Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

37 reviews

indieandajean's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I'm a massive fan of Caitlin Doughty and the work she is doing through the Order of the Good Death to change the American perspective of death and mourning from our modern moment of hiding and sanitizing death towards a more traditional mourning ritual of home funerals and natural primarily non-embalmed means of body disposal. I'd read her other two books, but had yet to read this one because I was concerned that as her debut publication, it wouldn't contain her strong narrative voice and nonchalance about the details of death.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was untrue and that this book was not only extremely well written, but was the key to understanding why Caitlin's death fascination began and how she used her experiences to start the order. This book is a fantastic piece of memoir, and it is also a great place for the uninitiated to start when learning more about the good death and the ways in which we can begin to challenge the funeral industry as it exists today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Car accident, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Chronic illness, and Cancer

Minor: Animal death

spookily's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Blood, Child death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Dementia, Drug use, Cancer, Classism, Violence, War, and Addiction

Minor: Sexism, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Car accident, and Excrement

pixelpigeon's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I've never noticed a lot of our cultural deeply-held beliefs about death, and never thought to challenge them. This book was like stretching a sore muscle. It felt good to lean into the discomfort.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Cancer

oliverreeds's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Addiction, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

asiaasiaja's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Car accident, Medical content, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Grief, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Excrement, Classism, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Sexism, and Dementia

Minor: Fatphobia, Cursing, Colonisation, Body shaming, Xenophobia, and Cancer

maethereader's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

A very enlightening read! Some of the personal details, like with the love interest, seemed unnecessary and out of place, but I also understand this is a memoir if someone who is in the early 20s. I really appreciated this look inside the death industry, and I learned so much about embalming and cremation, and the history of both. I will definitely be looking into green/natural options for myself and my loved ones. Hearing the stories of death, or more like dead bodies, definitely helped me understand this topic which is so hidden in modern life. I feel so much more prepared and grateful to have read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, and Child death

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Mental illness, Cancer, Car accident, and Terminal illness

ssarahbbeth's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Body horror, Gore, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use, Terminal illness, Cursing, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Miscarriage, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

printingbetweenthepages's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

I stumbled upon this book as a recommended read from Booktube, although I can’t remember who it was that recommended it, I’m glad that they did! Morbid, but incredibly interesting and educational with a level of intrigue that made this a fast-listen (I chose the audiobook version to read). This first-hand account of experiences working in a mortuary was eye opening and done in a way that respected the dead and the processes that happen once one is deceased. Society, myself included, often skirts around the issue of death and what happens to us after death (not in a religious sense, in a physical sense). Personally, I feel that it’s the unknown that bothers us, and this book answers a lot of those unknowns. I really enjoyed learning about the historical events that took place over time that impacted how the dead where “handled” and how history and the changing beliefs over time have changed the mortuary business. Probably not the book for all, but those with a scientific background or interest in how things work, while being able to handle the subject matter, will find this book an enjoyable peek into the mysteries of death and mortuaries…and I have to say after learning about the topic it’s a lot less terrifying! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

cruelaz's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

blep's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

In my personal opinion, it was not as deep as I thought it was going to be and that was a bit of a disappointment. Interesting as a resource on funeral operations but lacking on the emotional reflection side. Just my opinion, might re-read and update

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death and Cancer