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Reviews tagging 'Death'
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson
10 reviews
joysmith's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Easy, informative non fiction read about decluttering. Even though the target audience is older folks wanting to get rid of things in a meaningful way toward the end of life, it has some good strategies and suggestions for anyone wanting to live more organized. There are also stories about the authors own life woven in that I found endearing.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Animal death
crystalisreading's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
4.5
Like having a chat with a grandmother over cookies and hot tea. Some advice and wisdom. Some memories, stories, reminisces. and occasional moments where she shocks you with candid discussion of delicate topics. I found the television show more useful. but I did enjoy this little book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Animal death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Terminal illness
Some level of Gender essentialismjstilts's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
5.0
Almost a memoir, this book is a wonderful uplifting read about how to clear out your home both for personal happiness and - if you are nearing the end of your life - so as not to be a burden.
Not a sad book by any stretch, it reads as a long slightly rambling but utterly charming domestic conversation with the Swedish author "somewhere between 80 and 100" as she imparts her advice along with rel vant stories from her life - some of them had me hooting with laughter - where you quickly understand her point of view but keep turning the pages to slowly reveal her life and character.
I think I was about a third of the way through when I discovered she is an artist, and the illustrations in the book were all her own!
A great book if you are facing a big clear-cut, or just want a cozy convesational read. I've had this book in my to-read pile for years, and having just hired a skip this seemed the perfect moment to read it - but I wasn't expecting such a charming experience!
Not a sad book by any stretch, it reads as a long slightly rambling but utterly charming domestic conversation with the Swedish author "somewhere between 80 and 100" as she imparts her advice along with rel vant stories from her life - some of them had me hooting with laughter - where you quickly understand her point of view but keep turning the pages to slowly reveal her life and character.
I think I was about a third of the way through when I discovered she is an artist, and the illustrations in the book were all her own!
A great book if you are facing a big clear-cut, or just want a cozy convesational read. I've had this book in my to-read pile for years, and having just hired a skip this seemed the perfect moment to read it - but I wasn't expecting such a charming experience!
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death and Death
puckishrogue's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Animal death
scarlett_f's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Animal death
wordswitwonder's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
motherbeetle's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Death
sarasreading's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
There are some quotes that are so good I'm thinking of rereading even though I just finished it. However, I thought there would be a lot more practical advice in this. A lot of it is told through sweet anecdotes from the author, who is an elderly woman going through the process herself. If I were older, and had children and grandchildren, I might have found it even more useful.
But I really enjoyed her no nonsense yet loving approach to figuring out what you really need and what you don't. Especially when the items in question are incredibly important to you and probably only you.
As someone nearing forty, without children, I have already wondered what important things in my life, including cherished heirlooms, will I leave behind with no one to love them, or remember the people who owned them. This book is at least beginning to help me find peace with those answers.
But I really enjoyed her no nonsense yet loving approach to figuring out what you really need and what you don't. Especially when the items in question are incredibly important to you and probably only you.
As someone nearing forty, without children, I have already wondered what important things in my life, including cherished heirlooms, will I leave behind with no one to love them, or remember the people who owned them. This book is at least beginning to help me find peace with those answers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
bluejayreads's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Margareta insists at the beginning of the book that death cleaning (and this book) is not morbid, and somehow she's right. Despite being about "death cleaning," or dealing with your stuff now to spare your loved ones the burden of dealing with it after you die, it's actually a lighthearted and yes, gentle, book.
That said, this isn't really an instruction manual. Margareta does add a few general "this is how I think you should do it" bits here and there, but it's mostly about the author's own thoughts about her own impending death and her experiences death cleaning for others and herself. The bulk of the book is stories about the things she's accumulated through her life, the memories they contain for her, and how and why she decided to keep or get rid of them.
In some ways, it almost feels like this book itself is part of Margareta's death cleaning - processing her journey and recording the stories of her things.
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning is a quick read - I completed it in a single afternoon - and quite pleasant despite being about "death" cleaning and containing frequent (yet remarkably lighthearted) reflections on death. Personally, I think is best approached more as a topical memoir (Margareta's life told through her process of cleaning out her possessions) than as any sort of advice or instruction manual.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
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