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Reviews tagging 'Death'
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
246 reviews
mirandaleighhhh's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
This year I'm reading more about grief, death, and dying to try to confront and make peace with my death anxiety. Off the heels of Staring at the Sun by Irvin Yalom (which I did not care for) this was fantastic. I want to pick up a physical copy so I can annotate the parts I found most comforting and inspiring.
It was also pretty gross! But no grosser, I think, than being alive and having a body. I was surprised to hear that there are death industry "secrets" - WHY? I whole-heartedly agree that the stark separation we have from death in the modern day is a tragic disservice to us all. This book reminded me that I am a person and an animal and part of the earth, and I have a place in it all both in life and in death. I look forward to reading more of Doughty's work.
I didn't love the way she spoke about individuals who have died by suicide, but I don't think it was malicious and I did not get the impression that she is insensitive or uncaring - more the opposite. She is both giving it to us straight and weaving in her own anxieties surrounding death.
"In this way, my body's decomposition would also be a banquet. My corpse would not be a disgusting source of corruption, but a source of life, dispensing molecules and creating new creatures. It would be the finest acknowledgement that I was but one tiny cog in the ecosystems wheel. A blip in the majestic workings of the natural world. We all know how this story turned out. In spite of my fear of living, I chose not to die."
It was also pretty gross! But no grosser, I think, than being alive and having a body. I was surprised to hear that there are death industry "secrets" - WHY? I whole-heartedly agree that the stark separation we have from death in the modern day is a tragic disservice to us all. This book reminded me that I am a person and an animal and part of the earth, and I have a place in it all both in life and in death. I look forward to reading more of Doughty's work.
I didn't love the way she spoke about individuals who have died by suicide, but I don't think it was malicious and I did not get the impression that she is insensitive or uncaring - more the opposite. She is both giving it to us straight and weaving in her own anxieties surrounding death.
"In this way, my body's decomposition would also be a banquet. My corpse would not be a disgusting source of corruption, but a source of life, dispensing molecules and creating new creatures. It would be the finest acknowledgement that I was but one tiny cog in the ecosystems wheel. A blip in the majestic workings of the natural world. We all know how this story turned out. In spite of my fear of living, I chose not to die."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Medical content
maxthefish's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
breadbummer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Colonisation, Pregnancy, Sexism, Addiction, Miscarriage, Racism, Fatphobia, Car accident, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual content
nikenacs's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
I picked this up not thinking much of it, both because I'd had a recent death in my family and because my local library was offering the e-book. And man, I'm so happy I read this. It took me a while to get into it, but when I did, I was INTO IT.
The ins and outs of the crematorium are interesting enough, but the true strength of this book is in its reflections on our society's attitude towards death. Absolutely 10/10 on that front. As someone who has had little to no contact with death in my personal life, this gave me a lot to think about.
Very US-centric, which is not a bad thing, but instead made me very curious to research how the funeral industry works in Germany, and Western Europe in general.
A tad superficial at times, oftentimes a chapter ended just when I felt like we were really getting into it. I appreciate that it combined more light-hearted personal memoir elements with philosophy and history as well as politics, but it could have been a tad more of the latter for my taste.
But all in all, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this opened my eyes on how we treat both our dead and our dying. Will be recommending, will be checking out more of Doughty's work.
(And on a personal note, I knew I was right when I wanted to set up my testament and funeral wishes when I was in elementary school! Take that, parents.)
The ins and outs of the crematorium are interesting enough, but the true strength of this book is in its reflections on our society's attitude towards death. Absolutely 10/10 on that front. As someone who has had little to no contact with death in my personal life, this gave me a lot to think about.
Very US-centric, which is not a bad thing, but instead made me very curious to research how the funeral industry works in Germany, and Western Europe in general.
A tad superficial at times, oftentimes a chapter ended just when I felt like we were really getting into it. I appreciate that it combined more light-hearted personal memoir elements with philosophy and history as well as politics, but it could have been a tad more of the latter for my taste.
But all in all, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this opened my eyes on how we treat both our dead and our dying. Will be recommending, will be checking out more of Doughty's work.
(And on a personal note, I knew I was right when I wanted to set up my testament and funeral wishes when I was in elementary school! Take that, parents.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Vomit
Moderate: Cancer, Violence, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, and Terminal illness
Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, and Abortion
inthemoonlight's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Car accident, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Cannibalism
emoopossum's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Death
angorarabbit's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Context: I have been following Ms Doughty’s YouTube channel for a few years now, it’s about time I read her first book.
This is mainly a memoir and I am not qualified to judge Ms Doughty’s life. Her writing style is bright and breezy even when talking about serious things. That is not to say that she makes light of her topics, she absolutely does not. She sounds like the type of funeral director I wish my mother had talked to when choosing the casket for my grandfather.
There has been many deaths in my life, human and non-human animals. And I have been watching the videos so the message of the book was something I was familiar with already. I can see that it would be very helpful for those who are having their first encounter with the US funeral industry.
One of my fears about death is the mess someone or other will have to clean up. I would be happy if my cats could eat not just my eyeballs but the rest of me as well, leaving a nice clean skeleton to put in some anatomy lab somewhere. While it does not seem like putting bodies in the forest for the bear, wolf, and mountain lion to consume willt be feasible (at least not legally) in the near future, I hope Ms Doughty and others will make a future in the US where loved ones are not pressured to go into debt while their grief is still fresh and where everyone can grieve as they need too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide, Dementia, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Car accident
Graphic descriptions of the process of cremation, embalming, and other funeral practices.anushareflects's review against another edition
dark
informative
fast-paced
3.75
A unique first person POV on what it is like to work at a crematory with (often graphic) details of dead bodies including details on embalming, cremation, etc. The book focuses on death rituals broadly but follows the author’s own journey as someone who has worked in a mortuary for several years. Definitely interesting, but not for people who feels squeamish at descriptions of death or dead bodies. The author’s writing is engaging but she tries too hard to make jokes or be poetic which gets exhausting after a point. But still definitely worth reading. The Audible version is narrated by the author and her voice is a little annoying but overall clear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
lilshorty's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
rstegema's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death