The entire story is very sad - young neurosurgeon/scientist struck down in the prime of his life with Stage IV lung cancer, leaving a wife and infant daughter.
It certainly is a book that makes you think - about life, death and everything in between but especially about dying. How we choose to use the time left, especially when we know that the end is much too soon. The writing was sometimes a bit too poetic but didn't take away from the book.
The book is written in distinct sections - the beginning is the background story of how Paul became the kind of doctor he was, the path that led him there. Although his uncle, father and brother were all doctors, he started majoring in English. But his quest for knowledge about how the mind/body/spirit works led him to neurology. The only part that really bothered me was the part where he described the use of cadavers in his studies. As someone whose dad donated his body to science, I was a little bothered by the attitudes presented. Interesting that he also said there's a reason why doctors don't donate their bodies. I did love the attitude he had toward his patients - I wish there were more doctors like him.
The second part of the book deals with his fight against cancer. Definitely a brave man. Then the epilogue is written by his wife.
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