Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

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

4 reviews

harrimyers's review

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

currently placed at 4.25 but definitely could move to 4.5. a very good, concise overview of both the american death industry, but also how the western world views death in general. the formatting was brilliant and this book has taught me so much about the death industry that i either hadn’t even stopped to consider or hadn’t known at all. it was a very interesting look at how the death industry in america has directly warped people’s views of death and their relationships with their own mortality. doughty’s personal experiences are fascinating, if slightly… concerning at times. her stories from the crematorium were the most engaging part of this book and how the author links these to her past childhood experiences with death and to philosophical and cultural views of death was highly impressive. at times, the tone felt a little too… casual? but i suppose that part of this comes down to doughty’s mission to demistify death and part because this book was made to be engaging to read. however, with this in mind, there was a few instances where this casual tone did do a disservice to her argument, especially in regards to the size of the corpses and her brief dip into her run of the bdsm scene in hawaii. overall, this book was definitely thought provoking and has definitely demistifyed a lot about death for me (coming from someone who often already considers death to be an important thing to be conscious about) as well as making me stop and think very carefully about what i want to happen to me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Cancer, Terminal illness, Child death, and Dementia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Fatphobia

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Colonisation

briar_nettleroot's review against another edition

funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Grief, Car accident, and Racism

oliverreeds's review against another edition

dark funny slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Addiction, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

marisa_n's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

Not for the faint-hearted. This book is a mashup of memoir, politics, science, and history--all related to death, cadavers, and death rituals. This book follows the author's life as she explores her relationship with death, it gives you a peak into her day-to-day life as a mortician, and it her includes her thoughts on death rituals.

I found the information about the day-to-day operations of a crematory interesting and informative. Some of the discussions on culture and politics were also good food for thought. Overall, I learned a great deal while reading this. I also thought the author handled the subject matter respectfully, without making it dry/boring. 

However, as interesting as the subject matter was, I disliked the writing style. I found the storytelling to be jarring, and the transitions non-existent. Her life story is told in a linear fashion, but she consistently breaks into lengthy side tangents (about culture, politics, etc.) that are only tangentially related to the current subject at hand. There also seemed to be little rhyme or reason to her storytelling-- in one sentence she's talking about her day, and the next she's talking about cannibalism. I found these conversational leaps frustrating, as it made it hard to stay engaged in the story. While her main point was clear--we need to become more comfortable with death and re-evaluate our current death rituals--she never truly connected these side-tangents to her thesis. 

Overall, informative read, but it could have benefited from a good editor. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, and Dementia