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Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
46 reviews
bisexualbookshelf's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty is a poignant and unflinching exploration of death that challenges our cultural aversion to mortality. Doughty, armed with a degree in medieval history and a job at a crematory, delves into the often-hidden world of death care with dark humor and thoughtful reflections. The book begins with her first day at the mortuary, where she confronts the reality of death head-on by shaving and cremating bodies. Through these experiences, Doughty humanizes our remains, resisting the erasure of who we were in life.
Doughty's narrative is deeply personal, shaped by witnessing the death of a toddler at the age of eight, an experience that left a lasting impression on her. She argues that our fear of death stems from cultural aversions and a lack of fluency in death’s language. By examining death rituals and practices across time and cultures, Doughty aims to demystify death and encourage a more honest engagement with it. Her writing seamlessly moves between moments of dark comedy and profound insight, insisting that people deserve care and respect even in and after death.
The book critiques the historical shift from dying at home to dying in hospitals, highlighting the medicalization and industrialization of death. Doughty exposes the "funeral industrial complex," driven by capitalism, that has transformed death into a commercial product. Each chapter explores different death practices, from cremation to embalming, showcasing their variations across cultures and history. Doughty demands that we confront death and accept it as a natural biological process, arguing that this acceptance can lead to a more authentic way of living.
However, my experience with the book was marred by a chapter that explores our cultural aversion to decomposing bodies through a fatphobic lens. Doughty's description of cremating a fat person was uncomfortable and detracted from the book’s overall message. This language, though perhaps reflective of the time it was written, feels out of place in an otherwise insightful and respectful exploration of death.
Despite this flaw, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes remains a compelling read that challenges norms about death and invites readers to rethink their relationship with mortality. Doughty's reflections on death are profound and thought-provoking, and I look forward to exploring her more recent work. This book is a bold call to embrace the inevitability of death, urging us to live more fully in its shadow.
📖 Recommended For: Readers fascinated by the macabre, those interested in death rituals across cultures, anyone who values candid discussions about mortality, fans of Mary Roach.
🔑 Key Themes: Mortality and Acceptance, Cultural Death Practices, Capitalism and the Funeral Industry, Humanization of the Dead, Historical Shifts in Death Care.
Doughty's narrative is deeply personal, shaped by witnessing the death of a toddler at the age of eight, an experience that left a lasting impression on her. She argues that our fear of death stems from cultural aversions and a lack of fluency in death’s language. By examining death rituals and practices across time and cultures, Doughty aims to demystify death and encourage a more honest engagement with it. Her writing seamlessly moves between moments of dark comedy and profound insight, insisting that people deserve care and respect even in and after death.
The book critiques the historical shift from dying at home to dying in hospitals, highlighting the medicalization and industrialization of death. Doughty exposes the "funeral industrial complex," driven by capitalism, that has transformed death into a commercial product. Each chapter explores different death practices, from cremation to embalming, showcasing their variations across cultures and history. Doughty demands that we confront death and accept it as a natural biological process, arguing that this acceptance can lead to a more authentic way of living.
However, my experience with the book was marred by a chapter that explores our cultural aversion to decomposing bodies through a fatphobic lens. Doughty's description of cremating a fat person was uncomfortable and detracted from the book’s overall message. This language, though perhaps reflective of the time it was written, feels out of place in an otherwise insightful and respectful exploration of death.
Despite this flaw, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes remains a compelling read that challenges norms about death and invites readers to rethink their relationship with mortality. Doughty's reflections on death are profound and thought-provoking, and I look forward to exploring her more recent work. This book is a bold call to embrace the inevitability of death, urging us to live more fully in its shadow.
📖 Recommended For: Readers fascinated by the macabre, those interested in death rituals across cultures, anyone who values candid discussions about mortality, fans of Mary Roach.
🔑 Key Themes: Mortality and Acceptance, Cultural Death Practices, Capitalism and the Funeral Industry, Humanization of the Dead, Historical Shifts in Death Care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, and Cannibalism
haleyhorrorshow's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
"Sifting through an urn of cremated remains you cannot tell if a person had successes, failures, grandchildren, felonies."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Violence, Vomit, and Car accident
breadbummer's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual content
nikenacs's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
I picked this up not thinking much of it, both because I'd had a recent death in my family and because my local library was offering the e-book. And man, I'm so happy I read this. It took me a while to get into it, but when I did, I was INTO IT.
The ins and outs of the crematorium are interesting enough, but the true strength of this book is in its reflections on our society's attitude towards death. Absolutely 10/10 on that front. As someone who has had little to no contact with death in my personal life, this gave me a lot to think about.
Very US-centric, which is not a bad thing, but instead made me very curious to research how the funeral industry works in Germany, and Western Europe in general.
A tad superficial at times, oftentimes a chapter ended just when I felt like we were really getting into it. I appreciate that it combined more light-hearted personal memoir elements with philosophy and history as well as politics, but it could have been a tad more of the latter for my taste.
But all in all, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this opened my eyes on how we treat both our dead and our dying. Will be recommending, will be checking out more of Doughty's work.
(And on a personal note, I knew I was right when I wanted to set up my testament and funeral wishes when I was in elementary school! Take that, parents.)
The ins and outs of the crematorium are interesting enough, but the true strength of this book is in its reflections on our society's attitude towards death. Absolutely 10/10 on that front. As someone who has had little to no contact with death in my personal life, this gave me a lot to think about.
Very US-centric, which is not a bad thing, but instead made me very curious to research how the funeral industry works in Germany, and Western Europe in general.
A tad superficial at times, oftentimes a chapter ended just when I felt like we were really getting into it. I appreciate that it combined more light-hearted personal memoir elements with philosophy and history as well as politics, but it could have been a tad more of the latter for my taste.
But all in all, I'm not being hyperbolic when I say this opened my eyes on how we treat both our dead and our dying. Will be recommending, will be checking out more of Doughty's work.
(And on a personal note, I knew I was right when I wanted to set up my testament and funeral wishes when I was in elementary school! Take that, parents.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Terminal illness, Violence, and Cannibalism
Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, and Abortion
inthemoonlight's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical content, and Car accident
Moderate: Cannibalism and Suicide attempt
angorarabbit's review against another edition
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Context: I have been following Ms Doughty’s YouTube channel for a few years now, it’s about time I read her first book.
This is mainly a memoir and I am not qualified to judge Ms Doughty’s life. Her writing style is bright and breezy even when talking about serious things. That is not to say that she makes light of her topics, she absolutely does not. She sounds like the type of funeral director I wish my mother had talked to when choosing the casket for my grandfather.
There has been many deaths in my life, human and non-human animals. And I have been watching the videos so the message of the book was something I was familiar with already. I can see that it would be very helpful for those who are having their first encounter with the US funeral industry.
One of my fears about death is the mess someone or other will have to clean up. I would be happy if my cats could eat not just my eyeballs but the rest of me as well, leaving a nice clean skeleton to put in some anatomy lab somewhere. While it does not seem like putting bodies in the forest for the bear, wolf, and mountain lion to consume willt be feasible (at least not legally) in the near future, I hope Ms Doughty and others will make a future in the US where loved ones are not pressured to go into debt while their grief is still fresh and where everyone can grieve as they need too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident
Graphic descriptions of the process of cremation, embalming, and other funeral practices.pandaintheshelves's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
5.0
A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves. It's like a virginity, your first time is awkward, you're not really sure what to do, and it's over before you know it. But with each subsequent corpse, you learn a little more, make fewer mistakes, and figure out how to find pleasure in the little things
This is one of the best first lines I've ever read 😅
If someone had told me a month ago that a non-fiction book would make me laugh and cry to the same extent, I wouldn’t have believed them.
I wish this author were my professor because she made learning about end-of-life rituals and customs fun without being disrespectful or emotionally detached.
Brace yourself, this is not for the faint of heart. It also may be particularly difficult for people who've experienced a recent loss ⚠️ Be mindful of your mental health and check the content warnings, please. That's the most important thing 🙏
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Child death and Cannibalism
veeples's review
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This has been one of my favorite reads all year, hands down. I’ve followed Caitlin Doughty on her YouTube channel for years and I’m so glad I got around to listening to this book. Caitlin’s humor shines through that adds a bit of lightness to such heavy material, but not inappropriately so. I enjoyed seeing her journey in her relationship to death and her reflections on others’ who appear in the book and their own relationship with death. I’ve always had an appreciation for what she stands for in regards to agency in dying and opening up a conversation about death, and reading this has only deepened that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Dementia, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Abortion
alicroz34's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
This book is full of really excellent, extremely dark information. It does, however, very much read like someone's first book. It hits its stride after the first quarter or so.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
aleyajo's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Reminds me of Stiff but more of a memoir. Likable author. Thoughtful perspective on the death industry.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt