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3.72k reviews for:
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
Caitlin Doughty
4.32 AVERAGE
3.72k reviews for:
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
Caitlin Doughty
4.32 AVERAGE
medium-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Really enjoyed this book, found it engaging with interesting stories and a lot to say. It is more self-reflective than Smoke Gets In Your Eyes which was welcome.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Caitlin Doughty does it yet again. An anthropological lens on death practices and celebrations across the globe. Perhaps the audiobook lacked imagery that was crucial to understanding some of these traditions. Nonetheless, Doughty again pushes me to view death with more agency.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
informative
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
A great collection of first hand experiences of different death rituals from around the world. Love Doughty’s style and her perspective on death management systems. Notable systems: Sky Burials, Recomposition, sepulcher pyramid, Ruriden columbarium, Dia de las Natitas.
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Caitlin has done it again, her book is insightful, humorous and respectful. Each chapter had so much information presented in a palatable manner, all with Caitlin’s quick wit and charm. She is an amazing person who is trusted with some of people’s most vulnerable moments and memories, and there is no one who compares to her. Through her books and YouTube I have gone on a journey of feeling empowered and in control and informed about different burial options than just being cremated which I assumed was the only logical option until I opened the door to all this new information. I’ll be holding out now to listen to Caitlin narrate the audible version of the book for a whole other experience of all the stories. Can’t wait for her to keep writing and sharing and making hard conversations easy.
This book was surprisingly impressive - not that I was expecting it to be awful! But I figured all of her information about death practices around the world would be gathered from books she read, but no, it's all her own first hand experience. She discusses her experiences with death around the world and she does so in an entertaining and educational way. It reminds me of the awesome books I read while taking anthropology classes. I loved it.
I do have one issue - there were moments in the book when I felt that she was a little too judgmental. I am a big believer in "to each their own" (as long as they're not hurting anyone). So it doesn't bother me if someone wants to be embalmed and buried in a pricey casket. Or if someone wants nothing to do with their dead relative's corpse. But the author makes it sound at times as if that's the WORST! I agree with the author on how there are much better ways to go about death. But I'm not going to hate on people who want to view a body encased in glass or who don't want to touch a corpse. Personally, I don't want any of those sweet and sentimental proceedings she talks about. My family just isn't that close. But I respect those who do want that.
That was my only problem though. Everything else I loved. I now want my own natita. I also want my body donated to forensic anthropology (I looked it up and there's a body farm here in Michigan that studies how snow and cold affects decomp - fun!).
I do have one issue - there were moments in the book when I felt that she was a little too judgmental. I am a big believer in "to each their own" (as long as they're not hurting anyone). So it doesn't bother me if someone wants to be embalmed and buried in a pricey casket. Or if someone wants nothing to do with their dead relative's corpse. But the author makes it sound at times as if that's the WORST! I agree with the author on how there are much better ways to go about death. But I'm not going to hate on people who want to view a body encased in glass or who don't want to touch a corpse. Personally, I don't want any of those sweet and sentimental proceedings she talks about. My family just isn't that close. But I respect those who do want that.
That was my only problem though. Everything else I loved. I now want my own natita. I also want my body donated to forensic anthropology (I looked it up and there's a body farm here in Michigan that studies how snow and cold affects decomp - fun!).