Structure

This relatively short book has a fairly straightforward structure. The main body of the narrative is essentially divided into two sections, each with its own title. The first section, “In Perfect Health I Begin” is the story of the author’s early life – his childhood, his family background, the origins of his simultaneous interests in literature and neurosurgery, and the narrative of how those interests entwined in terms of both his career and his personal interests, philosophies, and values. The second section, “Cease Not Till Death,” is the narrative of the last months of the author’s life as he struggles to deal with, and/or overcome, the cancer that eventually kills him. In short, the first section essentially focuses on the author’s life before his diagnosis: the second section is focused on his life afterwards.

These two main sections of the work are bookended by...