Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

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

44 reviews

magic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

It took me 5 hours and 43 minutes total to read this book. 
It was really good and I highly recommend all of Caitlin Doughty’s books and work online. It’s a great way to ease yourself into confronting your own mortality. It also is a good reminder to think about and talk to your loved ones about what you want done with your body when you die. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Dementia, Miscarriage, Body horror, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

carolinacortez's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

3.5

mi historia con este libro es algo curiosa, lo empeze a leer entre enero y marzo del 2021, pero nada más no podía con el, no pasaba de la página 50, así que decidí dejarlo de lado, empezando este año me propuse darle una segunda oportunidad pero de una manera diferente, leyendo unos dos-tres capítulos entre libros, y me funcionó al 100, mi experiencia fue muchísimo mejor, y me acostumbre más fácil a la pluma de la autora.

when you get older your own mortality starts to creep on you

Ahora hablando tal cual sobre el libro, creo que es un libro de esos que te ponen incomodo a propósito (llegue a la conclusión de que por eso me funciono mejor leerlo poco a poco que de una) hablar de la muerte no es fácil y es una de las cosas que Caitlin quiere acabar al final de sus memorias, pero lo hace de una manera que te cambia tu manera de pensar, te introduce a la historia de la humanidad con la muerte, de como los rituales han cambiado y seguirán cambiando,y todo con experiencias de ella trabajando en un crematorio, el como ella aprendio a lidiar con su propia mortalidad y que eso le ayudó a vivir mejor, es un libro lleno de insights y enseñanzas sobre lo mucho que nos falta por comprender que todos vamos a morir y que como no lo comprendemos ni lo aceptamos seguiremos estancados como estamos.

we are all Just future corpses

el libro te hace enfrentarte a lo que inevitablemente te va a pasar una vez que mueras, y te invita a ir pensando que es lo que quieres que hagan con tu cuerpo, el ritual que quieres que suceda.

Death isn´t happening to you, is happening to us all.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cannibalism and Child death

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Excrement

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Body shaming, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

h001's review against another edition

challenging funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

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

kathleenwho's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

phantomgecko's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I read this because I'd heard it was kinda funny and worth reading. Both those things are true, but there's so much more.

Doughty is right. The way our society does death is bad. As a literal insider of the death industry, she points out a lot of the things that are "secretly" bad and also the things that are "normal" that are also pretty bad. Her background in history just enriches her argument as she provides legitimate examples of alternatives. What we do with death now is not the only way, not the best way.

I didn't expect the existentialism or philosophy, but in hindsight, duh, a book about a crematorium is going to muse about death. I don't agree with everything Doughty thinks, but man, she brings up some good points. Being desperately afraid of death is making our society worse: obsession with youth, maltreatment of the elderly, anxiety associated with the unknownness of death, and all the equivocation vis a vis what happens when people die. Things should definitely change.

While I think everyone should definitely read this book, I appreciate that not everyone actually should. The contents are disturbing and upsetting. There's talk of suicide, depictions of decomposition, details of funerary practices, infant death and disposal, and like...it talks about death the entire time. Doughty's explanation of her first experience with death honestly makes me heartsick, and I'm not okay. But it's still such a good book, so if you can stomach it, please read it.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

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

Minor: Cannibalism

whatannikareads's review against another edition

challenging funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

im super terrified of death but im masochistic in that i can't stop myself from reading/seeing things about death, so this seemed like a perfect read for me. i think this is so informative--graphic at times, but conveys its point--does what the author wants to do, which is normalize death and decay. i think you should read this on an empty/settled stomach bc shit gets crusty! while informative, i did find the author's writing style a bit college-essay and she goes off on some tangents that are a bit simplistic (the luke thing). the chapter format got a bit predictable, but it doesn't deter from the meat of the information--just would've been perfect if it had been edited tighter.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cannibalism, Car accident, and Dementia

elizlizabeth's review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

5.0

I saw many of my concerns and thoughts about death reflected and answered in this book, and I was given lots more to ponder. Caitlin has a way of writing these things nonchalantly and straight to the facts, while mantaining an engaging and eerie, reflective vibe.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Vomit, Trafficking, Cancer, and Miscarriage

babayaga1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

Moderate: Cancer, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Vomit, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Excrement, and Chronic illness

zarazim's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Child death, Gore, and Fatphobia

Minor: Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, Terminal illness, Suicide, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Drug abuse, Addiction, Cancer, and Death of parent