Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Stecchiti: Le vite curiose dei cadaveri by Mary Roach

42 reviews

hanarama's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

Book at a glance:
• Science
• Non-fiction 
• Single topic
• Conversational 

In Stiff, Mary Roach investigates our relationship to human corpses. Through history and into modern day, Roach explores how we feel about dead bodies as well as how they have helped us advance science and medicine. 

I love non-fiction books focusing on single topics or phenomena, and this is no exception. Though lacking in a narrative, Roach allows the subject matter to work as a throughline through the chapters, creating a sense of cohesion as the book moves from donated bodies in anatomy labs, to crash tests, and to some truly horrifying mad science. 

Roach's conversational writing makes Stiff easily digestible. It's a fast and easy read, and often feels as though an acquaintance is sharing this information with you over coffee. 

Perhaps my only gripe is that Roach lets personal opinion color some of the chapters on alternative burial. Outside of the decapitation/head transplant chapter, this is the only time it feels like Roach is uncomfortable. Today more people are thinking about their death wishes and considering alternative burial, and I feel like Roach was a bit dismissive towards these methods. If we're going to be death positive, we should be more open to different methods of internment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death, and Car accident

kmaron's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, and Death of parent

narpetcards's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, and Murder

antmahn's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is absolutely one of my favorite books I’ve read to date. It’s morbid, fascinating, and funny. It takes what some consider a terrifying question, “what happens to you when you die?” and expands it to encompass questions you didn’t even know you had. What actually happens to your body if you donate it to science? How did we advance our knowledge of the human body when dissections were frowned upon? Are there more environmentally-friendly ways to dispose of your body? How has cannibalism been condoned throughout history? If you have a morbid sense of curiosity, I would 110% recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Cannibalism

Personally, the only part I really struggled through was the topic of transplantation experiments on animals. Other than that, the book’s descriptions really let you know what kind of topics you’re getting into with this book.

jls11244's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, and Death

emtur007's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Medical content, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood

Minor: Car accident

anna_m_k's review against another edition

dark funny informative fast-paced

4.5

Funny, informative, but ultimately respectful of the dead, this is a fascinating read. There are some sections, such as the one on medical cannibalism, that I felt were more on the irreverent side of irreverent humor and required a bit more seriousness. But overall I recommend the book to anyone who is curious about the many ways cadavers are, and have been, used in science and some alternative options to burial and cremation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cannibalism, Medical content, and Gore

five's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Medical content

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Excrement, and Grief

chetofuor's review against another edition

funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Medical trauma

alylentz's review against another edition

funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, and Vomit