The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

[Zara's Retreat]

We will discuss The Emperor of All Maladies in this thread. Please remember to mark your spoilers. :)

Please note : This book will be read in November as well.

[Karina]

I'll probably get started by the beginning of next week!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I'll be starting the latter half of October.

[Kara]

I think I'll start nearer the end of October as well, Theresa.

[Karina]

I read the first few pages last night, and was pleasantly surprised - it seems much more readable than I initially feared.

(Also, as in so much nonfic, about one fifth of the book is the acknowledgements/references at the end, so all in all it's not that massive.)

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I'd been debating whether to get the Kindle and/or the Audible versions of this book, but last night I read this note on Amazon:

From Publishers Weekly
Mukherjee's magisterial history of cancer research is poorly served by Stephen Hoye's impersonal, tone-deaf narration. Mukherjee is a practicing oncologist, and his is a deeply personal account, replete with stories of his own patients and practice, that begs for an intimate reading. But Hoye is pedantic, dry, stentorian-everything that this book isn't-and his newscaster's delivery cannot convey the author's compassion for his patients or the suspense and thrill of scientific discovery that the book so brilliantly describes.

I've listened to Hoye before, but do agree his delivery is more that of a newscaster. I think I'll pick up the Kindle version this weekend and begin reading!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I downloaded the Kindle preview and can already tell I like the author's writing style. I'm going to go ahead and buy the Kindle book to read this week.

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I read the rest of my Kindle preview at lunch today, and I know I'm really going to love The Emperor of All Maladies! Siddhartha Mukherjee must be an amazing person, being both an empathetic oncologist and a wonderful writer. I'm going to download the rest tonight and should definitely have it read before the week is over.

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I just checked in to suggest we roll this one over to November, but I see that Zara already set this up as an Oct/Nov read. I really like the book, but I've been really busy this month. Most of the books I've finished have been audiobooks, which I can listen to while commuting or doing other things at home. I'll try to make more time to finish it this weekend.

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Has anyone made any progress on this one? I've actually gotten involved finishing out a few seasonal challenges that end in November and have not read any of it since late October. While it is a great book, I won't get back to it until late November or early December.

[Karina]

I've been keeping it on the backburner for a bit - am only about 15% in, but will give it my undivided attention in a couple of days.

[Karina]

Oh, I only just had the time to return to this, actually . Anyone else still reading?

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I've read about 15% but have been busy with challenges that end Saturday. Shall we continue hoping for a December finish?

[Karina]

I would be up for that!

[Kara]

I just started! I could definitely go for a December finish.

I'm enjoying it so far--it isn't quite what I expected. It's much more...narrative than the summary made it seem.

[✿Claire✿]

I would be happy to join in if you're reading it for a bit longer? :)

[Kara]

Yes, please do, Claire! The more the merrier.

[Paul]

Go for it. I read this one awhile back and recommend it. Mind you, I'm in health care so am a bit biased.

[Kara]

That's cool, Paul. I'm in healthcare but in med devices, so I'm only tangentially involved with the topic.

So far, I'm really enjoying it but am taking a short break to finish our group read, The Golem and the Jinni.

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

FYI, I'm in Healthcare, too, but in the financial end. I'm a CPA and worked with home health, hospitals, and now continuum of care retirement communities. I do like the book, but keep getting side-tracked by library books coming in for my challenges.

[Karina]

I'm not in healthcare at all - just generally very interested in medicine/illness through history. (I'm pretty sure it all started with a middle grade book about the black death hitting Norway in 1349.)

And cancer is this hugely present thing that can be difficult to understand, not to mention the treatment of it, and how those treatments came into use. I hadn't really thought about it, but apart from words like "radiation" and "chemotherapy", I really had no idea how it all came together. Yay, learning stuff!

[Karina]

I finished this book yesterday - I think it's been the most educational read this year, for me!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Karina, I'm glad you liked it! I got side-tracked from that one when several library books I'd had on hold came in at once. I'll finish The Goldfinch by tomorrow and should get back to The Emperor of All Maladies this weekend.

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

Just popping in to say I'll be finished with this book tonight. I agree with Karina that it's a very educational read!

[Theresa~OctoberLace]

I am so glad I finally took the time to read this one. It was amazing in its presentation, particularly coming from a physician. From my graduate work I recognized what he was describing in terms of experimental research, yet he wrote like a literary author so that anyone could follow his story. The ending literally left me in tears. Great book!

[Kara]

I took a break on this one, but I'm so glad I picked it back up again! I just finished the carcinogens section, and it's probably my favorite part of the book so far.