Reviews tagging 'Death'

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

123 reviews

misssleepy's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.5

This is the second book that I have read by Mary Roach. I really enjoy her writing style and the way she approaches her research.

This book has been on my tbr for quite some time. It was very entertaining, yet still very dark and often time grotesque. I do think that it allowed me to reframe some of my assumptions about life, death, and what it means to inhibit a body. I was very intrigued but the latter chapters, especially the section on human composting.

Mary approaches the book with humor and a lightness in style that makes digesting ther information more palatable. It’s very unique and as someone who enjoys dark humor, I appreciated the way she could soften some of the darkness of the subjects being discussed. 

I think my biggest critique is that there were some parts that felt a bit racist, specifically towards Chinese people. She did a lot to research/debunk myths surrounding Chinese practices such as eating dogs and cannibalism. While she did manage to address stereotypes, it just felt off-putting to even focus on some of them.

I was also disappointed that the book didn’t touch on some of the ways white people have used racism to justify the desecration of black and brown bodies.

Overall, I learned a lot and would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic. I will also just note that this book was written in the early 2000s. I think if it were written today, that some of my fore mentioned issues might be more likely to be addressed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Body horror

e_claire's review against another edition

dark funny informative slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Child death, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, and Murder

wandering_canuck's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

3.5

This is my second reading of the book and I found it less intriguing than previously. Roach is a good writer who is adept at delivering death in a way that is neither too depressing nor too blasé. Not for the faint hearted, but even those to whom the idea of death is a bit "icky" will find this a compelling and lighthearted read. I believe I previously rated this 5 stars; my reduced rating is likely due to it being a reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Car accident, Child death, Medical trauma, Blood, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, and Death

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging dark funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.5

Wasn't expecting a chapter to cover cannibalism so I guess that's where my squeamish line lies in the sand.  I knew some of the info about modern bioethics, and in contrast the historical ethics that were lacking respect, consent, and autonomy, so I was glad to hear that it is an emphasis in cadaver labs.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Excrement, Fatphobia, Medical content, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Trafficking, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Torture, and Confinement

halfcrispyduck's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, and Gore

bitter_critter's review against another edition

funny informative slow-paced

3.25

It wasn't really my thing. I liked learning but by the end I just finished it to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Blood, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Child death

eggboybee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative medium-paced

5.0

I loved this, but I knew I was going to, because I've watched interviews with the author.

Stiff was shockingly funny and beautifully written. Mary Roach was incredibly detailed and sensitive to her difficult subject matter, while staying engaging and down-to-earth. I imagine that I'll be returning to this book often.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Gore

librarianeno's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.75

This book was both disgusting and yet oddly satisfying and informative. There is very vivid description of dead bodies and cadavers and of what people do with dead bodies and cadavers. But I learned a lot about the death industry. I love Mary Roach's writing style. This book was written in 2003, so I'm going to be doing some research on what is happening with the composting of cadavers. There's also a discussion of a flesh-eating bacteria as a way of composting humans I want to know if it has developed more or gone by the wayside. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore

earlgreysnail's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

3.5

Some quite fascinating information you would not normally come upon! Long-winded at times. The animal rights activist in me found some of this super upsetting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Physical abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Death, Car accident, and Blood

rafacolog's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Gore