A book about being Human (C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too - John Diamond)

Member Name: pert_abacus

Product:	C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too - John Diamond
Date:	27/02/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Informative, strangely uplifting

Disadvantages: Can lead to maudlin, rambling reviews

This book is an autobiographical account of a man diagnosed with Cancer. It's not about his 'brave battle' with cancer because if we talk about cancer in those terms we mark those that die as 'losers'.

Contracting Cancer is not something that only the brave do, there's not that many brave people around, but we often report that those who exist with cancer as undergoing a brave struggle (as if they have a choice).

Which is why the subtitle of this book is 'Because Cowards Get Cancer Too...'

It's an autobiographical work by journalist John Diamond and covers approximately a year in his life from when he was diagnosed with Cancer.

Diamond writes with a balance of wit and intellect. The book not only covers his treatment and experience but shows his research into cancer. Amongst the 256 pages you'll find a potted history of Cancer, descriptions of medical interventions (sometimes graphic enough to make you squirm), passages that will make you laugh and those that will make you cry.

This isn't always a comfortable book to read but it can be a comfort.

I've read the book 3 times.

The first when my aunt & god-mother was diagnosed with bronchial cancer.

The second when my mother was diagnosed with mouth cancer. Unlike her sister, mums cancer was caught in time.

The third when my baby daughter was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that puts her in a high risk group for a particular type of stomach cancer (Wilms Tumour).

Each time I've read it, it's put the fear of God in me (& I'm an athiest) for what I & my loved ones might go through but equally it's given me hope.

There are a vast amount of experts out there working to find a cure (or to lessen the suffering) and one day they'll find one. Diamond reminds us in his book that being diagnosed with Cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence. "I know the disease is nothing special: people die of it all the time and many more live with, and through, cancer..."

This isn't the best review of the book & for that I apologise, it's Friday night, the Carling has been flowing & having read other peoples reviews about Cancer earlier in the day it's been on my mind to write this.

If you know someone with Cancer you may want to read this to gain a little insight into what they may be thinking. Equally, this could be one of the worst books you could read if someone you love has Cancer.

The blurb on the back cover of the version I own describes it as 'the everyday story of what cancer is, what it does, how it kills, how it can be cured. It is the book Diamond needed the night he was phoned up & told "Look: it's bad news".

it's also the book I'll be reading agin if / when my daughter gets the diagnosis we've been dreading...

Apologies that this review has rambled & got maudlin, I'll probably edit it in the cold light of day.

But, read the book if you can face it - despite the subject matter it's not all doom & gloom & it does end on a note of hope.

Equally, if you don't want to buy this book why not donate the money to Cancer Research instead.

Summary: Read it, laugh, and weep