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Elossa - Toisenlaista anatomiaa
Lääketiede selostaa kuinka keho toimii, mutta ruumiinavauksiin perustuva anatomia sivuuttaa kehon elollisuuden. Kun Gabriel Westonista tuli ensin kirurgi, sitten äiti ja lopulta potilas, hän ymmärsi ammottavan kuilun ihmisyyden ja lääketieteen välissä. Kuinka kuvata elävää kehoa?
Westonin poikkeuksellinen teos yhdistelee anatomiaa, lääketieteen historiaa ja kirjoittajan omaa potilaskertomusta. Weston tutkii ihmiskehoa elinten kautta, sekä leikkauspöydällä että osana elämäämme. Teksti on konkreettista ja väkevää: luut rusahtelevat ja veri roiskuu, mutta Westonin kirjoittamisessa on myös suurta herkkyyttä ja inhimillisyyttä. Hän ymmärtää elävän kehon kauneutta ja haurautta.
Elossa on ainutlaatuisen kokonaisvaltainen käsitys ihmiskehosta ja anatomiasta.
Westonin poikkeuksellinen teos yhdistelee anatomiaa, lääketieteen historiaa ja kirjoittajan omaa potilaskertomusta. Weston tutkii ihmiskehoa elinten kautta, sekä leikkauspöydällä että osana elämäämme. Teksti on konkreettista ja väkevää: luut rusahtelevat ja veri roiskuu, mutta Westonin kirjoittamisessa on myös suurta herkkyyttä ja inhimillisyyttä. Hän ymmärtää elävän kehon kauneutta ja haurautta.
Elossa on ainutlaatuisen kokonaisvaltainen käsitys ihmiskehosta ja anatomiasta.
230 pages, Hardcover
Published August 21, 2025
107 people are currently reading
863 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
May 26, 2025
This is not a read for anyone who regurgitates stomach contents at the sight of blood. Within her "Alive" you may be ran through with graphic descriptions of surgeries and autopsies that bring to mind smells often found in a morgue. The view one is that of a parrot on the shoulder of a practicing surgeon. Dr. Gabriel Weston infuses color and momentum into a nefarious and utterly graphic view of anatomy (from patient and treating physician perspective).
The truth of the body is as much about storytelling as it is about anatomy.” Contents are gory—reader beware.
---Gabriel Weston
Dr. Weston is a writer and surgeon. Weston is not your typical surgeon (English major) she enrolled in a pioneering medical degree program to breathe inspiration into arts students to consider becoming future physicians. "Bodies are, after all, not purely mechanical entities." And so Alive, pulls from many disciplines ----art, science, history and philosophy---to define the meaning of what our body is, how it feels told by a surgeon and storyteller Gabriel Weston. Definite read for many in healthcare.
The truth of the body is as much about storytelling as it is about anatomy.” Contents are gory—reader beware.
---Gabriel Weston
Dr. Weston is a writer and surgeon. Weston is not your typical surgeon (English major) she enrolled in a pioneering medical degree program to breathe inspiration into arts students to consider becoming future physicians. "Bodies are, after all, not purely mechanical entities." And so Alive, pulls from many disciplines ----art, science, history and philosophy---to define the meaning of what our body is, how it feels told by a surgeon and storyteller Gabriel Weston. Definite read for many in healthcare.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2025
Thanks, NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of the book.
In the introduction to the book, the author makes it clear that during its writing, personal situations occurred that led her to change her attitude about the book's development. There are differences when one compares the first chapters to the rest of the book, as those first ones have too strong descriptions of surgeries being performed. Those with a weak stomach and susceptible to having problems with such graphic scenes may have difficulty navigating these pages. I confess that whenever a description of an autopsy or a surgery was about to be performed in those pages, I skipped the entire episode. Dr. Gabriel Weston's experience as a surgeon does not necessarily need to be transformed into detailed descriptions of surgeries being performed, except in medical books, since here the aim is to reach the general public.
In the other chapters, I believe the author had already gone through the difficult medical moments she tells us about, concerning her son and another related to herself. Here, I noticed a very positive change in her approach, as she looked forward to understanding other nuances and interactions in professional life, with a greater focus on the process of empathy that may be lacking in the medical daily routine. Doctors should remember that they are in front of human beings, not clinical cases; a person can bring valuable information when a doctor is willing to listen more attentively. That is when the book makes a great difference, which I believe is necessary.
In the introduction to the book, the author makes it clear that during its writing, personal situations occurred that led her to change her attitude about the book's development. There are differences when one compares the first chapters to the rest of the book, as those first ones have too strong descriptions of surgeries being performed. Those with a weak stomach and susceptible to having problems with such graphic scenes may have difficulty navigating these pages. I confess that whenever a description of an autopsy or a surgery was about to be performed in those pages, I skipped the entire episode. Dr. Gabriel Weston's experience as a surgeon does not necessarily need to be transformed into detailed descriptions of surgeries being performed, except in medical books, since here the aim is to reach the general public.
In the other chapters, I believe the author had already gone through the difficult medical moments she tells us about, concerning her son and another related to herself. Here, I noticed a very positive change in her approach, as she looked forward to understanding other nuances and interactions in professional life, with a greater focus on the process of empathy that may be lacking in the medical daily routine. Doctors should remember that they are in front of human beings, not clinical cases; a person can bring valuable information when a doctor is willing to listen more attentively. That is when the book makes a great difference, which I believe is necessary.
April 11, 2025
Short take:
An exceptional book. Stunningly clear-minded, incisive writing, even when depicting complex ambiguities; beautifully learned and learnedly lived.
Made me gasp, laugh, and cry more than a couple of times.
Long take:
If you’re reading this, it’s thanks to an incredibly complex living matrix whose workings may well be largely, or at least in part, mysterious to you. Like me, you are embodied. (If you’re not currently occupying a body, email me immediately. And if you’re not alive and are somehow reading this, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins would probably like a chat.) Most of us don’t spend much time pondering the structure that allows our very selves, and some would claim, is synonymous with those selves, to navigate the physical world. Unless challenged by illness or disability, we tend to be unreflecting about that which literally moves us. In her brilliant new book, Alive: Our Bodies and the Richness and Brevity of Existence, surgeon and award-winning author Gabriel Weston educates and simultaneously enlivens with her radical reframing and deeply humanizing approach to this subject matter. Never skimping on information, Weston nevertheless scalpels the tissue of typical pop science writing expectations to access a wondrous, sometimes shocking, corpus of subcutaneous marvels–and a few cutaneous ones too.
Jason Allen-Paisant’s beautiful epigraph sets the stage: “Nothing makes sense until it makes sense in the body, till the body is present at the making-sense.” Through a baker’s dozen magisterial chapters–Dead, Bone, Genitals, Gut, Womb, Lungs, Skin, Breast, Kidney, Brain, Liver, Heart, Alive–Weston takes a delightfully unconventional approach to her exploration of the human body. As she states in the opening section, in which a woman’s corpse ends up as “nothing more than a shell, cavernous and rib-slatted as a clinker boat,” Weston has set out to write an “alternative anatomy,” one that blurs “the boundaries that usually separate science from art, rational from emotional, objective from subjective experience.” She does this by consistently shifting between three main modes: writing about ways that injury or disease have touched her and her loved ones personally, recollecting some of her experiences training to become a surgeon or being one, and providing scientific recaps, often enriched by philosophical and historical remarks, about the functions of the body parts and the organs she’s describing. The transitions are elegant, and help to keep everything nicely circulating. But the through line is clear. “Nothing thrills me more than the human body,” Weston declares, and after a few pages that sense of fascination is undeniable. After a few more pages, it is, thanks to the skill of her writing, contagious.
I am moved to relay some of the amazing facts in Weston’s book:
Through meticulous description, Weston reveals that the outer cortex of a living bone isn’t an inert shell, but is rather made of thousands of identical units called osteons, which have concentric layers rich with collagen and mineral salts arranged at right angles for maximizing tensile strength. The core of a living bone is packed full of red marrow, which produces over 200 billion blood cells–daily. Further, we learn that despite being the most solid part of our body, the skeleton is constantly shape-shifting through a process of bone remodeling where old bone is resorbed by osteoclasts and new bone is made by osteoblasts.
Discussing genitals in the following chapter, Weston explains that until three months of fetal gestation all genitals are exactly the same. Even when male and female genitals start to diverge, the differences between them remain tiny, and the equivalent of the penis isn’t, lo and behold, the vagina, but the clitoris. The clitoris and penis develop from the same embryonic tissue, the genital tubercle, and share the exact same three columns of erectile tissue: two corpora cavernosa and a corpus spongiosum. As you can probably imagine, this territory is rife with cultural and sociological misunderstandings and appropriations.
The gut, we learn, possessing “an internal surface area a hundred times bigger than the skin,” has recently been shown to be the “largest sensory organ we have,” with an incredibly complex microbiome of viruses, fungi, yeasts, and bacteria that play a crucial role in our health. Swallowing food involves twenty different pairs of muscles, and in a commonplace example of our daily obliviousness to the machinery that maintains us, we do it more than 2,000 times a day, mostly without conscious thought.
For renewal on a grand scale, the body has no other show like menstruation, where the uterus prepares for potential conception each month for about forty years.
I never thought about it like this: the lungs are involved in some of our most intense personal experiences, from anxious breathing to sobs, laughter, and the sustained exhalation that pushes a baby into the world.
The skin, “a meta-organ, without which all the others would literally fall apart,” contains heat, water, and a thousand different chemicals, while simultaneously protecting us against numerous external threats.
The breast, remarkably, can transmute blood into milk, as building blocks from the mother's blood are taken up by the alveoli and converted into life-giving fluid.
Our kidneys clean a staggering volume of blood–200 litres every twenty-four hours!–, with ninety-nine per cent of it being reabsorbed, and they contain two million tiny subunits called nephrons, where a sophisticated calibration of fluid and chemicals constantly takes place.
The brain, though appearing solid, is an organ of “ultimate flux,” with information ceaselessly shooting between its different parts via trillions of synapses.
If a large portion of the liver is removed, it can regrow entirely to its original size and function, not through stem cells but by the remaining hepatocytes swelling and multiplying.
The heart is not just an inert lump but the “hub of a vast network” of 60,000 miles of arteries and veins, beating about 100,000 times a day and delivering 5,000 gallons of oxygen-rich blood.
It’s the way this information is packaged that makes Alive so memorable. Its richness as an introspective survey embodies the best that nonfiction has to offer: new perspectives birthed from an examination of data that’s initially detached and then poignantly re-attached to human happenings.
This subtle feat is made possible, among other things, by Weston’s language usage. Tellingly, among some of the artists and authors named are renowned stylists Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson. Literal observations often take on layers of meaning and serve as springboards for reflection, as for instance when Weston writes: “Healthy skin isn’t a barrier at all, but a delicate semi-permeable membrane. Our soft and vulnerable selves may need protection. But we also have to remain open.” Consider too some of her arresting similes: the gut of a dead body “winding out in loops and endless ribbon-like lengths, thin as fingers, juicy as a mouthful of new gum,” the small bowel “plush as a shag-pile carpet,” the periosteum covering each bone “as a falconer’s glove does her hand,” or the confessional “secretly, I’ve always pictured the skin as a cake with two sponges and icing between them.” This image surely sticks in the mind: “Beholding a surgeon opening a patient’s face as easily as if it were a book, to remove a large tumour, knocked me sideways.” When discussing the heart, she quotes the late Jonathan Miller’s notion that “the reason Galen’s false anatomy of the heart took so long to be disproved was because of the lack of a satisfactory language for describing what was seen,” as the analogy of the heart to a lamp had to give way to that of a mechanical pump at the end of the sixteenth century. Agreeing with Miller’s take that for Galen’s model to be superseded by Harvey’s the right metaphorical equipment had to become available, Weston muses: “The truth of the body is as much about storytelling as it is about anatomy.”
I’m deliberately staying away from the more autobiographical sections, because I prefer not to spoil the human drama, as it were, and to leave those entirely in the author’s words. Weston’s academic background and path to writing Alive are also unusual, making for fascinating reading. All of this non-technical material vivifies things in incomparable fashion. I found this book a tour de force, or perhaps a tour de flesh. Weston’s prose gracefully and precisely evokes the biological idiosyncrasies, interdependencies, and constraints of our existence. In a time of increasingly depersonalized medicine and societal squeamishness, Alive is medicine for the soul, a rousing, sobering act of literary confrontation. No; it’s more than that. Going beyond the mere facing of the facts, Weston’s work is a display of personal, heartfelt incorporation.
An exceptional book. Stunningly clear-minded, incisive writing, even when depicting complex ambiguities; beautifully learned and learnedly lived.
Made me gasp, laugh, and cry more than a couple of times.
Long take:
If you’re reading this, it’s thanks to an incredibly complex living matrix whose workings may well be largely, or at least in part, mysterious to you. Like me, you are embodied. (If you’re not currently occupying a body, email me immediately. And if you’re not alive and are somehow reading this, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins would probably like a chat.) Most of us don’t spend much time pondering the structure that allows our very selves, and some would claim, is synonymous with those selves, to navigate the physical world. Unless challenged by illness or disability, we tend to be unreflecting about that which literally moves us. In her brilliant new book, Alive: Our Bodies and the Richness and Brevity of Existence, surgeon and award-winning author Gabriel Weston educates and simultaneously enlivens with her radical reframing and deeply humanizing approach to this subject matter. Never skimping on information, Weston nevertheless scalpels the tissue of typical pop science writing expectations to access a wondrous, sometimes shocking, corpus of subcutaneous marvels–and a few cutaneous ones too.
Jason Allen-Paisant’s beautiful epigraph sets the stage: “Nothing makes sense until it makes sense in the body, till the body is present at the making-sense.” Through a baker’s dozen magisterial chapters–Dead, Bone, Genitals, Gut, Womb, Lungs, Skin, Breast, Kidney, Brain, Liver, Heart, Alive–Weston takes a delightfully unconventional approach to her exploration of the human body. As she states in the opening section, in which a woman’s corpse ends up as “nothing more than a shell, cavernous and rib-slatted as a clinker boat,” Weston has set out to write an “alternative anatomy,” one that blurs “the boundaries that usually separate science from art, rational from emotional, objective from subjective experience.” She does this by consistently shifting between three main modes: writing about ways that injury or disease have touched her and her loved ones personally, recollecting some of her experiences training to become a surgeon or being one, and providing scientific recaps, often enriched by philosophical and historical remarks, about the functions of the body parts and the organs she’s describing. The transitions are elegant, and help to keep everything nicely circulating. But the through line is clear. “Nothing thrills me more than the human body,” Weston declares, and after a few pages that sense of fascination is undeniable. After a few more pages, it is, thanks to the skill of her writing, contagious.
I am moved to relay some of the amazing facts in Weston’s book:
Through meticulous description, Weston reveals that the outer cortex of a living bone isn’t an inert shell, but is rather made of thousands of identical units called osteons, which have concentric layers rich with collagen and mineral salts arranged at right angles for maximizing tensile strength. The core of a living bone is packed full of red marrow, which produces over 200 billion blood cells–daily. Further, we learn that despite being the most solid part of our body, the skeleton is constantly shape-shifting through a process of bone remodeling where old bone is resorbed by osteoclasts and new bone is made by osteoblasts.
Discussing genitals in the following chapter, Weston explains that until three months of fetal gestation all genitals are exactly the same. Even when male and female genitals start to diverge, the differences between them remain tiny, and the equivalent of the penis isn’t, lo and behold, the vagina, but the clitoris. The clitoris and penis develop from the same embryonic tissue, the genital tubercle, and share the exact same three columns of erectile tissue: two corpora cavernosa and a corpus spongiosum. As you can probably imagine, this territory is rife with cultural and sociological misunderstandings and appropriations.
The gut, we learn, possessing “an internal surface area a hundred times bigger than the skin,” has recently been shown to be the “largest sensory organ we have,” with an incredibly complex microbiome of viruses, fungi, yeasts, and bacteria that play a crucial role in our health. Swallowing food involves twenty different pairs of muscles, and in a commonplace example of our daily obliviousness to the machinery that maintains us, we do it more than 2,000 times a day, mostly without conscious thought.
For renewal on a grand scale, the body has no other show like menstruation, where the uterus prepares for potential conception each month for about forty years.
I never thought about it like this: the lungs are involved in some of our most intense personal experiences, from anxious breathing to sobs, laughter, and the sustained exhalation that pushes a baby into the world.
The skin, “a meta-organ, without which all the others would literally fall apart,” contains heat, water, and a thousand different chemicals, while simultaneously protecting us against numerous external threats.
The breast, remarkably, can transmute blood into milk, as building blocks from the mother's blood are taken up by the alveoli and converted into life-giving fluid.
Our kidneys clean a staggering volume of blood–200 litres every twenty-four hours!–, with ninety-nine per cent of it being reabsorbed, and they contain two million tiny subunits called nephrons, where a sophisticated calibration of fluid and chemicals constantly takes place.
The brain, though appearing solid, is an organ of “ultimate flux,” with information ceaselessly shooting between its different parts via trillions of synapses.
If a large portion of the liver is removed, it can regrow entirely to its original size and function, not through stem cells but by the remaining hepatocytes swelling and multiplying.
The heart is not just an inert lump but the “hub of a vast network” of 60,000 miles of arteries and veins, beating about 100,000 times a day and delivering 5,000 gallons of oxygen-rich blood.
It’s the way this information is packaged that makes Alive so memorable. Its richness as an introspective survey embodies the best that nonfiction has to offer: new perspectives birthed from an examination of data that’s initially detached and then poignantly re-attached to human happenings.
This subtle feat is made possible, among other things, by Weston’s language usage. Tellingly, among some of the artists and authors named are renowned stylists Virginia Woolf and Emily Dickinson. Literal observations often take on layers of meaning and serve as springboards for reflection, as for instance when Weston writes: “Healthy skin isn’t a barrier at all, but a delicate semi-permeable membrane. Our soft and vulnerable selves may need protection. But we also have to remain open.” Consider too some of her arresting similes: the gut of a dead body “winding out in loops and endless ribbon-like lengths, thin as fingers, juicy as a mouthful of new gum,” the small bowel “plush as a shag-pile carpet,” the periosteum covering each bone “as a falconer’s glove does her hand,” or the confessional “secretly, I’ve always pictured the skin as a cake with two sponges and icing between them.” This image surely sticks in the mind: “Beholding a surgeon opening a patient’s face as easily as if it were a book, to remove a large tumour, knocked me sideways.” When discussing the heart, she quotes the late Jonathan Miller’s notion that “the reason Galen’s false anatomy of the heart took so long to be disproved was because of the lack of a satisfactory language for describing what was seen,” as the analogy of the heart to a lamp had to give way to that of a mechanical pump at the end of the sixteenth century. Agreeing with Miller’s take that for Galen’s model to be superseded by Harvey’s the right metaphorical equipment had to become available, Weston muses: “The truth of the body is as much about storytelling as it is about anatomy.”
I’m deliberately staying away from the more autobiographical sections, because I prefer not to spoil the human drama, as it were, and to leave those entirely in the author’s words. Weston’s academic background and path to writing Alive are also unusual, making for fascinating reading. All of this non-technical material vivifies things in incomparable fashion. I found this book a tour de force, or perhaps a tour de flesh. Weston’s prose gracefully and precisely evokes the biological idiosyncrasies, interdependencies, and constraints of our existence. In a time of increasingly depersonalized medicine and societal squeamishness, Alive is medicine for the soul, a rousing, sobering act of literary confrontation. No; it’s more than that. Going beyond the mere facing of the facts, Weston’s work is a display of personal, heartfelt incorporation.
April 28, 2025
I really liked this book. Weston takes you through the body organ by organ, with a blend of science, history, and personal stories. Each chapter is constructed slightly differently, but the contradictions, demands, and development of modern medicine are laid out in a fascinating way. Weston’s passion for the subject really shines through in the audiobook version - she got so psyched about what she was talking about at times. You can tell this is what she loves. (English majors … we get the job done.)
As the book goes on, Weston’s journey as both a doctor and a patient are evident in how the chapters change. I will warn for anyone just starting: the book (especially the first third) includes graphic scenes of surgery and corpse dissection. It gets less graphic as the book goes on, but readers be warned. The later book is far more focused on the humans impacted, in my perspective. Weston’s own life journey told through the book makes it all the more compelling.
I don’t know. I just really enjoyed it, and it was accessible and compelling for me as a non-science person.
As the book goes on, Weston’s journey as both a doctor and a patient are evident in how the chapters change. I will warn for anyone just starting: the book (especially the first third) includes graphic scenes of surgery and corpse dissection. It gets less graphic as the book goes on, but readers be warned. The later book is far more focused on the humans impacted, in my perspective. Weston’s own life journey told through the book makes it all the more compelling.
I don’t know. I just really enjoyed it, and it was accessible and compelling for me as a non-science person.
March 4, 2025
I think the title is misleading. I really don't get how this anatomy book, which is not an anatomy book, is an alternative to an anatomy book understood stereotypically. Is it because it's more personal? The personal bit I find creepy and bizarre, frankly.
The author tries to make anatomy more familiar and less scary. This is supposed to be achieved by inserting glimpses from personal daily life, history, biology, and culture. Some parts are interesting, and I made some notes, but overall, it doesn't work. In my opinion, there's too much of an author.
The writing style is a bit heavy and chaotic. We jump constantly from one thing to another, and often, it's hard to spot the connection. In the beginning, the book is packed with medical jargon, which is way too much for an average reader to digest. Later on, there's less and less science, more personal life and thoughts.
Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
The author tries to make anatomy more familiar and less scary. This is supposed to be achieved by inserting glimpses from personal daily life, history, biology, and culture. Some parts are interesting, and I made some notes, but overall, it doesn't work. In my opinion, there's too much of an author.
The writing style is a bit heavy and chaotic. We jump constantly from one thing to another, and often, it's hard to spot the connection. In the beginning, the book is packed with medical jargon, which is way too much for an average reader to digest. Later on, there's less and less science, more personal life and thoughts.
Thank you to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 12, 2025
Alive is one of those books that takes you beyond science and into experience. I loved the flow of the book as we focus on the different organs, it was like travelling through the body on an exploration. There are some more scientific parts, with my basic knowledge
I felt I understood everything and at the same time expanded my mind. If you are on the more squeamish side then be prepared for detailed passages. Be this is an intimate examination after all and the brutal reality of the sciences. I loved the incorporation of art and also of the authors real life experiences. We all have a body yet we don’t know even half of what it does and how that’s achieved. If you want a personalised story and a fascinating read then this book is for you. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.
I felt I understood everything and at the same time expanded my mind. If you are on the more squeamish side then be prepared for detailed passages. Be this is an intimate examination after all and the brutal reality of the sciences. I loved the incorporation of art and also of the authors real life experiences. We all have a body yet we don’t know even half of what it does and how that’s achieved. If you want a personalised story and a fascinating read then this book is for you. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.
October 16, 2025
At times it was almost like all those weird girl lit fic books (Nightbitch, Earthlings, Cursed Bunny and maybe Mona Awad style??) but like, nonfiction. About your body. The very one keeping you alive as you read this.
Bloody and gross and tender and beautiful and personal and celebratory. At times her descriptions of the body reminded me of those of canonised saints writing about their visions, the pure passion sweeping through... and indeed, our bodies are nearly heavenly doing all the work they do without any appreciation.
Bloody and gross and tender and beautiful and personal and celebratory. At times her descriptions of the body reminded me of those of canonised saints writing about their visions, the pure passion sweeping through... and indeed, our bodies are nearly heavenly doing all the work they do without any appreciation.
February 27, 2025
There is a fair bit of interesting information in this book but I personally found the writing style difficult to follow as it jumps around, for example it might be explaining about a body part and then jumps to an operation scene and it's not immediately clear how they connect. There's also a lot of medical terminology which I'm not familiar with. This would be interesting for those interested in medicine though with a lot of detail on surgery in particular.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review
August 12, 2025
I don’t really like fluffy/flowery language when it comes to science. Not that it can’t be done, it’s just I’ve rarely seen it done well and this book follows that pattern. Weston inserts personal stories/musings in between explaining anatomy but the transition back and forth felt disconnected, sometimes it was so jarring I had to check if I'd skipped a paragraph.
October 31, 2025
4,5 stars. very unlike any other books i’ve read, have to give it a bit of thinking
November 5, 2025
1.25/5, rounded down.
I'll preface this by saying I teach undergraduate human anatomy and physiology courses. Also, the hardcover version I read was subtitled "Our Bodies and the Richness and Brevity of Existence" rather than "An Alternative Anatomy".
Books on human A&P by medical professionals typically fall into two camps: 1) those that are greatly detailed, scientific explorations of a topic that can be too much for general audiences; and 2) overly-personal narratives that cover so little of the actual topic being discussed as to be essentially useless for readers with any background knowledge of the subject. I saw this title at my local library, and after reading the author's bio and background thought this might serve as a nice bridge between those two camps. Unfortunately, it became clear fairly early on that this is solidly in the second.
Despite marketing this as an "alternative" to the drudgery of the author's idea of classroom anatomical education, there is very little information presented. It reads as a weird, disjointed summation with incomplete descriptions of anatomy and physiology and medical history, multiple reminders that the author thinks anatomy class is boring, a bunch of thinly-related personal anecdotes, and some surgical descriptions; all loosely linked by the author discovering a heart condition (told through primarily a series of emails that come across as the author trying to use their position to overrule their own physicians and move up the line). It jumps back and forth with no warning between these vignettes, all written in an overly-flowery language that at first I thought was being done in jest. The author did not include a references section (which I should've viewed as a warning), so the rare fact or occasional interesting quote can't be easily traced back to anything, and much of the discussion of surgery/anatomy history seems to lean heavily towards "creative nonfiction".
Most chapters barely cover any anatomy at all; the "Kidney" chapter, for example, includes maybe four lines about the actual functional anatomy and physiology of the organs, then spends the rest of the time talking about dialysis patients and doctors' bedside manner (with a weird aside about urinating in a bush). Total, I'd estimate no more than 50 pages of the ~280 are actually about anatomy, including the vaguely voyeuristic surgical descriptions (which were the most interesting parts of the book). The author complains about stuffy classrooms and parts named after old dead men, then insists on using those outdated eponyms throughout. Anatomical sciences has descriptive names for essentially every structure that the field has been moving towards for the past few decades, working to phase out eponyms because they are descriptively useless and confusing. To ignore them completely is a disservice to the reader.
To finish: I expected an interesting, nuanced view of human anatomy and physiology from an English-major-turned-surgeon, one that could tie those two seemingly disparate fields together and potentially provide some fresh ideas to incorporate in my classroom. Instead, I slogged through what feels to be a Cliff's Notes version of an out-of-date A&P textbook cut/pasted into the author's diary of private musings, with some emails thrown in. Unless you have functionally zero knowledge of human anatomy, you won't glean much from this book.
I'll preface this by saying I teach undergraduate human anatomy and physiology courses. Also, the hardcover version I read was subtitled "Our Bodies and the Richness and Brevity of Existence" rather than "An Alternative Anatomy".
Books on human A&P by medical professionals typically fall into two camps: 1) those that are greatly detailed, scientific explorations of a topic that can be too much for general audiences; and 2) overly-personal narratives that cover so little of the actual topic being discussed as to be essentially useless for readers with any background knowledge of the subject. I saw this title at my local library, and after reading the author's bio and background thought this might serve as a nice bridge between those two camps. Unfortunately, it became clear fairly early on that this is solidly in the second.
Despite marketing this as an "alternative" to the drudgery of the author's idea of classroom anatomical education, there is very little information presented. It reads as a weird, disjointed summation with incomplete descriptions of anatomy and physiology and medical history, multiple reminders that the author thinks anatomy class is boring, a bunch of thinly-related personal anecdotes, and some surgical descriptions; all loosely linked by the author discovering a heart condition (told through primarily a series of emails that come across as the author trying to use their position to overrule their own physicians and move up the line). It jumps back and forth with no warning between these vignettes, all written in an overly-flowery language that at first I thought was being done in jest. The author did not include a references section (which I should've viewed as a warning), so the rare fact or occasional interesting quote can't be easily traced back to anything, and much of the discussion of surgery/anatomy history seems to lean heavily towards "creative nonfiction".
Most chapters barely cover any anatomy at all; the "Kidney" chapter, for example, includes maybe four lines about the actual functional anatomy and physiology of the organs, then spends the rest of the time talking about dialysis patients and doctors' bedside manner (with a weird aside about urinating in a bush). Total, I'd estimate no more than 50 pages of the ~280 are actually about anatomy, including the vaguely voyeuristic surgical descriptions (which were the most interesting parts of the book). The author complains about stuffy classrooms and parts named after old dead men, then insists on using those outdated eponyms throughout. Anatomical sciences has descriptive names for essentially every structure that the field has been moving towards for the past few decades, working to phase out eponyms because they are descriptively useless and confusing. To ignore them completely is a disservice to the reader.
To finish: I expected an interesting, nuanced view of human anatomy and physiology from an English-major-turned-surgeon, one that could tie those two seemingly disparate fields together and potentially provide some fresh ideas to incorporate in my classroom. Instead, I slogged through what feels to be a Cliff's Notes version of an out-of-date A&P textbook cut/pasted into the author's diary of private musings, with some emails thrown in. Unless you have functionally zero knowledge of human anatomy, you won't glean much from this book.
September 14, 2025
As someone who almost did an arts degree myself (then went into medical lab science), I found this perspective quite relatable. Her descriptions of various body systems are vivid and moving.
July 14, 2025
Dr. Gabriel Weston is a noted British doctor who has written a few books and presented a series of medically oriented television programs on BBC Two’s “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.” Unfortunately for those of us who live in the United States, these programs are only available to those in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Weston didn’t initially start out wanting to be a doctor. Instead, she received a master’s degree in English, only to be bitten by the medical bug, enter medical school, graduate, and become a surgeon specializing in “Ear, Nose, and Throat” (ENT).
Her background in English is evident in her latest book, “Alive: An Alternative Anatomy,” as she takes the reader through the awesomeness that is the human body, interweaving her historical commentary with her own story.
The book starts off with a rather graphic description of an autopsy. Those who have watched the U.S. series “Dr G.: Medical Examiner” know what to expect, but the autopsy is quite graphic for those not ready for it. This procedure sets up the rest of the book, where Dr. Weston is the observer of various procedures rather than a participant, giving her and the readers a unique perspective. I really appreciated her time with the gynecologist, where twins were delivered as Dr. Weston herself has also done.
While I appreciate any effort to explain how amazing the human body is to a more lay audience, I felt that sometimes the author’s background in English overwhelmed the point she was trying to make. Despite this, I really enjoyed the book and would probably enjoy a re-read.
I feel there is enough interesting history in “Alive: An Alternative Anatomy” even for those overly familiar with the subject matter. I highly recommend it for anyone with even a passing interest in this field of study.
4/5 stars
[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion, which I have given here.]
Dr. Weston didn’t initially start out wanting to be a doctor. Instead, she received a master’s degree in English, only to be bitten by the medical bug, enter medical school, graduate, and become a surgeon specializing in “Ear, Nose, and Throat” (ENT).
Her background in English is evident in her latest book, “Alive: An Alternative Anatomy,” as she takes the reader through the awesomeness that is the human body, interweaving her historical commentary with her own story.
The book starts off with a rather graphic description of an autopsy. Those who have watched the U.S. series “Dr G.: Medical Examiner” know what to expect, but the autopsy is quite graphic for those not ready for it. This procedure sets up the rest of the book, where Dr. Weston is the observer of various procedures rather than a participant, giving her and the readers a unique perspective. I really appreciated her time with the gynecologist, where twins were delivered as Dr. Weston herself has also done.
While I appreciate any effort to explain how amazing the human body is to a more lay audience, I felt that sometimes the author’s background in English overwhelmed the point she was trying to make. Despite this, I really enjoyed the book and would probably enjoy a re-read.
I feel there is enough interesting history in “Alive: An Alternative Anatomy” even for those overly familiar with the subject matter. I highly recommend it for anyone with even a passing interest in this field of study.
4/5 stars
[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion, which I have given here.]
February 18, 2025
Though the book has quite some interesting insights, such as explanations of how both our bodies and the healthcare system works, I had a hard time to focus just on that (positive) note. Nearly every chapter, while discussing different body parts, also includes detailed descriptions of surgeries, that was somewhat too outrageous to me.
The books begins with the author being part of an autopsy procedure at a morgue. She describes the different instruments, what type of scalpel they use to cut through different tissues, when to apply rib shears, and how to remove intestines. The storytelling is very casual, at some point she compares the tray of instruments with the breakfast tray at her grandmothers place, or an oscillating saw with a pizza cutter. As someone without a proper medical background, it was so bizarre. They were cutting into a woman’s body, after all… So, I didn’t expect that level of detail, but I thought - okay, maybe this is a weird intro to the book. Well, I was wrong. In the latter chapters you can also learn about sex change surgery, Cesarian section, and many other procedures, some of which I found too intense to read thoroughly and decided to keep some parts as a mystery for myself.
Nevertheless, I have to say that the storytelling in this book is very engaging, personal input makes a big difference compared to a usual science book, however I do think that it should have had a clearer disclaimer on what exactly ‘alternative’ anatomy means. A typical reader like myself might expect a more theoretical discussion on how body parts function, but this is definitely not that kind of book.
Thank you NetGalley for ARC!
The books begins with the author being part of an autopsy procedure at a morgue. She describes the different instruments, what type of scalpel they use to cut through different tissues, when to apply rib shears, and how to remove intestines. The storytelling is very casual, at some point she compares the tray of instruments with the breakfast tray at her grandmothers place, or an oscillating saw with a pizza cutter. As someone without a proper medical background, it was so bizarre. They were cutting into a woman’s body, after all… So, I didn’t expect that level of detail, but I thought - okay, maybe this is a weird intro to the book. Well, I was wrong. In the latter chapters you can also learn about sex change surgery, Cesarian section, and many other procedures, some of which I found too intense to read thoroughly and decided to keep some parts as a mystery for myself.
Nevertheless, I have to say that the storytelling in this book is very engaging, personal input makes a big difference compared to a usual science book, however I do think that it should have had a clearer disclaimer on what exactly ‘alternative’ anatomy means. A typical reader like myself might expect a more theoretical discussion on how body parts function, but this is definitely not that kind of book.
Thank you NetGalley for ARC!
October 26, 2025
This author can definitely write but oh the meandering, disjointed text, stuffed with completely unnecessary detail. The over lyrical and fanciful language too was grating, to say the least.
I did not like her mixing her personal health stuff in the with the science - not interested! Write a seperate book about your personal health experiences if you have to share with the world.
Won’t be reading anything else by this author.
I did not like her mixing her personal health stuff in the with the science - not interested! Write a seperate book about your personal health experiences if you have to share with the world.
Won’t be reading anything else by this author.
July 4, 2025
After reading the book I'm not sure who the intended audience would be. It is very medical jargon heavy and super scientific, which even as a Nurse I got lost in and a little bored with at times. But then there's personal memoir type stories mixed in that wouldn't fit with a book aimed at medical professionals. It was like the book didn't really know what it wanted to be and needed editing. It was informative but at times it felt a bit slow paced.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest opinion
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest opinion
March 4, 2025
In parts utterly fascinating and often thought provoking.
In full
A little unusually I imagine, Gabriel Weston studied to be a doctor after leaving an Art degree course. This has probably given her a rather different perspective on the understanding of the profession. It looks as though this book was quite a while in the making but was something she wanted to make a statement about. It is her view of the human body as a doctor, a surgeon and a person. Her take on the reproductive side of anatomy is coloured not simple by being a doctor but also because she is a mother for example.
The book has chapters on a number of the main parts of the body from Bone and Skin through to Brain and Heart. The first chapter had me wondering if this book was really for me. It was an autopsy, fairly graphic, and not really my kind of thing. The following chapter on bones seemed a little too technical at times and I found myself wondering who this book was really for. Then I started to get drawn in!
The next two chapters were on Genitals and Gut and I became increasingly fascinated. In particular the chapter on the gut was based on fairly modern ideas reflecting new understandings of the gut biome for example. The issues with C Diff were really interesting and showed the author's fairly modern approach to medicine. The simple fact that, in general, our bodies actually work and keep us alive is remarkable given the complexities of our bodies and came over well in this book. Some parts of this I probably had a rough idea about, others left me enlightened and amazed. Despite breathing regularly for many years now I had no real idea how my lungs worked!
I have to say that this is at times quite a technical book though probably OK for the technical person in the street. Not all chapters worked as well for me and I would have welcomed more about the author's and her family's medical issues for example. There's no question that these colour this book as does simply being human. I loved the fact that doctors can be like that and there are certainly hints in this that doctors are getting it. However the book also makes clear that all is not well with aspects of the treatment of patients too.
All in all an extremely interesting read if the basic idea of this appeals to you. 4.5/5
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
In full
A little unusually I imagine, Gabriel Weston studied to be a doctor after leaving an Art degree course. This has probably given her a rather different perspective on the understanding of the profession. It looks as though this book was quite a while in the making but was something she wanted to make a statement about. It is her view of the human body as a doctor, a surgeon and a person. Her take on the reproductive side of anatomy is coloured not simple by being a doctor but also because she is a mother for example.
The book has chapters on a number of the main parts of the body from Bone and Skin through to Brain and Heart. The first chapter had me wondering if this book was really for me. It was an autopsy, fairly graphic, and not really my kind of thing. The following chapter on bones seemed a little too technical at times and I found myself wondering who this book was really for. Then I started to get drawn in!
The next two chapters were on Genitals and Gut and I became increasingly fascinated. In particular the chapter on the gut was based on fairly modern ideas reflecting new understandings of the gut biome for example. The issues with C Diff were really interesting and showed the author's fairly modern approach to medicine. The simple fact that, in general, our bodies actually work and keep us alive is remarkable given the complexities of our bodies and came over well in this book. Some parts of this I probably had a rough idea about, others left me enlightened and amazed. Despite breathing regularly for many years now I had no real idea how my lungs worked!
I have to say that this is at times quite a technical book though probably OK for the technical person in the street. Not all chapters worked as well for me and I would have welcomed more about the author's and her family's medical issues for example. There's no question that these colour this book as does simply being human. I loved the fact that doctors can be like that and there are certainly hints in this that doctors are getting it. However the book also makes clear that all is not well with aspects of the treatment of patients too.
All in all an extremely interesting read if the basic idea of this appeals to you. 4.5/5
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
February 17, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Jonathan Cape for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I love a medical book, not in a weird morbid way. But ever since I became ill, I've become more fascinated with the world of health, and so when this dropped into my inbox, it felt right up my street.
I'm the kind of person who loves watching those surgery programmes where you watch people being operated on. It's fascinating. And I'm always amazed when I think that, apart from being much smarter than I am, a surgeon is no different to myself, just they took a science/medical route whereas I took media, but they can stop a heart, drain a person of all their blood, but keep them alive. It's humbling.
This isn't an easy book to read. I mean, the introductory chapter is an intimate description of an autopsy which isn't a very pleasant thing to read about, although very interesting.
Unsurprisingly, it's very technical, which makes for difficult reading, although don't let that put you off. Yes there were passages I didn't understand, terms I didn't understand, but it didn't spoil the reading. You just take it for what it is, for what she's saying. And you work out the bigger picture. And she's blended the technical bits with her own stories which is a nice balance.
It is a fascinating book. I was up until quite late into the night reading it as it was just so addictive.
What I really enjoyed was how personal it was. Yes she's gone into a lot of technical medical detail which is interesting, but she's given stories of her own illness, of her son's, which shows us the human sides of medics, who we often akin to Gods, and how they couldn't possibly fall ill.
I love a medical book, not in a weird morbid way. But ever since I became ill, I've become more fascinated with the world of health, and so when this dropped into my inbox, it felt right up my street.
I'm the kind of person who loves watching those surgery programmes where you watch people being operated on. It's fascinating. And I'm always amazed when I think that, apart from being much smarter than I am, a surgeon is no different to myself, just they took a science/medical route whereas I took media, but they can stop a heart, drain a person of all their blood, but keep them alive. It's humbling.
This isn't an easy book to read. I mean, the introductory chapter is an intimate description of an autopsy which isn't a very pleasant thing to read about, although very interesting.
Unsurprisingly, it's very technical, which makes for difficult reading, although don't let that put you off. Yes there were passages I didn't understand, terms I didn't understand, but it didn't spoil the reading. You just take it for what it is, for what she's saying. And you work out the bigger picture. And she's blended the technical bits with her own stories which is a nice balance.
It is a fascinating book. I was up until quite late into the night reading it as it was just so addictive.
What I really enjoyed was how personal it was. Yes she's gone into a lot of technical medical detail which is interesting, but she's given stories of her own illness, of her son's, which shows us the human sides of medics, who we often akin to Gods, and how they couldn't possibly fall ill.
July 15, 2025
I like interesting and unusual books and this one is so unusual that I wasn't sure how to process it. It combines the logical, scientific world of medicine and anatomy with the world of the humanities and creativity in the world of one person who process everything through both sides of the brain and then adds a spin of becoming a patient and seeing the whole world differently.
The text states there are 206 different pieces of the skeleton - and I think the author names everyone of them - that is the science piece.
Then the humanities piece shows up in random places..."the dead body, the place where all anatomical explorations begin....Her precise stillness feels ungraspable, her lifeless absolute."
The chapters are divided into body systems taking the reader through the whole body one piece at a time one human problem at a time.
I didn't read the book all the way through -- I choose chapters randomly and skimmed through -- sometimes laying the book aside confused and dazed at the amount of information being fed through my brain -- and then seeing it laying there a day or two later, retrieving it and giving it another try because the content and format left me wondering what more there was to see and read.
I have placed the title back in my To Be Read pile and it will resurface at a later date and I will give it another go.
I was given an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for a fair review.
The text states there are 206 different pieces of the skeleton - and I think the author names everyone of them - that is the science piece.
Then the humanities piece shows up in random places..."the dead body, the place where all anatomical explorations begin....Her precise stillness feels ungraspable, her lifeless absolute."
The chapters are divided into body systems taking the reader through the whole body one piece at a time one human problem at a time.
I didn't read the book all the way through -- I choose chapters randomly and skimmed through -- sometimes laying the book aside confused and dazed at the amount of information being fed through my brain -- and then seeing it laying there a day or two later, retrieving it and giving it another try because the content and format left me wondering what more there was to see and read.
I have placed the title back in my To Be Read pile and it will resurface at a later date and I will give it another go.
I was given an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for a fair review.
May 4, 2025
Never did I expect to enjoy Alive as much as I did. Initially, I picked it up to better understand my son’s fascination with biology, but I quickly found myself completely absorbed in Gabriel Weston’s compelling storytelling and deep insight into the human body.
Weston, a skilled surgeon with a background in English Literature, masterfully blends science with a captivating narrative. She takes the reader on an unforgettable journey, from the stark reality of an autopsy in the opening chapter to thought-provoking discussions on essential organs; from the brain’s complexities to the bowel and even faecal implants. Her exploration of anatomy challenges conventional perspectives, shining a light on underappreciated aspects of human physiology, such as the clitoris and its overlooked significance in medical studies.
What sets this book apart is Weston’s ability to make complex topics accessible, fascinating, and deeply human. Her writing is elegant, informative, and utterly compelling. This is not just a book about science, it’s a book about what makes us alive in every sense.
I wholeheartedly recommend Alive to anyone curious about the secrets within our own bodies. Whether you're a science enthusiast, a casual reader, or simply someone looking for an eye-opening read, this book will surprise you and fascinate you in equal measure.
Weston, a skilled surgeon with a background in English Literature, masterfully blends science with a captivating narrative. She takes the reader on an unforgettable journey, from the stark reality of an autopsy in the opening chapter to thought-provoking discussions on essential organs; from the brain’s complexities to the bowel and even faecal implants. Her exploration of anatomy challenges conventional perspectives, shining a light on underappreciated aspects of human physiology, such as the clitoris and its overlooked significance in medical studies.
What sets this book apart is Weston’s ability to make complex topics accessible, fascinating, and deeply human. Her writing is elegant, informative, and utterly compelling. This is not just a book about science, it’s a book about what makes us alive in every sense.
I wholeheartedly recommend Alive to anyone curious about the secrets within our own bodies. Whether you're a science enthusiast, a casual reader, or simply someone looking for an eye-opening read, this book will surprise you and fascinate you in equal measure.
August 11, 2025
This is a beautiful book. Dr Weston is a literature graduate who became a doctor and the two skills are melded perfectly in this dive into human anatomy. It’s the sort of book you can read easily and yet every page you learn something.
Dr Weston goes out and about and talks to different specialists and works the learning back to anatomy and how doctors are trained. Some of the sections are interesting - like genitals and breasts - because you think you know stuff but don’t really. Some are fascinating because of their intrinsic worth - the section on the brain is also scary because it involves a member of the author’s family.
The section on the kidney is heartbreaking but it was honest about the time taken out of a life when someone is chronically ill. Plus the poor patient who can only have a litre of fluid a day :-0
This would be an interesting gift for any potential healthcare professional or student as it’s never patronising and gives a lot of information you might not get in an academic anatomy book. I’ve never read one but I’m wondering if they’d go into this level of detail about breast milk or the human cost of different types of surgery.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley
Dr Weston goes out and about and talks to different specialists and works the learning back to anatomy and how doctors are trained. Some of the sections are interesting - like genitals and breasts - because you think you know stuff but don’t really. Some are fascinating because of their intrinsic worth - the section on the brain is also scary because it involves a member of the author’s family.
The section on the kidney is heartbreaking but it was honest about the time taken out of a life when someone is chronically ill. Plus the poor patient who can only have a litre of fluid a day :-0
This would be an interesting gift for any potential healthcare professional or student as it’s never patronising and gives a lot of information you might not get in an academic anatomy book. I’ve never read one but I’m wondering if they’d go into this level of detail about breast milk or the human cost of different types of surgery.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley
June 21, 2025
Weston did not lie when she said that this was an alternative anatomy because I have never heard the body described with such reverence, detail and love. In particular, her perspective on the lack of care that women receive in medicine in addition to the abhorrently limited knowledge of our bodies, especially our genitalia, hormones and mental health was such a refreshing view on the reality that so many of us experience. The way Weston also combines her son and her own experiences with illness adds further depth and emotion to the story. Throughout the narrative, Weston's care for her loved ones, patients and humanity is irrefutable. There is an undeniable belief in the goodness that we can achieve if we were sympathetic to each other's plight and invested in our health system as needed. There is such hope in this book, which is something terribly needed during a time when the body is desecrated in ways that question whether we see each other more than just a collection of bones, sinew and blood or actual people.
March 2, 2025
For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. Medicine teaches us how the body functions, but it doesn't help us navigate the reality of living in one. As she became a surgeon, a mother, and ultimately a patient herself, Weston found herself grappling with the gap between scientific knowledge and unfathomable complexity of human experience.
This book is not for the faint of heart as there is graphic scenes of surgery and autopsy's. There was also a lot of medical terminology that I wasn't sure about. The first chapter is about an autopsy that has been descriptively written that I felt I was standing at the sideline watching. She also tells us about her own and her son's ailments. This is a fascinating and intriguing read.
I would like to thank #NetGalley #Vintage and the author #GabrielWeston for my ARC of #Alive in exchange for an honest review.
This book is not for the faint of heart as there is graphic scenes of surgery and autopsy's. There was also a lot of medical terminology that I wasn't sure about. The first chapter is about an autopsy that has been descriptively written that I felt I was standing at the sideline watching. She also tells us about her own and her son's ailments. This is a fascinating and intriguing read.
I would like to thank #NetGalley #Vintage and the author #GabrielWeston for my ARC of #Alive in exchange for an honest review.
April 20, 2025
As you might expect from a book about anatomy, written by a practising surgeon, there are descriptions of surgeries that might be a sensitive for some people. However Gabriel brings her arts background to the descriptions. You can feel her enthusiasm and awe of the human body in her writing.
With chapters focusing on different aspects of the body, from liver, to heart via an excellent explanation about how sex develops in utero and why its not as simple as male and female, which is a timely reminder about sex and gender theory.
I do not have a medical background, though many of my immediate family work for the NHS, so I would say I probably have a good knowledge of anatomy for a layperson. I found it interesting and engaging.
I think it would be a tricky read for those of a sensitive nature, or those with health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder.
With thanks to Netgalley and Vintage, Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.
With chapters focusing on different aspects of the body, from liver, to heart via an excellent explanation about how sex develops in utero and why its not as simple as male and female, which is a timely reminder about sex and gender theory.
I do not have a medical background, though many of my immediate family work for the NHS, so I would say I probably have a good knowledge of anatomy for a layperson. I found it interesting and engaging.
I think it would be a tricky read for those of a sensitive nature, or those with health anxiety or illness anxiety disorder.
With thanks to Netgalley and Vintage, Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.
March 4, 2025
I have always thought of the human body as a wonderous machine; so complex that it is little wonder that it sometimes goes awry.
Gabriel Weston reaches out to non-medical people with this book which some, admittedly, may find rather gruesome when reading the first few chapters as graphic descriptions of surgeries and autopsies are described in vivid detail.
Then as she goes through her own experiences and I can see the empathy there. The machine malfunctions.
The book is very technical and it depends whether that fascinates you or you want a straightforward book on someone’s path through their training and career. If the latter then I do not believe this is for you.
For me, someone who enjoys medical programmes showing how surgeons try to fix what was once thought to be unfixable, it was fascinating.
Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for the ARC.
Gabriel Weston reaches out to non-medical people with this book which some, admittedly, may find rather gruesome when reading the first few chapters as graphic descriptions of surgeries and autopsies are described in vivid detail.
Then as she goes through her own experiences and I can see the empathy there. The machine malfunctions.
The book is very technical and it depends whether that fascinates you or you want a straightforward book on someone’s path through their training and career. If the latter then I do not believe this is for you.
For me, someone who enjoys medical programmes showing how surgeons try to fix what was once thought to be unfixable, it was fascinating.
Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for the ARC.
March 15, 2025
I don’t read as much non-fiction as I could. I was sent this via NetGalley and have found it fascinating. It’s an exploration of human anatomy by a surgeon who arrived at medicine via literary studies. During her own journey she faces challenge through her own health struggles and through a terrible and terrifying event involving one of her children. This leads the final third of the book to be less surgical and more reflective.
I found the anatomy writing really engrossing. Gabriel Weston has a lovely, lyrical style, so despite the often explicitly medical description, it’s not too horrifying. I learnt so much about different body parts, and feel like I’ve been educated in a very enjoyable way.
I found the anatomy writing really engrossing. Gabriel Weston has a lovely, lyrical style, so despite the often explicitly medical description, it’s not too horrifying. I learnt so much about different body parts, and feel like I’ve been educated in a very enjoyable way.
April 16, 2025
This is a difficult book to slot into a genre. Although it is, in some ways a medical text of how our bodies are put together, it is also a look at medicine from a doctor and patient point of view.
Each chapter looks at different parts of the anatomy. Although I didn't really care to know the names of every bit, I was interested that they are all named after men! The way the author fuses the information with examples and descriptions of her personal life is unusual. It's a style that some readers might find off putting but for me, it was what kept me turning the pages.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read and review this book. It was very different from my usual reads but I really enjoyed it.
Each chapter looks at different parts of the anatomy. Although I didn't really care to know the names of every bit, I was interested that they are all named after men! The way the author fuses the information with examples and descriptions of her personal life is unusual. It's a style that some readers might find off putting but for me, it was what kept me turning the pages.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read and review this book. It was very different from my usual reads but I really enjoyed it.
March 15, 2025
Alive is the result of a surgeon and writer’s brain uniting. It offers an in depth look at anatomy with each chapter dedicated to a different organ. Combining the objective and subjective, Weston ties anatomy, philosophy, politics, and poetry into a neat package for the reader to open and explore. I finished reading it with a great appreciation of the extraordinary things my body can do while simultaneously feeling like an outside observer of existence and what it means to be alive. Some of the anatomy heavy passages can be challenging if unfamiliar with medical terms, but overall she does well simplifying the jargon enough to be digested by the layperson while maintaining fidelity.
March 17, 2025
As an artist and an MD I'm sure Gabriel Weston is used to having one foot in two very different worlds and to feeling a bit like a fish out of water. I think that could also be said about this book. I lean more toward the artistic side, so I enjoyed the more personal musings and the connections of scientific fact to personal experience while struggling with the detailed surgical descriptions, but I think the scientists in my life would have the exact opposite reaction. I received an advanced reader copy of Alive from Publisher's Weekly's Grab a Galley giveaway and I enjoyed reading it. I hope this unique book finds its readers.
June 10, 2025
I was approached and asked if I wanted to read this pre publication as it seemed up.my street. They were correct, it was right up my street.
A fascinating exploration of the human bodily functions with great explanations. Flipping between anatomy and personal experiences this book gripped me.
The book throws you straight into the deepend with a description of an autopsy, but I love this. I am so fascinated with the human body. I was much like Gabriel when I was a student. I was always asking if I could observe theatre and surgery, and I have been lucky enough to observe and help in many situations. Thank you netgalley
A fascinating exploration of the human bodily functions with great explanations. Flipping between anatomy and personal experiences this book gripped me.
The book throws you straight into the deepend with a description of an autopsy, but I love this. I am so fascinated with the human body. I was much like Gabriel when I was a student. I was always asking if I could observe theatre and surgery, and I have been lucky enough to observe and help in many situations. Thank you netgalley
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