Reviews with content warning for Medical content - When Breath Becomes Air

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

127 reviews

amandab0514's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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guinness74's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I think this book’s importance might be understated. Kalanithi’s life and death (I really don’t think that’s a spoiler at this point) are the focal point, but it’s his observance of death and how to go about it from both the perspective of doctor and patient that are the most valuable in this book. That’s not to say it isn’t emotional and, at times, hard to read…it is. But, it is a sort of blueprint of the process of dying and having a life experience worth sharing on the way out.

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kaysearae's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

4.0

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aleyajo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

Memoir of a smart and empathetic neurosurgeon diagnosed with cancer. Epilogue written by his widowed wife. I found his portion interesting but surprisingly not sad, his wife’s portion was sad to me though. His perspective of the medical field informed much of his decision-making process when diagnosed; he had difficulty letting himself simply be a patient. He also understood the importance of not simply extending life - but of meaningful time being more important than the quantity.

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brecklyn's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is outside of my normal genre, but I really enjoyed his reflections on life, and philosophy and his perspective on death. I did not find it too sad, but it was definitely moving and poignant.

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dazzling_cabbage's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

There was so much to absorb and take away from this book. I read it at a break neck speed as it was absolutely unputdownable, compared to other memoirs I’ve read.
The questions of life, death and meaning of life are at first cognitively explored and then emotionally experienced. A truly human delivery of human circumstances. A story of suffering, loss and enduring love and care.

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