Critical is an interesting and informative study of intensive or critical care. Split into thematic sections, the medical detail is easy to understand (possibly overtly simplistic, although I have a basic knowledge to begin with so that may be unfair). There are certainly sections I’d like to share with family members as a helpful reminder of why doctors have told them something! More crucially there are important messages about CPR, organ donation and the acceptance that preserving life should not always be the priority, but rather doing what’s best for the patient.

The approach Matt Margan has taken owes a huge debt to Atul Gawande, and in fact references him at one point. This is a little unfortunate as it serves to highlight that Gawande is a superior author. Morgan has a flowery turn of phrase at times, particularly when talking about his life or patient stories, and this started to grate quickly. There’s also an irritating god complex on show, that isn’t sufficiently offset by an epilogue that acknowledges the doctor is one part of a larger whole.

Overall I’d recommend the book, but with a warning that the reader’s tolerance may be tested.

Dr Morgan is a very interesting fella. I did learn things from this book such as when they started ventilating patients. However, it’s a hard read. Not because of the subject matter. That was really interesting. I just felt the book didn’t flow or take me on a journey with the author. In parts it was very choppy. Flitting from one thing to another. With refinement this could be a great book. Unfortunately, I gave up half way through.

I really enjoyed this book by Dr Matt Morgan it gives you a insight to what our Drs how to deal with day in day out.
We all take life for granted a book like this makes you stop and think and look around at what we have the people we met, it can be taken away from us in a heart beat.
Thanks to NetGalley author and publisher for my arc copy for a honest review.

Dr Matt Morgan has done a great job with these memoirs which is a really insightful view into the NHS and what you don't realise from the outside. The case studies he references are fascinating but at times the level of textbook style detail can be difficult to read.

Fascinating book.

I was totally engrossed reading this memoir by Matt Morgan who is an intensive care consultant. Reading this, you see just how fragile life is, but also the incredible advances in medical science that are happening all the time.

It is well-structured with chapters relating to all the main organs and structures, for instance, a chapter on the immune system-infections, pneumonia, sepsis, the lungs, the heart, the brain etc. There are a great variety of cases, for example, Polio-I've not read about that in medical memoirs before, he tells what an iron lung does/how it works etc. Not written in a brief, garbled, over-technical fashion-indeed it was so easy to read and so interesting.

Right from the first chapter, I could already see this would be absolutely fascinating. I love this type of book, and I certainly loved this.

An informative insight into the work of intensive care doctors and patients. I felt it was often more like a medical textbook than a description of life in the ICU and there were a few instances where I felt myself wince, but overall it was an interesting read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Written in a contemporary style which also manages to be completely unique. This book seems to be part memoire / part text book / part lit review / part testament to the experiences of patients and their families, the combination of which hits all my reading sweet spots. Highly recommended for anyone interested in combing learning with reading for pleasure.

A fascinating run through intensive medicine from the very first example of intensive care practice back in the 1950s.
The author draws in his experiences in the field to give the lay reader some real insight into the technologies, techniques and drugs developed to save people in critical conditions.
The various stories used to illustrate the different organ failures were interesting and informative, told from a perhaps slightly dispassionate view point but nevertheless well chosen and well described.
Overall a very interesting read.

Critical by Dr Matt Morgan offers a fascinating insight into the world of intensive care and the decisions and technologies that enable people to survive the most serious medical emergencies a human being can face. I found the explanations of the science behind the conditions affecting the different organs were clear and interesting, and I got a lot of insight into the mindset of those working in this field. Occasionally I found it disjointed - there was a stream of consciousness element at times which meant one story would begin, then another would take over, and it could be harder to follow but once I accepted that was the writing style, it worked well. Slightly less emotionally involving than some other books in this genre - more like the Henry Marsh books than, say, the Adam Kay one, so I would say it would have less mass appeal but still a rewarding read.

This was a great book! It was extremely entertaining, moving, and very informative. For those with a passing interest in how medicine works, this is definitely for you! I’m also now very scared that our lack of antibiotics is going to cause the end of the world!! Really recommend this one!

Interesting report on the Intensive Care Departments of hospitals, organised into chapters of organs that can fail. Simplified explanations of medical procedures and anatomical and physiological processses with relevant case studies. Human and humane approach to patients. To be sure, we have come a long way from those first days of intensive medicine, not all that long ago. However, I found Dr Morgan’s overall view a bit too much in awe of his own profession and depicting intensive care providers as the superheroes of the medical profession. In an institution where “pulling rank” still is rife, where consultants swan into theatre between golf tournaments and unsupervised juniors are endangering patients’ lives, things are far from well. Wherever economic decisions play dice with human lives and a general cynical approach is favoured, where patients are left with their anxieties and dementia patients ”parked” in surgical wards, things are far from well.
Still, a very engaging insight into a place where a great number of us will be passing through...

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have been wanting to read this book for ages and it did not disappoint. Was not as good as the Adam Kay one though

An interesting snapshot into the world of critical care medicine. Although there were definitely some cherries of information and true life anecdotes to be plucked from this text, I'm still not really sure who it is aimed at. It is far too simplistic for anyone who has more than basic medical knowledge whereas I feel that it it explains too much in places for the average lay person that just wants to hear what goes on ' behind the scenes'. An admiral effort at humanising the elite world of medicine but the author needs to be sure of the target audience.

Quaker this does give a good insight into the life of a critical care Dr, it was too heavy in the medical side which made for a disjointed read somewhat.

After the runaway success of ‘This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor’ there seems to have a glut of medical memoirs released, so what makes ‘Critical’ so different? This is centred around the role of an ICU, or critical care, consultant and is part memoir, part science as were taken on a journey through life within the most intense and life changing department in the hospital.

It’s set out in a really nice way, divided into chapters reflecting on specific organs of the body (ie the brain, the lungs, the heart etc.) and goes on to explain some of the many reasons a person may be in the ICU because of that particular body part. It sets out the biology behind the conditions in such a way that most people would be able to get their head around them, and builds on knowledge gained in previous chapters to further explain certain ailments. It’s almost like a really good lecturer, who knows what he’s talking about, taking you through a medical class.

Matt Morgan is also incredibly passionate about what he does, and his love and compassion for his patients jumps from the page. He explains what it is to feel failure, remorse and regret, and the issues surrounding mental health in doctors was particularly poignant. The most touching aspects were often centered around individual patients who really seemed to touch Matt personally. As medical professionals, we become so desensitised to health that we become at risk of losing a part of ourselves and our compassion. But Matt shows, in the care he takes when talking to bereaved relatives, when asking about a lost loved ones past, that he really does care.

The section on brain stem death and organ donation was particularly hard for me to read for personal reasons. It’s a mirror image of my own past, and I thought it was touched upon in an extremely empathetic and endearing way - and I don’t think I could ever give a book any higher praise than that. This doesn’t play for laughs or attempt to trivialise what is to be a doctor, but rather bring to the attention of the wider audience what it is to work in the NHS in a high pressure and incredibly important job.

A great read.

I expected this book to be written in the same vein as 'this is going to hurt', so was expecting first hand experience from an intensive care Doctor. Perhaps some funny asides with stories of patients and how they came to be in intensive care.

I was disappointed. The book seems to be very 'medical' - I do have some medical knowledge and therefore am quite well versed in medical language, but had I wanted to read a medical textbook I would have purchased one instead.

A lot of the stories told don't mention how the patient came to be in intensive care, which rather defeats the point, as I don't understand, for instance, why a trach may be inserted if I don't have any background.

All in all I found the book disappointing - maybe my expectations were incorrect? I'm not sure. But found this one hard going.

Matt Morgan, an Intensivist, was at a medical conference in Dublin in 2016. At a pub afterwards a member of the public asked why he was there and then what his speciality was - it made him realise while he knew what he did others did not understand the subject. This book was the result of the conversation. I have to say that I for one am glad that he did have that conversation. The result of it is well worthwhile!

The book at the various reasons why someone may be in an ICU bed. This gives us the following headings for sections of the book.
The Immune System
Skin and Bones
The Heart
The Lungs
The Brain
The Guts
The Blood
The Soul

I guess strictly the last one is not going to be the reason why you occupy an Intensive Care bed however it does give you an idea of the range of this book. In practice Matt uses each of the headings to look at a couple of cases and then delves further. This approach allows him to look at the history of Intensive Care which was fascinating for example. However he ranges very widely indeed within these topics.

I certainly did not know that intensive care started with a polio victim and an anaesthetist in 1952. I learned a lot from this book which interested me. Equally I now know about some things I would far rather not experience for myself!
There is the history of intensive care, the equipment used, what we can and can't do and some thoughts on where things should be going.

The author looks at his training and development over the years as a doctor and then an ICU specialist. He considers the skills required for the role. For me there was something far more holistic about his approach that I had expected for what seems to be a "technical" area of medicine. He stresses the need to think objectively rather than assuming likely causes - time is limited usually. In a number of parts of this book the tension between history - the way we usually do things - and science - is there a better way - are often looked at. I found that aspect very interesting.

The reading seemed quite easy here to me and maybe at the "person in the street" level. I think the book could have been pitched a little higher. I have doubts about the likelihood of the person in the street being the main audience for this. I'd suggest it would be appreciate by anyone with an interest and some knowledge in healthcare. I guess I did find parts where the tone was slightly off for me.

I really enjoyed this book and would thank the author for the clarity he has brought to this subject. To make it interesting too takes some work. It is a book capable of making you smile and definitely capable of letting you shed a tear or two - I certainly did. This is one of the best non-fiction books I've read recently - 4.5/5 and happily rounded up and recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book early.
There are many medical memoire books currently available and for me they fall into one of two categories those which are almost scientific textbook types and those which are chockablock of case histories. CRITICAL falls midway between both categories. In the beginning there is a lot of medical explanation but the jargon is pitched at a non-medical reader which makes it informative than high brow. And as the author hoped you almost feel as if you are actually learning something rather than just being entertained. The book is interspersed with a number of case studies but I would have liked more of those because they put the knowledge into examples which the reader can relate too. Nevertheless it was a book I enjoyed and would recommend to others.

While almost trxtbooo in some areas, this was a really interesting and educational ‘medicine memoir’, and I definitely came away knowing more about ICU care

Intensive care. Critically ill patients are on the edge between life and death. They've been in an accident, or have self-harmed, or an illness has gained hold of their system. Their major organs are failing. A variety of medical professionals are crucial to the patients' care. People like consultant Dr Matt Morgan, who has channelled his experiences as an intensive care doctor into this impressive and remarkable book.

A blend of memoir, history of medicine and clearly-explained human biology, Critical is a compelling read. It's beautifully structured: the chapters focus on organs (lungs, heart, brain, bowels), with the exception of the last chapter - the Soul. Within each chapter is at least one example of a patient he has known, an explanation of their history and illness, any ethical dilemmas involved in their treatment, relevance to all of us as human beings, and finally the the patient's outcome. This was a guaranteed formula to make me read to the end of the chapter, as I wanted desperately to know whether the patients survived and thrived. And, if they didn't recover, then why this was so. Sadly, many admissions to Intensive Care Units do not pull through, even though the staff have done everything possible. Sometimes, it's in the patient's best interests for treatment to be withdrawn. Dr Morgan discusses death in a matter-of-fact but sensitive way. How can we establish if someone is actually dead? How to break the news to families? How can we know what the deceased would have wanted?

The book also contains strong warnings against smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Dr Morgan doesn't just tell us how bad these substances are, he illustrates this with descriptions of his patients' illnesses, explaining exactly what the tobacco and booze do to our organs. Sleep is another factor in our health; reading about how lack of sleep affects the body, I was determined to try and get more hours of it. In common with other recent 'medical memoirs', this book also highlights the stress, emotional strain and exhaustion of working in a busy NHS department.

In summary, an unforgettable, compassionate and informative read.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for the advance proof via NetGalley. This book will be published on May 30th.

[Note - my review to be published on my blog, 15th May.]