Scan barcode
A review by torishams
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
5.0
It was so difficult to not highlight literally every other line in this book (I basically did). I say this for so many books, but everyone should read this. It's so important for anyone going into a healthcare field, but anyone who will deal with illness and death at some point would gain a lot of insight from it (so that would be any human).
I do think there's something to be said for a lack of disability justice perspectives shown in the book. There's a slight mention of this when Gawande says that "it seems we’ve succumbed to a belief that, once you lose your physical independence, a life of worth and freedom is simply not possible." I would've liked more recognition of different perspectives regarding disability.
"The simple view is that medicine exists to fight death and disease, and that is its most basic task. death is the enemy. but the enemy has superior forces. eventually, it wins. and in a war that you cannot win, you don’t want a general who fights to the point of total annihilation… you want Robert E Lee, someone who knows how to fight for territory that can be won and how to surrender it when it can’t someone who understands that the damage is greatest if all you do is battle to the bitter end."(62%)
" we’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. we think our job is to ensure health and survival. but really it is larger than that. it is to enable well-being. and well-being is about the reasons one wishes to be alive." (86%)
I do think there's something to be said for a lack of disability justice perspectives shown in the book. There's a slight mention of this when Gawande says that "it seems we’ve succumbed to a belief that, once you lose your physical independence, a life of worth and freedom is simply not possible." I would've liked more recognition of different perspectives regarding disability.
"The simple view is that medicine exists to fight death and disease, and that is its most basic task. death is the enemy. but the enemy has superior forces. eventually, it wins. and in a war that you cannot win, you don’t want a general who fights to the point of total annihilation… you want Robert E Lee, someone who knows how to fight for territory that can be won and how to surrender it when it can’t someone who understands that the damage is greatest if all you do is battle to the bitter end."(62%)
" we’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. we think our job is to ensure health and survival. but really it is larger than that. it is to enable well-being. and well-being is about the reasons one wishes to be alive." (86%)