Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

21 reviews

readingrainbowroad's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Great book as always. Loved hearing some classic tales from my microbio and genetics classes and learning a few more!
Also some amazing and scathing deep dives into the history of surgical treatments of cancer and the tobacco industry.

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rhubarbpi3's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

This was such a good book! So informative, tho I felt it dragged a tad in the final quarter and I wish it had focused a bit more on the historical part because I found that fascinating.

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angievansprang's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I’m not usually too into nonfiction, but apparently as a science/medicine nerd, this worked perfect for me. Mukherjee has a way of weaving a vivid timeline of cancer through many smaller, narrative stories that leave you caring for each “character”, though most of them were assuredly real people. I loved how this book explored the political & legal movements that were sidelining the scientific battle against cancer. A lot of these occurrences were not things I was previously aware of or taught in school. A very interesting read, especially if you are a science and/or medicine nerd like me!

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vmjanek's review

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challenging informative slow-paced

4.5

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kabelon97's review

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hopeful informative slow-paced

5.0

One of my favourite books ever. I really enjoyed how it chronologically tracks our understanding of cancer, from Imhotep to german suppuration of the blood to our current understanding of somatic genetic mutation causing cancer. It was also fascinating learning about radical mastectomy and its perverse grip on breast cancer surgery and how the feminist movement helps push scientists to finding evidence for radical mastectomy's ineffectiveness. Also, learning about Sidney Farber and his importance in the leukemia and general cancer landscape. This book is long but near perfect. Would recommend to everyone!

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dmturner's review

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

5.0

"Cancer is a flaw in our growth, but this flaw is deeply entrenched in ourselves. We can rid ourselves of cancer, then, onlly as much as we can rid ourselves of the processes in our physiology that depend on growth - aging, regeneration, healing, reproduction." (462)

A thorough and very readable history of cancer and its treatment through history, from the viewpoint of surgery, chemotherapy, and cell biology. It is also incidentally an enlightening analysis of the institutional and structural problems in science that can interfere with treatment.

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snowleopard4's review

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challenging informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.25

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lochlyn's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

4.0

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standardissuecat's review

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informative inspiring slow-paced

3.0

Quite slow and it's easy to get caught up in the details. I loved the personal stories, but the biological detail a little less. It would be great for anyone who has a relative with cancer in order to learn about the disease. I also enjoyed the historical lens on this biological topic.

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gkgkgk's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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