Scan barcode
A review by katherinevarga
The Art of Death: Writing the Final Story by Edwidge Danticat
4.0
3.5
Danticat frames this book with chapters about her mother's death, and uses the chapters in between to discuss various angles of death (including mass deaths, suicide, capital punishment, and near-death experiences) as seen in literature. Much of the book is close readings of excerpts from either authors I admire (like Toni Morrison) or authors I've never heard of who sound intriguing (like Chitra Divakaruni). It's a HEAVY read, but when taken in small doses, quite interesting and moving.
She mentions Tolstoy, Ars Moriendi, and watching a parent undergo a terminal illness, all of which appear in Atul Gawande's Being Mortal. I think these books should be friends.
Danticat frames this book with chapters about her mother's death, and uses the chapters in between to discuss various angles of death (including mass deaths, suicide, capital punishment, and near-death experiences) as seen in literature. Much of the book is close readings of excerpts from either authors I admire (like Toni Morrison) or authors I've never heard of who sound intriguing (like Chitra Divakaruni). It's a HEAVY read, but when taken in small doses, quite interesting and moving.
She mentions Tolstoy, Ars Moriendi, and watching a parent undergo a terminal illness, all of which appear in Atul Gawande's Being Mortal. I think these books should be friends.