Reviews - From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

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From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

the main thing i loved about this book is that caitlin doughty actually tarvelled to each country she talked about to experience their death rituals herself, which is such a great thing to do in a book like this, where she could've done some research and maybe talking to some natives about their experiences.

this is my favorite of her books.

spookynorvegan's review against another edition

5.0

I grew up in a funeral home myself, my father being the owner/director since before my birth. So a true interest and fascination for funerary and death culture sort of comes with the territory I suppose.
But you definitely don't have to come from funeral home roots yourself to appreciate this book. It's fascinating, emotionally stirring, and funny...and most of all, it objectively humanizes diverse aspects of death culture from different places and peoples around the world.
I enjoyed this beautiful book so much.

mysterious_and_spooky's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

krdegan's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoy books that present global traditions in a respectful manner. One of my favorite parenting books is How Eskimos Keep their Babies Warm. This book reminded me of that one -- obviously not because of the content but because of the manner in which different practices around the world were presented.

My experience with the death industry in the US has been very disappointing -- my son's cremation was handled without any warmth or compassion (or even respect) from the funeral home, whereas my cat's cremation was done with tremendous sensitivity and warmth. Ever since my son's death, I have wanted to read about practices in other cultures; surely there is a lot to learn from people who have preserved traditions that pre-date American institutionalization of intimate practices -- from birth to death. This book was informative and respectful and a great conversation starter to discuss our loved ones' true wishes. I envy the community in which death planning is so normal that people's wishes are known and discussed in everyday conversation. And I hope that the US will somehow break free of the hold that the funereal service monopoly holds over price setting and environmentally toxic practices, allowing people to have more options that are gentle on the earth and the wallet, and ultimately the survivors.

julimenges's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

leyna819's review against another edition

5.0

My anthropologist training loved every second of this. Humans needs rituals for life's milestones; why are our Western death rituals so cold and distant, particularly when they weren't always like that?

I would agree with Doughty that we can probably blame it mostly on capitalism and the "funeral industry", but I think there's also some cause to be attributed to the religious changes in our society and culture. While religion definitely impacted some of the rituals we used before, many of us (myself included) don't belong to a particular religion - what rituals are we going to choose to replace the religious rituals of our ancestors?

Doughty provided plenty of examples of other cultures and their rituals, and while we shouldn't take over one wholemeal, there's aspects of each that are worth considering. We may not copy the rituals of an Indonesian tribe, but we can learn from their care and consideration for their dead.

I love a book that leaves me with a lot to think about!