If you are disturbed by graphic descriptions of human deterioration, you should read no further: I feel an irresistible urge to descend once more the underworld where human frailty is writ large and intimations of mortality are ubiquitous. You have been warned.
I struggle to explain why I find them so fascinating. I could blame it on my mother whose very modest bookshelf was populated solely with titles like Better Sight without Glasses, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, and the St John's Ambulance First Aid Manual.