Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

41 reviews

sarah_hutchins's review

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Suicide

amandab0514's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Cancer, Death, and Suicide

aleyajo's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cancer, Grief, Medical content, and Death

Moderate: Suicide

dazzling_cabbage's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Suicide, and Cancer

millie_eevee's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Cancer, and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Blood, Suicide, and Vomit

eclloyd's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Suicide

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

meditative and powerful, when breath becomes air journeys kalanithi's confrontation with his own close mortality, bringing to ironic physical fruition his lifelong reflection on life and death. 

detailing his time in med school, the subsequent residency, and his diagnosis and treatment, kalanithi weaves the tale of a man in the unwanted yet unique position of being both a doctor and a patient, providing a rare POV of being on both sides of medical care. the memoir is seeped w/ an undercurrent of calm and mulling, all held tgt by kalanithi's poignant writing. im v glad that he's written and left this book as part of his legacy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Terminal illness, and Cancer

Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Suicide and Child death

caitlincurran's review

challenging emotional fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Suicide

readandfindout's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

On first read in 2017: This has to be one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time now. I often find that, though I will enjoy a memoir, it doesn't really resonate with me. But this certainly did.

The entire time that I was reading this book, I was noting the similarities between my thinking and Paul's. I wish that we had been able to meet, because I think we could have had some very interesting discussions about mortality and meaning. I also found myself awed by his integrity, throughout his life as well as when he was facing death.

On 2023 reread

Overall rating: 4.75 stars

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Cancer, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit and Suicide

fynn_jls's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer and Death

Moderate: Suicide