And Finally: Matters of Life and Death, the Sunday Times bestseller from the author of DO NO HARM

Firstly, I found the title of this book misleading. I expected it to mean that the author had a terminal diagnosis, and was expected to die within a matter of months.After ploughing through a book which jumps inexplicably from topic to topic, we find out in the postscript that his radiotherapy and hormone treat are successful in bringing his PSA down to <0.1.Therefore, the author may well survive for many more years.Not that I begrudge him this.The book rambles on, and there are many technical sections on treatment of the brain as well as cancer treatments, which most readers will find dull.There is the occasional nugget about feelings about having a cancer diagnosis, but these are heavily outnumbered by long, dull sections, which I regard as “filler “ to make the book a decent. I myself was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002, which was successfully treated with brachytherapy and radiotherapy. 20 years later, it has come back as urethral and penile cancer, either as an independent cancer or caused by the radiation treatment.This is terminal and a matter of months.I expected this book to be more relatable, and to cover assisted dying in more detail, rather than being smugly told that a fellow doctor will do the business, and that the author doesn’t fancy dying in Switzerland.Overall the book was a huge disappointment, and actually made me quite angry.

In his rightly celebrated earlier books, Do No Harm and Admissions, Henry Marsh had a direct, incisive, and clear voice, his erudite authority and experience tempered with humility, humanity, and self doubt.And Finally has all these qualities as Mr Marsh meditates on his transposition from doctor to patient.His central concern is his new vulnerabilities, and the regrets they occasion as he wonders aloud whether he showed the kindness and the empathy he now hopes to receive from his own physicians. And whether he will survive the treatment regime he is perforce embarked upon.He writes about his personal family life with a concern and clarity which is utterly endearing. And his pithy examination of the stupidities of the NHS is magnificent:-"..despite all the notices on the hospital wards declaring that patients are treated with dignity and respect, patients are still seen as an underclass, and trying to improve the quality of the hospital environment as a waste of money....if patients really were treated with dignity and respect, there would be no need for all these notices".Unfortunately, fascinating as his account of the brain's synapses and cognitive system is, for me it overbalances the personal voice which makes his work so gripping. An editor's crisp blue pen might perhaps have been used to advantage to excise some of the backwaters from the main navigation of this book.There is so much that illuminates, and provokes (eg assisted dying) in this book. I felt its great achievements to be a little obscured. All power to Mr Marsh, but perhaps less is more.....

As a prostate cancer sufferer, I saw this book and the reviews and thought this is for me. No it wasn’t.Clearly Henry is an erudite chap. However his ability to stray off topic is astonishing. I was well into a third way into the book before we kinda got to his diagnosis. After that there were meandering thoughts around every tiny element of his path of treatment, which frankly I’d lost track of in the end.The humour was two items that were mentioned in the reviews. I’m not interested in him getting scammed by rogue builders. I flicked through most pages as it was relentless dirge on his personal mental battles about the meaning of life, the universe and attempts at an idiots guide to bio/phys/chem interactivity in treatment.In short his negativity upset me and my prognosis is far worse and I’m younger. I also can’t help but think his renowned being was given much better treatment than I had on the nhs. Anaesthesia for a biopsy ? Really ?It is what it is Henry and frankly this book is not good.If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, read with care. Or not at all.

Like Henry Marsh’s previous two books, this is very well written. It is brutally honest and refreshingly open about himself, and his diagnosis with advanced prostate cancer. What I find particularly refreshing and welcome is his willingness to be self critical. He discusses not just his cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, but also his views on how we, as a society, deal with death. This is certainly thought-provoking, but not gloomy. In fact, there is much humour in this book. I enjoyed reading it and was sorry when it ended.

A somewhat sad tale and the end of what has been a truly "glorious" life of helping people. Henry Marsh's previous books were an extraordinary insight into the daily life of a consultant on the edge of life and death. As life often does the curveball spun in Marsh's disfavor and he finds himself in the chasm between life and death. A fantastic book but tinged with sadness for the loss of such an inspiring individual!