Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

14 reviews

teganbeesebooks's review against another edition

funny informative fast-paced

5.0

I would be interested to see an updated edition with how practices have changed in the last 21 years. Super informative and I'm looking forward to reading her other books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Child death, Excrement, Gore, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Cannibalism, and Vomit

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

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

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

funny informative slow-paced

Yet another nonfiction book I should've either read as soon as I put it on my tbr or deleted when I couldn't get to it right away. While some parts were laugh-out-loud funny, some of Stiff's humor has aged poorly. (And some of it I just plain didn't find funny: Roach knows how to set up the joke, but she doesn't always land the punchline.) Also, her 2021 edition epilogue did little to address the ways options for human remains have changed, even just in the US, since the book was first published in 2003.

Most alarming to me, as a death educator, is Roach's insistence that all decisions about a person's remains should be left to the survivors, rather than the deceased. This privileged view ignoresfollowing:

1. Emotion. When a loved one has just died is a terrible time to make a lot of decisions. Even if you absolutely do not care what happens to your body after you die, even if you genuinely believe it should all be up to your survivors, you need to talk to them about it now (maybe especially if). Tell them that you have no advice for them, and that they need to be thinking about it now so they don't end up making choices they'll regret in those frantic days after your death. The vast majority of people are grateful to know what you would want for yourself. Most of us want to treat our loved ones' remains in ways that honor how that loved one lived and what they wanted for their body in death. Which brings me to...
2. Identity. As a nonbinary Pagan, the thought of having no say over what happens to my body after I die is chilling. If my spouse is in charge of my disposition, no worries. If they're unavailable for some reason and it falls to my mom, I will be given a Presbyterian funeral where I will be misgendered and deadnamed throughout. I will be embalmed and buried in a metal coffin, in a vault, possibly in another state. Yeah, I'll be dead and won't know or care what's happening to my remains. But research has started to show that death rituals that erase aspects a person's lived identity, especially aspects that aren't valued by mainstream society, harms people who share that identity. If Mom needs to grieve in a way that erases my religious and gender identities, she can do that on her own time. But it shouldn't be the main funeral my trans and Pagan beloveds have to sit through, and it shouldn't be allowed to carry into other public remembrances of me (obituary, etc.) and certainly not into my disposition. There's a world of difference between "I won't make my husband fulfil my wishes for body donation, because he's squeamish" (although, for realsies, it's not like he would have to dissect her corpse himself) and "we should leave all disposition decisions up to the survivors and that never ends poorly." The fact that Roach seems to neither see nor care about that distinction soured the end of the book for me.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Death of parent, Abortion, Suicide attempt, War, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality

plane crash, saneism

vale_reading's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Cannibalism, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Xenophobia and War

Minor: Suicide and Death of parent

jonie_rich's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring slow-paced

4.75

I really loved this book, but I had to skip over the parts about the dog surgery (that is putting it sooooooo mildly). I recommend it, and I think it educates a very overlooked part of our lives as humans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Child death, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Suicide, Medical content, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Animal death, Murder, Medical trauma, Torture, Car accident, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Excrement

sadgirlsidney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

2.25

NOT what I was expecting but still very interesting. Certainly has me rethinking what I'd like to have done with my remains. I'm glad Body Worlds was mentioned, albeit very breifly, because I went to that exhibit just after high school and have never forgotten that experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent

dustylola's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

This book had a lot of interesting info and I liked the writing style. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cannibalism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Body horror, and Terminal illness

Minor: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

semeyers's review against another edition

challenging dark funny fast-paced

4.25

I liked this book so much more than I had anticipated! Mary Roach is an amazing author who describes tough things in a succinct, informative, and light way. Yes, there are a lot of graphic descriptions of gore in this book and it is not recommended for those with a weak stomach (I have a strong stomach and found I couldn't eat while listening to this book even), but I came out of it less afraid of death and less afraid of cadavers as well.

The book, written in 2003, is now slightly out of date

promession, for example, is now legal and used as a form of burial in three countries. "Aquamation" has gained popularity,etc.

, but still a worthwhile read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Medical content

Moderate: Cannibalism, Gun violence, and Death of parent