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4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Medical content
That was a beautiful, heartwarming read. I loved Lucy's epilogue as we get her POV and her thoughts. I'm so glad Paul was able to pass on surrounded by love and family. Lucy's never ending support and care, and the joy that Cady brought to Paul in his final year made me cry my eyes out at the end.
I love the messages that Paul conveyed, about finding the meaning of life. He truly was so strong, never faltering, persevering to finish this book. I'm glad his dying wish was fulfilled. As said by him, "Words have a longevity I do not," I'm glad his daughter will get a chance to know him through this book, and I'm glad that he is able to help fellow neurosurgeons and neuroscientists with this book.
*I do think the first part of the book is more suited for people in the med industry
I love the messages that Paul conveyed, about finding the meaning of life. He truly was so strong, never faltering, persevering to finish this book. I'm glad his dying wish was fulfilled. As said by him, "Words have a longevity I do not," I'm glad his daughter will get a chance to know him through this book, and I'm glad that he is able to help fellow neurosurgeons and neuroscientists with this book.
*I do think the first part of the book is more suited for people in the med industry
It was interesting to read this so close on the heels of Being Mortal. The similarities are obvious; both authors are Indian-American doctors writing about mortality and the meaning of life. But while Gawande takes a journalistic approach, Kalanithi's book is largely a memoir of his transition from doctor to patient as he faced his own terminal diagnosis. I've read memoirs of people who have died, and I've read memoirs of people whose loved ones have died, but I don't think I had read a memoir of someone whose own death was imminent and immediately preceded the book's publication.
As Abraham Verghese notes in the foreword, Kalanithi's writing conveyed well that his love of literature was equal to his love of neuroscience and neurosurgery. Working in literary allusions and quotes as appropriate without relying too heavily on them, he writes eloquently about his decisions at each stage of his diagnosis, and how knowing that his time was limited didn't really change the fact that he didn't know how much longer he had. He kept returning to this idea of knowledge of time, saying that how to focus his next week depended on whether he had 3 months or 2 years or 10 years still ahead of him, whether he should spend time with his family, write, or try to return to neurosurgery. Given his uncertainty, he ended up doing a little of everything, and left the world richer in many facets because of it.
The book isn't long, but it's definitely worth a read. Bring the Kleenex.
As Abraham Verghese notes in the foreword, Kalanithi's writing conveyed well that his love of literature was equal to his love of neuroscience and neurosurgery. Working in literary allusions and quotes as appropriate without relying too heavily on them, he writes eloquently about his decisions at each stage of his diagnosis, and how knowing that his time was limited didn't really change the fact that he didn't know how much longer he had. He kept returning to this idea of knowledge of time, saying that how to focus his next week depended on whether he had 3 months or 2 years or 10 years still ahead of him, whether he should spend time with his family, write, or try to return to neurosurgery. Given his uncertainty, he ended up doing a little of everything, and left the world richer in many facets because of it.
The book isn't long, but it's definitely worth a read. Bring the Kleenex.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
sad
This was just heart-breaking. Loaned to me by a colleague, I appreciated the parts mentioning physical therapy and the difficulty of providing patient care when you know what their outcome is likely to be. The parts describing dissection of cadavers nauseated me slightly because I remember the sickly-sweet smell of the cadaver lab when I was in school-I am so thankful I just had to observe muscle, sinew, origins/insertions and not actually utilize a bone saw. There were beautiful parts in the book too but overall I came away feeling sad and sorry that the author’s beautiful little girl wouldn’t get to know him in person.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced