Mailing List


Rosanna Mclaughlin
Rosanna Mclaughlin is an editor at The White Review.

Articles Available Online


The Pious and the Pommery

Essay

Issue No. 18

Rosanna Mclaughlin

Essay

Issue No. 18

I.   Where is the champagne? On second thoughts this is not entirely the right question. The champagne is in the ice trough, on...

Essay

April 2019

Ariana and the Lesbian Narcissus

Rosanna Mclaughlin

Essay

April 2019

‘Avoid me not!’ ‘Avoid me not!’                                   Narcissus   Let me describe a GIF I’ve been watching. A lot....

If you’re reading this page, chances are you’ve recently heard that you need to have a craniotomy Try not to worry Although, yes, this is brain surgery, you’re more likely to die from the underlying condition itself, such as a malignant tumour or subdural hematoma Think of it this way: insomuch as being alive is safe, which it is not, having a craniotomy is safe We fill our days with doing laundry, replacing our brake pads at the auto shop, or making a teeth-cleaning appointment with the dentist, in the expectation that everything will be fine But it won’t There will be a day that kills you or someone you love Such a perspective is actually quite comforting Taken in that light, a craniotomy can be a relaxing experience, rather than one of abject terror   WHAT HAPPENS DURING A CRANIOTOMY?   Nearly all operations begin with the creation of a bone flap so the doctor has an opening into your brain This opening will be sealed shut at the end with wire or titanium plates and screws Beneath the bone are the three meninges, connective membranes also known as the mothers: the dura mater (hard mother), arachnoid mater (spidery mother), and pia mater (soft mother) After we’re past that triple embrace — like the Moirai crones of myth that spin, measure, and cut the thread of life — we’re at the precious substance of thought The blush of living brain has been described as resembling the inside of a conch shell or a crumbling marble quarry To me, it’s like the revelation of brine and meat after shucking an oyster Beyond that, what happens during a craniotomy depends on the type of surgery A translabyrinthine craniotomy, for example, involves cutting away the whole of the mastoid bone and some of the tunnels of your inner ear   IS IT TRUE I WILL HAVE TO BE AWAKE DURING MY CRANIOTOMY?   Some craniotomies require you to be conscious When a tumour makes itself comfortable with a good book and a blanket in front of the fire of your eloquent cortex, which controls language or motor functions, we give you prompts indistinguishable from online banking security questions Certain surgeons fancy themselves as early explorers, sketching out crude cartographies of the thunderous Badlands, the twists of the Amazon, the jagged coasts of Jutland brainscapes I

Contributor

July 2016

Rosanna Mclaughlin

Contributor

July 2016

Rosanna Mclaughlin is an editor at The White Review.

Ten Years at Garage Moscow

Art Review

November 2018

Rosanna Mclaughlin

Art Review

November 2018

When I arrive in Moscow, I am picked up from the airport by Roman, a patriotic taxi driver sent to collect me courtesy of...
Becoming Alice Neel

Art

August 2017

Rosanna Mclaughlin

Art

August 2017

From the first time I saw Alice Neel’s portraits, I wanted to see the world as she did. Neel was the Matisse of the...

READ NEXT

Prize Entry

April 2015

I Told You...

Owen Booth

Prize Entry

April 2015

1. The Triumph of Capitalism   It was the end of the cold war and capitalism had won. Everywhere...

fiction

November 2013

Special School

Iphgenia Baal

fiction

November 2013

Prize Entry

April 2015

Smote, or ...

Eley Williams

Prize Entry

April 2015

To kiss you should not involve such fear of imprecision. I shouldn’t mind about the gallery attendant. He is...

 

Get our newsletter

 

* indicates required