Admissions

Life as a Brain Surgeon

By: Henry Marsh

Narrated by: Henry Marsh

This program is read by the author

An international best seller

Henry Marsh has spent a lifetime operating on the surgical front line. There have been exhilarating highs and devastating lows, but his love for the practice of neurosurgery has never wavered.

Following the publication of his celebrated New York Times best seller Do No Harm, Marsh retired from his full-time job in England to work pro bono in Ukraine and Nepal. In Admissions he describes the difficulties of working in these troubled, impoverished countries and the further insights it has given him into the practice of medicine.

Marsh also faces up to the burden of responsibility that can come with trying to reduce human suffering. Unearthing memories of his early days as a medical student and the experiences that shaped him as a young surgeon, he explores the difficulties of a profession that deals in probabilities rather than certainties and where the overwhelming urge to prolong life can come at a tragic cost for patients and those who love them.

Reflecting on what 40 years of handling the human brain has taught him, Marsh finds a different purpose in life as he approaches the end of his professional career and a fresh understanding of what matters to us all in the end.

©2017 Henry Marsh (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Consistently entertaining.... Honesty is abundantly apparent here - a quality as rare and commendable in elite surgeons as one suspects it is in memoirists." ( The Guardian)

"Disarmingly frank storytelling...his reflections on death and dying equal those in Atul Gawande's excellent Being Mortal." ( The Economist)

My Favorite of 2017!

Thoughtful and honest about his failures and successes as a surgeon and unfailingly compassionate toward his patients. Narration by the author is a plus. Enjoyed all the idiosyncrasies of British pronunciation!

Great content, narration difficult

This was fascinating neurosurgery insight! The look into Nepal and Ukraine, as well as the cautionary tale of the NHS were eye opening. The arrangement of the book skipped around so much in place and time it was confusing, and the narrator/author spoke very quickly in that doctors rushed style, which required me to repeat often. Great overall, though!

honest and sad

Somewhat haunting as Dr. Marsh recounts his many missteps, but his honesty and delivery are extraordinary.

Great book

I enjoyed the candor of the authorand very well read also.
There was a very nice mix of medical, human and natural beauty.

Profound

I would highly recommend this book to everyone, young and old, but especially to anyone entering the medical profession. Dr. Marsh's observations, of not only being a neurosurgeon, but also his insights into what it means to be human and thus fallible, are relevant and profound. I am not generally a fan of the author narrating his own book but in this case I don't think anyone could have done a better job. I would also recommend his previous book Do No Harm. Time well spent.

A gifted writer

For a man who has spent his life’s work dedicated to the brain, Henry Marsh knows how to pull the heart strings. I spent much of this book trying not to cry (as I’m often driving). Poignant and beautiful, but also vulnerable and raw. All the stories and recounting as in his first book, but full of heart. A masterpiece, truly.

Astonished

I have read "Do No Harm" (Marsh's first book) some months ago. It inspired me to head towards a career in medicine. His book hooked me greatly so when I saw his audiobook on here I had to listen to it. I found his narration very sound to my ears. It made the story shine for me, since I really felt that he is the one who was saying it to me. I could almost imagine him here, talking to me. Brutal honesty and authenticity is what makes his writing great and I'd love for him to write another book. What especially got me was the part about death.

Author

For the first time, I really feel like I want to meet the author of a book I loved. I have been living in a similar inner realm that was tried to be depicted here. Being narrated by Professor Henry Marsh himself, could also be a great medical ethics resource for premeds.

Brain Surgery and Giving up the Ghost in Nepal...

Dr. Henry Marsh is a maven with skilled hands with an IQ higher than the "average bear" perhaps. Brain, hands and eloquent synapses are perhaps all firing like a symphony in harmony. From crude errors on patients to his failed marriages the honesty is riveting.

Nepal surgery is quite different from the shining and glittering surgical theatres at Cedars Sinai and Hoag Hospital. In Nepal instead of the family waiting in an air-conditioned sterile work of art, here families are on dirt, poor and no surprise if they assault the surgeon.

Marsh narrates on audible and recounts (in his British accent) the “Land of the Living” and "Give up the Ghost" phrases with no regard to impeding death. Not only does he maneuver surgical knives but also a tongue producing witty remarks without planning. Brilliant. Buy it. Hello Dr. Marsh.

life reflections

short book on a retiring surgeon reflections on life and his career. I didn’t feel engaged as his other books