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A review by okiecozyreader
No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) by Kate Bowler
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I’ve been looking at Kate’s newer books that have prayers and thoughts on topics, and had forgotten that she had this memoir about her cancer journey. This book contains her memories of being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at 35, and when asked, told she might have two years to live.
She describes getting her port for treatments, being in a clinical trial, working with doctors, all while trying to live with her young son and family. I enjoyed the chapter on bucket lists and her research about them.
Ten chapters and about a four hour listen on audio, it was worth my time to listen to her story today.
It is nice to know two years later she is alive and has another new book coming out next month.
“Nothing will exempt me from the pain of being human.” Ch 1
Ch 3
“I try to remember how much I will need to let go. I cannot stay as I am. Everything has changed and there is no turning back.”
“I permit myself one thought: this will only be terrible for a moment.”
“We worship at the altar of plenty. Our heroes are corporate titans, fitness-empire builders, grinning televangelists, music legends, and decorated athletes whose gilded lifestyles and totalizing success hold out the promise of more.”
Ch 4
“You can die to a thousand possible futures in the course of a single, stupid life.”
Ch 5
“..:the future was like a language I didn’t speak anymore.”
“It takes great courage to live. Period. There are fears and disappointments and failures every day, and, in the end, the hero dies.”
Ch 9
“…dying is a great time to want to be all spirit and no flesh. Sometimes the body is a weight pulling you all the way down. And it’s hard to love the stone that drowns you.”
“You have felt the mighty and indescribable love of God. It is wholeness and beauty and holiness…but it is not Disney World.”
Ch 10
“But no matter how carefully we schedule our days, master our emotions, and try to wring our best life now from our better selves, we cannot solve the problem of finitude.”
“There is no cure for being human.
…
We all live like this, without assurances, without formulas, desperate for the secret to carrying on.
…
Dum spiro spero, …
While I breathe, I hope.”
I also loved the appendix at the end with “Clichés We Hear and Truths We Need”
She describes getting her port for treatments, being in a clinical trial, working with doctors, all while trying to live with her young son and family. I enjoyed the chapter on bucket lists and her research about them.
Ten chapters and about a four hour listen on audio, it was worth my time to listen to her story today.
It is nice to know two years later she is alive and has another new book coming out next month.
“Nothing will exempt me from the pain of being human.” Ch 1
Ch 3
“I try to remember how much I will need to let go. I cannot stay as I am. Everything has changed and there is no turning back.”
“I permit myself one thought: this will only be terrible for a moment.”
“We worship at the altar of plenty. Our heroes are corporate titans, fitness-empire builders, grinning televangelists, music legends, and decorated athletes whose gilded lifestyles and totalizing success hold out the promise of more.”
Ch 4
“You can die to a thousand possible futures in the course of a single, stupid life.”
Ch 5
“..:the future was like a language I didn’t speak anymore.”
“It takes great courage to live. Period. There are fears and disappointments and failures every day, and, in the end, the hero dies.”
Ch 9
“…dying is a great time to want to be all spirit and no flesh. Sometimes the body is a weight pulling you all the way down. And it’s hard to love the stone that drowns you.”
“You have felt the mighty and indescribable love of God. It is wholeness and beauty and holiness…but it is not Disney World.”
Ch 10
“But no matter how carefully we schedule our days, master our emotions, and try to wring our best life now from our better selves, we cannot solve the problem of finitude.”
“There is no cure for being human.
…
We all live like this, without assurances, without formulas, desperate for the secret to carrying on.
…
Dum spiro spero, …
While I breathe, I hope.”
I also loved the appendix at the end with “Clichés We Hear and Truths We Need”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Medical content