The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine is a non-fiction novel about Joseph Lister, the man heralded as the one of the first to understand the cause of infection - germs - an how to treat them.

I was not prepared for this book - a strong stomach, STRONG STOMACH, is a must. I understand that we've come a long, long way in the world of medicine, but I don't think I truly grasped the extent of that statement until now. There are visuals in this novel, one in particular, that will stay with me for the rest of my life. If you've never given thought to how privileged you are to live in today's modern medicinal era, stop and do that now. I, for one, am eternally grateful for the pioneers that have brought us to the profound healing of today's time. Surgery. Medication. Treatment. The whole "she-bang."

The Butchering Art relays the story of Joseph Lister's quest to banish post-operative surgery infection, and ultimately death as a result. He is unusual for a surgeon as he believes throughout his journey that the microscope will reveal what he needs to understand. His peers are often dismissive of his obsession with viewing small sections under the tedious trained eye, yet in the end - it is this trained perception that grants Lister's understanding of what we now know as germs. Seriously - there was a time when this word did not exist, and not only did it not exist, it was believed that the microscopic ailments that are the root of ALL communicable and contact diseases and infections were a farce. The reining concept of the day was miasma, and/or that something existed within the body causing the hideous and grotesque infections and death, not outside the body. Lister met with significant resistance to his work, but thankfully, he persevered.

In a time where a skilled surgeon could amputate a leg at the thigh and tie off arteries to stop blood loss in less than two-minutes, and one could entirely survive this without anesthesia, is amazing in and of itself. And yet - the death toll was insurmountable in post-op recovery. It wasn't the surgery, or the pain, or even the initial day of recovery that the human body couldn't survive, it was the infection that set in twenty-four hours after. Joseph Lister spearheaded a way to stop this, and The Butchering Art tells this story.

The book is part horror story, part hero story - I don't suggest reading this one with a snack.

Loses a touch of points for pure grossness, though I think it's necessary for the subject matter and atmosphere. It was just scarring to read.

“Surviving the knife was only half the battle.” In The Butchering Art, Lindsey Fitzharris takes us through the shocking world of 19th century surgery. This book follows the life of Joseph Lister, a surgeon who changed the world of medicine forever with his discovery of antiseptics to prevent infection. He pioneered the way for germ theory in a time when this was considered unbelievable and ridiculous. This book was fascinating. Fitzharris took us on a detailed journey through Lister’s life as a surgeon and his extensive experiments to save his patients. Lister was a determined man who spent his life working to uncover the causes of infection and the best ways to prevent them. He never settled for one method. He constantly was revamping his process to perfect it. His drive to constantly standardize and perfect his work forever changed the history of surgery. If he hadn’t been this determined, surgery would have never progressed to the stage it is now. His determination to prevent infection also saved other aspects of the medical world, such as large hospitals. Before his method started to gain popularity, the death rates in hospitals were extremely high due to how filthy and crowded they were. It had gotten so bad that discussions were being made about shutting down large hospitals and returning to home care or small pop up clinics. But Lister’s determination to progress surgery and teach antiseptics changed that and saved large hospitals. “Lister’s methods transformed surgery from a butchering art to a modern science, one where newly tried and tested methodologies trumped hackneyed practices. They opened up new frontiers in medicine—allowing us to delve further into the living body—and in the process they saved hundreds of thousands of lives.” Lister was a fascinating man who spent his life dedicated to helping his patients heal from their infliction. While he had to deal with frequent negativity when he first introduced this practice, he refused to let it prevent him from teaching and preaching about his discoveries. Because of his determination to teach about antiseptics and sterile surgery his work slowly spread and gained popularity until it became a standard in hospitals and surgery. The medical world would have been a very different place if it wasn’t for Joseph Lister and his determination to educate his fellows, and the public, about antiseptics. Trigger Warnings: - Very detailed descriptions of 19th century surgery - Detailed descriptions of wounds and injuries - Experimentation of animals - Frequent death

It is a very well written book that does not put you to sleep! I've had trouble getting through nonfiction books before, but the way this book was told through a narrative style speckled with true facts made it very digestible. I didn't even consider myself very interested in this topic, but when I read it, I found myself deeply engrossed and wanted to understand more about Joseph Lister and how the medical community developed. There's definitely some eye-opening facts and many other details that were both fascinating and horrific. Definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the macabre!

Overall this is a fascinating look into the early days of surgery. However, as a text of history, it does champion the great man theory of history that is problematic and minimises the achievements and contributions of those who aren’t men. Part of this also means that some stories are marginalised. For example there is a small section on Marion Sims that applauds his work but fails to mention his history with exploiting and torturing enslaved women.