Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

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

44 reviews

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.

---

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

lizardflake's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Cannibalism and Suicidal thoughts

gwendle_vs_literature's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.0

A few years ago I would not have made it through this book, but watching Caitlin’s “Ask a Mortician” on YouTube over the past few years prepared me for the honest and sometimes startling way she describes the realities of death. I really enjoyed this book, and I got through it pretty quickly because it was engaging and that made it hard to put down. I can’t recommend it for everyone, as some people might find the frank descriptions of decay and of what happens to bodies in contemporary North-American funeral practices too difficult to get through. In that case I would be more inclined to recommend her second book “From  Here to Eternity” which explores a variety of different cultural practices regarding death from all around the world. That one I can recommend to almost anyone. 

Accidental pairing that I now recommend:

I happened to read this immediately after finishing “As I Lay Dying” — which may seem like I was on a theme, but it was just a coincidental timing of wait lists at the library. However, if you want to compare a factual discussion of death and our rituals surrounding it (past and present) with a classic of American literature on that topic written and set in a time after more modern death “management” (ie embalming and/or quick burials) had taken firm root, but when poverty and a desire to honour the last wishes of the dead lead a family to ignore those conventions, then it’s a pairing I can recommend. Caitlin’s information certainly made Faulkner’s novel more interesting for me by providing extra layers of context. Particularly if you have to read Faulkner for an English class, pairing it with “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” could make it more enjoyable for you, and could also provide some good essay topics. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Body horror

Moderate: Child death, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Death of parent, Excrement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Body horror, Child death, Suicide, Car accident, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Gore

Moderate: Mental illness, Dementia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Cursing, Cancer, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexism

CW: mention of JKR

clarathromycin's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicide

Moderate: Dementia, Sexism, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, and Drug use

Minor: Sexual harassment

jenzim's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Cannibalism

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Very intriguing, well written book. Pretty graphic but not for shock value. Caitlin writes about death and the things that she saw working in a crematory in a very matter of fact way that made it so interesting to learn about. Weaving in historical pieces on death practices in different cultures and throughout history was fascinating too. 

There was a pretty abrupt and random chapter with some, in my opinion, unnecessary fatphobic themes, but other than that I really enjoyed the process of reading this book and thinking about death myself. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, Suicide, Body horror, Death of parent, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, Child death, Cannibalism, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, and Drug use

sammantha's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, War, Fatphobia, Car accident, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Cancer, Cannibalism, Suicide, Child death, Colonisation, Drug use, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Death, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

rtaire's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I love memoirs, but I was pleasantly surprised by how the author interweaves the science, history, and culture of death with her personal experiences. Her writing resonates with my own anxieties about death and points me in a direction of what I might want, where to research, and potentially how to ask for it. Now I want a "good death" and hopefully will learn more in her next book (and/or her YouTube channel).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Cannibalism, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Car accident, Child death, and Death

Minor: Addiction and Drug use

beccaand's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cannibalism and Cancer