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leabhar_love's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, Medical content, Chronic illness, Death, and Grief
northernlitreading's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.75
just so heartbreaking but beautiful and really genuinely insightful. what a book, i’ve never read anything like it. (i don’t want to say anything negative because it truly was brilliant but sometimes there were cliche lines that really took me out of the book, good lessons obviously but just reminded me that there were pages in front of me)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cancer, Death, and Death of parent
flamingtashhh's review
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
I thought this was way overhyped. Summary: guy tries to get as close to death as possible, achieves this goal. Dies.
In seriousness, I didn’t like the author at all. I cried at the end because of course death is terrible, but this was out of no love for him. He seemed to have a lot of self-importance that was tied to his work. I’m very grateful for medicine, but this kind of arrogance- that which declares medical treatment to be the greatest of all treatment, or at least doctors the best givers of care there are- is dangerous and absurd. It’s like if Jack from Lost wrote a book. I know plenty of people like this author, and none of them are happy and I wouldn’t take seriously any philosophical treatises of theirs, either.
And I’m not going to make a habit of picking apart the prose of a man writing through his last year, so I have nothing to say about the writing itself.
I actually liked the epilogue a lot, written by the author’s wife. She says there’s a lot he didn’t convey about himself and his values in the book, and honestly I really appreciated that. Her notes, and the pain and hurt in them, really gave another dimension to what would have otherwise been an uninteresting read.
In seriousness, I didn’t like the author at all. I cried at the end because of course death is terrible, but this was out of no love for him. He seemed to have a lot of self-importance that was tied to his work. I’m very grateful for medicine, but this kind of arrogance- that which declares medical treatment to be the greatest of all treatment, or at least doctors the best givers of care there are- is dangerous and absurd. It’s like if Jack from Lost wrote a book. I know plenty of people like this author, and none of them are happy and I wouldn’t take seriously any philosophical treatises of theirs, either.
And I’m not going to make a habit of picking apart the prose of a man writing through his last year, so I have nothing to say about the writing itself.
I actually liked the epilogue a lot, written by the author’s wife. She says there’s a lot he didn’t convey about himself and his values in the book, and honestly I really appreciated that. Her notes, and the pain and hurt in them, really gave another dimension to what would have otherwise been an uninteresting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Infertility, Chronic illness, Death, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Vomit, and Cancer
sassyshark's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Genuinely one of the most beautiful books I have every read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Pregnancy and Gore
ntvenessa's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Of course you begin knowing the end. Dr Paul Kalanithi dies. This account, both unfinished and finished (depending on the sense you mean) is a deeply introspective reflection on life, meaning and death from someone who has been acutely attuned. The brief memoir focuses on Kalanithi's dual relationship with life and death as a doctor and as a patient, and underlying that, we see our own deepest existential fears reflected back in his humanity. Freshly diagnosed, it is Kalanithi's instinct to ensure the futures of those around him, though he himself is unsure of his present. Most of us are not dying of severe illness, but all of us will wonder what our lives can mean, what it should mean. Kalanithi grapples with increasing urgency, his own truth about what makes life meaningful, and it is this frenetic energy that is so calmly tempered by clarity and authority that is striking. No doubt the dying are suffering, but Kalanithi doesn't dwell so long. In a way, the brevity of the book brings to the fore what Kalanithi most wanted to say, and largely these were philosophical things. I think the foreword by Dr Abraham Verghese should be skipped and unread entirely, and I think the epilogue written by his wife, Dr Lucy Kalanithi was illuminating. After finishing Paul Kalanithi's meditative words, his clarity is softened by the bookend that is his wife's epilogue. We can only guess of Paul Kalanithi's contributions to neuroscience had he lived, but we already know of the contributions he has made. It is possible to live while dying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Minor: Death of parent
ameerah27's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, and Cancer
novombre's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Terminal illness
lottevanelst's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Beautiful, painful but interesting. This memoir taught me other ways to review life. It somewhat made me think of it in a calmer perspective. Contains a lot of medical words which sometimes made it hard to read. But I still recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
jessebosco's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
This book was a marvel. I don't typically read non-fiction that is about someone's life, but after hearing so many great things about When Breath Becomes Air I decided to try it out as an audiobook from my local library. This book had me thinking about questions bigger than myself, considering the intersections between life and death, and really taking into consideration what makes us whole as people and what my own important works are. It also sparked some really great conversation with my parents about what their lives have been and what they think of our human experience (they are both in their later 50s).
I don't usually read books that I know will make me upset or emotionally drained, but this book was worth the tears. I nearly had to pull over on my drives at certain points because I was weeping after thinking about the questions that Paul was raising in this book. And the epilogue!? By far one of my favorite parts of the entire memoir. I even bought this book for a friend when I was only 40% of the way in to it because I needed to share it with someone. This book will keep me thinking for a long time.
I don't usually read books that I know will make me upset or emotionally drained, but this book was worth the tears. I nearly had to pull over on my drives at certain points because I was weeping after thinking about the questions that Paul was raising in this book. And the epilogue!? By far one of my favorite parts of the entire memoir. I even bought this book for a friend when I was only 40% of the way in to it because I needed to share it with someone. This book will keep me thinking for a long time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: Grief