Summarize each chapter of the scaplel and the soul by allan hamilton - Book Report/Review Example

Summary:                      The Scalpel and The Soul by Allan J. Hamilton Allan Hamilton, a neurosurgeon from Harvard, shares his supernatural experiences in his book “The Scalpel and The Soul”. Hamilton lists a number of events that he has witnessed in 30 years of his medical profession which open up a world of mysterious forces and entities. The author tells us about instances involving angels, spirits and a world beyond our senses. The book derives lessons from these events and shows us how things like faith and hope affect a patient’s life.

The book starts with an instance in which Hamilton travels to Africa to visit a village called Tan-Beang. Hamilton and a native set out to find the village but end up lost. A black man comes up to them. Hamilton asks for direction and the black man replied that he expected them to arrive here yesterday. Hamilton asked the person who he was. The black man replied that he had a dream in which two travelers got lost on their way to his village. So now it was his job to guide those travelers. The black man thought that he did not get the instructions on the arrival time of those travelers so he waited at that same spot for a whole day.

Fact is Hamilton and his partner originally intended to leave for the village one day earlier. Hamilton learned a secret in his third year of medical school. He realized that he could predict when someone was about to die. He noticed this first for animals and then for human patients. Hamilton in his own words says that a dull, waxy, yellowish light would accumulate around those who were about to die. Harry, a heart patient, and Hamilton became friends back in medical school. Harry told Hamilton about a near death experience that he had when he had a heart attack.

Harry describes the experience as a peaceful and soothing journey back home. Hamilton also talked to many other patients who had near death experiences and all of them described the experience in terms of its beauty. Rocky, a homeless guy, had a son named Jackie, who died in Vietnam war. In his last days of hospitalization rocky had a dream in which his son came to him and told him that they were going to be together. Rocky was shifted to a rehab, even tough he never wanted to go there as he was ready to meet his son.

An hour later Hamilton received a call informing him of Rocky’s death due to esophageal varices which Hamilton cured. A ten year old boy Thomas burned himself in an accident. His father died of a heart attack after this accident. Surgeons had to quilt his father’s skin onto him. A few hours after the operation, Thomas woke up from a one month coma and asked about his father. Hamilton lied and told him that his father was fine. Thomas told Hamilton that he can see his father right in front of him.

Hamilton saw nothing and finally told Thomas the truth about his father. Thomas replied then it must be my father’s spirit waving at me. Hamilton knew that Thomas’ father had been there the whole time giving Thomas the protection and care he needed. Alfred was a kid who died of brain tumor. Hamilton developed feelings for this kid. After the day Alfred died, Hamilton felt severe pain in his back. He took some painkillers. A little while later Charlie Begay, a Navajo graduate student and a colleague of Hamilton, walked in.

Hamilton told Charlie that he had herniated a disc. Charlie left and came back later with a medicine man. The medicine man made some preparations before actually healing Hamilton. While singing and blowing into the fire place, the medicine man touched Hamilton’s naked back with his hands on either side of his spine. The medicine man told Hamilton that he needed to let go of the boy’s soul that he dearly loves. The soul wants to crossover and wants to join his ancestors but Hamilton will not let him.

The soul of that boy is so desperate that it is kicking Hamilton in the back so that he may let go. Hamilton understood what the medicine man was talking about and started crying. Hamilton then agreed to let go of that child’s spirit. Sarah Gideon another patient suffering from intra-cerebral hemorrhage had to undergo an operation in which her brain activity was reduced to zero. The operation went fine but when the patient woke up she not only recalled most of the conversation that took place in the operation theatre while her brain activity was zero but also had a picture memory of those people.

Near the end of this book the author mentions twenty noble rules to live by. These rules are actually the lessons drawn from these experiences and are as thoughtful and insightful as instances disclosed above. Works Cited BOOK REVIEW Alan J. Hamilton The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope [Journal] / auth. Mohrhoff U.. - March 2008.