I was deeply moved by this book. Henry Marsh offers a heartfelt personal memoir reflecting on his transition from doctor to patient after being diagnosed with advanced cancer. Drawing from his extensive medical career as a distinguished neurosurgeon, Marsh provides no-holds-barred insights into the complexities of illness, the inevitability of mortality, and the profound shift in perspective when facing one's own health challenges. The narrative delves into his experiences navigating the healthcare system from the patient's side, confronting past medical decisions, and contemplating life and death. These insights in particular - doctor turned patient - I found reassuring because one often feels infantilised by doctors when faced with illness. It's good to know doctors too are vulnerable to the vicissitudes of time. It's also reassuring that he survived to tell the tale. Marvellous stuff!

Henry Marsh is a neurosurgeon and in this book explores ageing and end of life via his own experiences.
I did delay reading this as I thought it might be depressing but it's a lovely thoughtful book. By not discussing ageing and what a good death may look like we are all putting off the inevitable and doing ourselves a disservice.
It's especially interesting hearing about a doctor becoming patient and his reflections on that flipped power balance.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is account of the authors life as a neurosurgeon. It is very well written. This is a very ‘interesting’ read.

I have read Henry Marks other books and have great admiration for him as both a brilliant neurosurgeon and a genuinely nice human being.
This last book when Mr Marks is retired from the NHS deals again with the fascinating subject of neurosurgery but also with the journey of his own diagnosis of incurable prostate cancer.
Beautifully written, heartbreaking and uplifting I have even more admiration for him than ever after reading this latest book

i read henry marsh's first book a couple of years ago and really liked this writing style and empathy that was clear through his stories. this one was much more personal, detailing henry's own health. i found it hard to read at parts due to the nature of his illness and his ability to convey his feelings but overall i really enjoyed

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no large gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book therefore a star is lost for this.

A very powerful and gripping story that is difficult to read in some parts but worth sticking with. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

“As a doctor, you could not do the work if you were truly empathic – if you literally felt yourself what your patient was feeling. Empathy, like exercise, is hard work, and it is normal and natural to avoid it.”
I’ve been at the receiving end of medical care a few times and always wondered why most physicians display such an atrocious communication style with patients. In my opinion, “how to talk to a patient” should be taught as much as “how to treat a patient” right from the start. Disdain, arrogance and belittling is rife and Prof Marsh - once he is hauled from the giving end to receiving end by a cancer diagnosis - is at least contrite.
His views on how to make hospitals more ..erm.. hospitable by adding easily accessible green spaces is commendable: “Why is it that it is only when we are dying in hospices, that gardens and flowers and trees are allowed to re-enter our life, just as we are leaving it?”
What isn’t addressed, though, is that British hospital design (the large open “ward” system) is still based on Nightingale’s suggestions - with its lack of wet rooms and thus an increased risk of cross-contamination which is endangering patients’ life far more than a lack of green spaces.
But it was the author’s propensity to humblebrag that really put me off. Charitable deeds are best done quietly and not spread out publicly. He does not come across as a likeable character…at all. Furthermore, with his professional connections, his diagnostics and scans were forthcoming swiftly and the author does not even acknowledge that the majority of people face endless fobbing off by their GPs and life-endangering delays in treatment.
The plot, as it were, oscillates from Marsh’s own cancer story to general neurobiological facts to philosophy to statements on general healthcare to random anecdotes of his life and is weighed down by heaps of tangents.
For a much more entertaining and to-the-point book on medical trivia, try Bill Bryson’s “The Body”.

And Finally: Matters of Life and Death by Henry Marsh is the neurosurgeon’s account of being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer shortly after his retirement. If you have read Marsh’s first two books about his career, Do No Harm and Admissions, then you will know that he doesn’t sugar coat things, and after a long career in medicine and the realisation that he is now a patient himself, he is similarly candid in his personal reflections about his own ageing and mortality. The first part of the book which deals with his denial about the diagnosis is darkly funny. He also talks about his experiences supporting colleagues in Nepal and Ukraine and his worries about the impact on his family. ‘And Finally’ is a relatively short and unstructured book which reflects Marsh’s uncertainty about the future, but still beautifully written. Many thanks to Vintage Books for sending me a review copy on NetGalley.

I’ve read all of Henry Marsh’s previous books and this one is certainly a different proposition. No longer is it about his neuroscience days and his patients, but about him as a patient., faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis.
I’m glad I have read his previous as I think this will read best to those that have read his past marvellous works.
And Finally is a bit more rambling, with a bit less structure. But I think that reflective of the place Marsh now finds himself in. Uncertain of the future, what it holds, the impact on his family. I found the section dealing with assisted dying particularly moving and insightful. And once again I find myself just that little bit wiser after reading Henry Marsh’s words.

(In Twitter) 'And Finally: Matter in Life and Death' by
@DrHenryMarsh
, a humble reflection on a brain surgeon's life, the coping mechanisms in such a high-stress job and the acceptance that even doctors can get ill.

An excellent book. In contrast to his previous books, this story deals with Marsh’s experience as a patient after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed his previous stories or who has an interest in healthcare

This is a bleak book, I read this on holiday which was definitely not the right time to read it. The book is okay but reads like Marsh's musings and thoughts, it is quite random and does not seem to follow on. There are still some interesting anecdotes within.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an advance copy.

This short book chronicles Henry Marsh's life after retiring from neurosurgery and being diagnosed with advanced prostrate cancer, as he looks back on his career from the perspective that age and illness gives him. I've read Marsh's two previous memoirs, Do No Harm and Admissions, and frankly I wouldn't recommend this to anybody who hasn't at least read Do No Harm; much of the poignancy here is lost if we don't first encounter Marsh as a practicing surgeon. Meanwhile, Admissions, while not quite as essential, contextualises Marsh's references to his work in Ukraine. And Finally is perhaps the weakest of the three books, but I thought it was still worth reading. Marsh flits between the story of his cancer diagnosis and treatment to reflections on his career to detailed scientific explanations of some of the technologies and biologies that occur in his life story: he talks about brain development, radiotherapy, MRI scans etc., often using basic chemistry to explain their workings. Much of this material did not contribute to the book for me, especially that which lay outside Marsh's specific professional expertise, although I loved his final words on theoretical physics and time: 'Physicists talk of "block time" - that the past, present and future are all equally real... There is nothing inevitable about time always moving irredeemably forwards... The present is a place, and the past and future are simply other places.' However, Marsh is typically (for him) and unusually (for most writers) honest about his experience of ageing and facing mortality, and that alone made And Finally worthwhile for me. Alongside Paul Kalanithi and Atul Gawande, Marsh remains one of the best doctors-turned-writers I've read. 3.5 stars.

I thoroughly appreciated the insights on death from the dual perspective of someone who's confronting it on a personal level and who's used to confronting it on a professional basis. I found that stance intriguing, as Marsh clearly understands it better than most, which is to say that he understands death well enough to know that he will never understand it. I did find the book itself somewhat meandering and less thematically tight than his previous work, but perhaps that's just reflective of the book's overall message - nothing is as linear as you might expect.

Henry Marsh is an amazing individual. I enjoyed First Do No Harm which was a brutally honest account of his life. He acknowledged his arrogance and errors, but through that shone a compassionate and caring human being with exceptional skills.

And Finally follows his story but it’s tinged with an ever present sadness as he reflects on the past and what lies in store. He has advanced prostate cancer and is undergoing treatment to prolong his life. This book explores so much and he writes in a way that engages the reader and takes them on his journey. He’s often humorous and alongside that there are insights into the technical, practical and ethical comp,exotics of neuro surgery and pondering about the nature of consciousness and the right to die.

He melds these philosophical meanderings with stories of rogue roofers and building a dolls house fir his grand daughter. It’s an astonishing work; it moved me to tears more than once. It’s not downbeat, but it’s something many of us can relate to; suddenly being caught in the clutches of the NHS as a patient. Disempowered, undignified, frightening, technical and the rest. Mr Marsh now understands the difference between the two sides of the doctor patient experience.

He’s a man I’d love to meet because he’s so interesting and funny. Driven, dedicated but the world is a better place with people like him who have packed so much into their life. I’ve really enjoyed this and hope he’s around for a long time to come.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

. An unputdownable rollercoaster of a read. The opening is atmospheric and completely absorbing. Immersive, and unputdownable. I couldn’t stop reading!

This is the first book i read by Henry Marsh and it's a reflection on life and death, illness and health. I don't always agree with the ideas but this is a book that you can't read and relax.
You read and think and reflect.
The MC was well developed, not always likeable, and interesting person.
I found it interesting and it's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I finished this book wondering just who the writer’s intended audience is - there is perhaps too much complex science for a general reader, and too much personal reminiscence and reflection on death, dying and disease for a scientific audience - a bit of a conundrum, but it somehow worked in the end. Henry Marsh is a retired Neurologist who has been diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer. Given his belief that cancer only happens to other people, not the doctors who treat them, this puts a large spanner in the works of his comfortable retirement life, and provokes this reflective memoir of a life well lived. If he comes across as a little arrogant at times, it could be because he has led an extraordinary life and done a great deal of good in the world. The book is an often charming mixture of personal reflection and medical knowledge, which does become a little disjointed at times, but overall it left me with huge respect for such an extraordinary man.

If I had a medical problem needing sorting I would wish for a consultant like Henry Marsh. This (now retired) neurosurgeon is so caring and so good at explaining complex treatments and theories. This book describes Mr Marsh’s discovery of his prostate cancer, the course of treatment and his musings on considering his own mortality. This book would be especially helpful for anyone being treated for this type of cancer or who knows someone going through this. Mr Marsh clearly explains the treatments and side effects in ways that the layman can easily understand. I found the book very moving, especially the sections concerning his love for his family and his longing to complete tasks he has promised to complete for them. It was also very humbling to hear how someone who dealt with death so regularly in his career has the same fears as the rest of us, and also suffers from the same sort of errors at the hands of the NHS as we do. The book does jump around a fair bit as other reviews have mentioned, but this makes it more like having a conversation with an old friend. I very much hope that Mr Marsh’s treatment enables him to have many more happy years with his beloved grandchildren. A book like this could easily have been depressing and self-pitying, but this was neither. It leaves you with admiration for a great man and the realisation that however successful we may be we are all human, with the same fears and feelings and that the rug can be pulled from under us at any time. Carpe Diem!

Sent from my iPad

A fascinating thoughtful book, which we will be promoting as our non-fiction book of the month for September in our shop.