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ktymick's review against another edition
3.0
A travelogue of intercontinental corpse-care culture for the morbidly curious. Quick and eager to please, Doughty's book breezes by an array of death practices around the world, inserting her wit and fascination into each experience. Great for those who want to consume trivia on world interment.
Unfortunately, that's really all I could gleam from her book. There's very little reflection on the practices she watches, making it obvious that the Doughty is less interested drawing conclusions from her research that she is with simply observing and making quips to her husband. I never got the sense that she lacked any deference for the dead, nor did she disrespect the cultures she visited; however, when an author spends more time on infusing the narrative with levity than on reflection, one begins to wonder whether her purpose is not undermined. I fear Doughty got too caught up in the premise of trying to appeal to a wide audience with an appealing cover, a snappy title, and a conversational tone that she forgot that this was founded on being a critique of American death policies. She goes through the effort of trying to contextualize practices that may seem extreme to the West (for example, early on in the book she writes about a certain Indonesian people who keep corpses of family members dressed, cleaned, and preserved in their homes for years), but I never felt she went far enough in her writing to give many readers a reason to view these foreign rituals more contemplatively.
I suppose she doesn't need a thesis, and her cultural experiences don't need to be cataloged as supporting evidence connected to a serious argument here. But without that, I felt it was a little aimless. It's the "so what" conundrum I have so often with nonfiction, and Doughty never convinced me that she was writing with any real intent. Conviction, sure, but so what?
Unfortunately, that's really all I could gleam from her book. There's very little reflection on the practices she watches, making it obvious that the Doughty is less interested drawing conclusions from her research that she is with simply observing and making quips to her husband. I never got the sense that she lacked any deference for the dead, nor did she disrespect the cultures she visited; however, when an author spends more time on infusing the narrative with levity than on reflection, one begins to wonder whether her purpose is not undermined. I fear Doughty got too caught up in the premise of trying to appeal to a wide audience with an appealing cover, a snappy title, and a conversational tone that she forgot that this was founded on being a critique of American death policies. She goes through the effort of trying to contextualize practices that may seem extreme to the West (for example, early on in the book she writes about a certain Indonesian people who keep corpses of family members dressed, cleaned, and preserved in their homes for years), but I never felt she went far enough in her writing to give many readers a reason to view these foreign rituals more contemplatively.
I suppose she doesn't need a thesis, and her cultural experiences don't need to be cataloged as supporting evidence connected to a serious argument here. But without that, I felt it was a little aimless. It's the "so what" conundrum I have so often with nonfiction, and Doughty never convinced me that she was writing with any real intent. Conviction, sure, but so what?
mollymadworld's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
After losing my mum on the 8th of this month, this book really helped me put everything into perspective. Reading about other cultures and how the deal with death was not only eye-opening but it helped me feel so at peace with my choices surrounding her death journey. I cannot put into words how much this book helped me at this time, it took away the fear of spending time with my mother's corpse and it also educated me in a million other ways.
I will truly be taking the teachings of this book to heart and taking action.
I will truly be taking the teachings of this book to heart and taking action.
em1725's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
anna_erickson's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
A really good book that made me really think about death. I have definitelychanged my views on what I want done with my body and the bodies of my loved ones after reading this. The one downside of this book to me is the ending. I feel like the author could have found a better way to wrap it up, but overall I enjoyed it a lot.
griffloutz's review against another edition
3.0
Great extension of her previous book - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
rhonifoni's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0