Saturday, July 21, 2012
The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
There is something indefinably sad about cancer ... is it because there is pain and suffering of a magnitude never seen before in an illness ever to have afflicted mankind? Or is it because, the oncologist and the patient are drawn inexorably toward a circle of chemo, remission or relapses? Or is it because one sees the human body totally and completely under the hold of the oncogen, weakened, debilitated and mortally afraid? Or is it because, one sees the courage and hope of the two human beings supported by the body of academics and biologists, as they battle it out against this demon?
Dr.Siddhartha Mukherjee in this graphic biography of cancer traces the recorded history of this malady as none ever has, right from the moment when an Egyptian Queen decides to defy breast cancer by having her slave hack her breast off to the time when everyday today researchers are studying this sickness under the microscope and coming up with stronger and more definite ways to hit back at this sickness.
There is anger against this persistent, stubborn, devious and ever evolving illness; there is also a swelling sense of admiration, pride and strength, when one reads this book. There is anger because the writer points out how the disease has been outsmarting human efforts at all times by genetic alterations of proteins and cells at every step of the way. There is solid admiration because one cannot even remotely imagine the toil, labour and guts that goes into the research every day to find a solution to cancer and Mukherjee brings it all right before our eyes.
Reading his book is like watching a clash of the Titans - God Cancer on one side and God Scientist on the other, as each tries to out-manoeuvre the other, trying to find the Achilles' heel in the other, tripping, falling, rising, victorious one second and loser the next.
A minute record, capturing every heart breaking moment in the history of man's battle against this malady, the book makes you understand why science has made our existence safer, stronger and more protected than ever before.
One must read this book to understand how scrupulous and detailed the author's research has been to bring out this record of cancer. However, what could've been a dry litany of a disease has turned into a powerful historical record and a moving testimony to the power of a doctor to kill the cancerous cells, lessen the pain or prepare the patient for a composed acceptance of the inevitable.
Brilliant in its composition and absolutely objective in its presentation, it is a masterpiece of scholarly writing made interesting and page turning by simply avoiding sentiment and by not playing to the gallery. You cry, not because there are touching scenes of frail and sad moments , but because you realise how much effort has gone on, unknown to the ordinary human being, to bring this emperor of maladies on to its knees before the human power to compassionately think, rationalise, study and resolve this , this, cruel, cruel illness of all.
Thank you, Dr.Mukherjee.
@Chitra Lakshimi 2012. All Rights Reserved.
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