A review by siobhanward
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty

informative medium-paced

5.0

 I'll admit that death rites was an area I was particularly fond of studying in school, so I thought I'd like this one going in. I was shocked by how great it was - Doughty handled the topic of death with dignity and respect, while still keeping it interesting. I loved the variety of different cultures she included, and especially enjoyed how she connected the practices to relevant cultural things or historical periods. I also thought that using illustrations to give readers a visual idea of what she was talking about without including photos of graves or of the dead was clever and certainly helped me get a better idea of some of the rituals.

One tiny thing was that when she was in Belize I was hoping she'd talk about why the graves are aboveground - when I visited there it was something I'd noticed and always wondered about, but the section was pretty short and she never explained it. Ah well. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Grief