully obvious I wouldn't be cut out (pun intended... Sorry) for this profession. You will learn a little about the anatomy but the memoir is more about the difficulties in entering into this most challenging of professions. It is beautifully written, highly entertaining, thought-provoking, and well worth reading.
The author also includes some background on the history of dissection. Apparently, an Italian named Vesalius was the dude who really got the whole ball rolling in medical dissection around 1594. She explains the difficulties Vesalius confronted by going against the decrees of the Pope as well as getting their hands on corpses to filet and examine. The profitable field of illegal grave-robbing and cutting into dead bodies at various stages of decomposition back in the good ole days makes today's anatomy dissection classes certainly seem like a veritable walk in the park. Ms. Montross also examines the different ways cultures view the practice of using dead bodies for medical research as well as the history of some of the silly superstitions and practices involved. There are also snippets of personal medical cases that highlight some of the difficult situations such as a man dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. The author's story about the declining health of her grandparents was especially tender and touching.
The book has a lot of heart and soul to it. Ms. Montross struggles with the unnatural act of cutting open and dismembering even a dead body. The memoir was well written, immensely informative about an area of medical education I hadn't ever really thought about, and darned right entertaining. Some descriptions caused me to squirm and made it painfully obvious I wouldn't be cut out (pun intended... Sorry) for this profession. You will learn a little about the anatomy but the memoir is more about the difficulties in entering into this most challenging of professions. It is beautifully written, highly entertaining, thought-provoking, and well worth reading.
(Meyers - A few years ago, I started writing, under the pseudonym Franklin the Mouse, short reviews at Amazon's web site. This is my most recent review #360)
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