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sineadw9's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and it felt like a podcast - really quick listen that held my attention.
Doughty does a nice job observing death rituals from her lens as someone working in the American funeral industry. She avoids projecting onto the cultures she visits, but keeps a consistent comparative view between the people she meets and how her clients back home might react to these rituals/processes. Overall I really like how well she destigmatizes the biological, emotional, and spiritual elements of death and mourning. This book made me more comfortable with the inevitability of death, which is pretty cool. I hope I get to rot away in a forest when my time comes.
I wish it had tied up a little bit more at the end - the book is like a series of stories of different cultural processes around death, but I didn’t feel like they built to a bigger conclusion/synthesized message. Would still recommend if you’re curious to wade more into these topics!
Doughty does a nice job observing death rituals from her lens as someone working in the American funeral industry. She avoids projecting onto the cultures she visits, but keeps a consistent comparative view between the people she meets and how her clients back home might react to these rituals/processes. Overall I really like how well she destigmatizes the biological, emotional, and spiritual elements of death and mourning. This book made me more comfortable with the inevitability of death, which is pretty cool. I hope I get to rot away in a forest when my time comes.
I wish it had tied up a little bit more at the end - the book is like a series of stories of different cultural processes around death, but I didn’t feel like they built to a bigger conclusion/synthesized message. Would still recommend if you’re curious to wade more into these topics!
horsehighpriestess's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
shelb_brianna's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
heather_boo's review against another edition
5.0
The subject of death is normally a real funkill in conversation, but not so with author Caitlin Doughty. She tackles the subject with wit and sometimes dead pan humor that had me laughing and smiling and always looking forward to the next story. It’s like nonfiction blended with comedic commentary, so that it reads easily and comes off the page. No one could’ve tackled this tough subject matter better, and I learned a lot about how death is handled in other cultures. She suggests that our corporate culture is hindering how our society is allowed to experience death.
jamiethekeener's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
dbradshaw's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting perspective
The author thoughtfully explores and embraces multiple cultures with different perspectives on death. She is unapologetic in her biases and beliefs, and at times comes off a little... weirdly into death, which isn’t surprising her backstory and interest in death. I had a lot to talk about while reading it and found the chapters so different than what I know (as an American) that I kept wanting to tell my husband. My only criticism is the author’s personal feelings toward the topics- I would have preferred less of this, but it did not ruin the book.
I would recommend.
The author thoughtfully explores and embraces multiple cultures with different perspectives on death. She is unapologetic in her biases and beliefs, and at times comes off a little... weirdly into death, which isn’t surprising her backstory and interest in death. I had a lot to talk about while reading it and found the chapters so different than what I know (as an American) that I kept wanting to tell my husband. My only criticism is the author’s personal feelings toward the topics- I would have preferred less of this, but it did not ruin the book.
I would recommend.
kaebirdie's review against another edition
4.0
Really interesting stories, a great companion to her first book!
herri1je's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely everything I want in a book! Doughty is a charming writer with a lot of wit