Book Description
Characters
As a memoir, the main character is the author, a young neurosurgeon who enjoys writing. However, there are many secondary characters, such as his wife and mentors.
Setting
The author was thirty-six around 2015, but the book takes place in multiple settings and timelines. In particular, the first pages hit different times and locations. It starts with the jarring revolution that the young medical resident has lung cancer. Later, the story shifts back in time to help the reader better understand his roots and motivations.
Plot
The book starts with the pivotal moment that the main character realizes that he has late-stage lung cancer. This moment begins his exploration of what is important in life, given that his time is likely very limited. Delving into these questions takes the reader back in time when necessary, so that the reader has context to understand his thoughts.
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An Editor’s Book Review
Character Development
The character development is unusual because it’s almost ancillary to the need to ask life’s important questions. The author uses his life as a background in which to explore those questions. I wouldn’t consider this book as “navel-gazing” as other memoirs can be. His approach seems to have paid off because I felt invested in the author and his journey through much of the book.
Pacing
It was an effective choice to place the author’s diagnosis with lung cancer at the beginning of the book. Readers want to get back to that point and understand what happened. So, even though the book moves backward in time and may test reader’s patience, they are often invested from page one.
Writing Style
Paul Kalanithi does read like a neurosurgeon writing a book about philosophy. His musing are concise and beautiful. But his descriptions of his day-to-day life are very technical and full of medical language. Watching Grey’s Anatomy for years helped me keep up. The juxtaposition of these two styles is quite interesting and mirrors how he operates as both doctor (technical) and patient (more human and philosophical).
Related Recommendations
If you appreciated reading a physician’s musings on the end of life, you may also want to read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.