A review by mynameismarines
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

5.0

It's strange to think about reviewing this book-- the final writings and thoughts of a remarkable man, a scholar, a scientist, a neurosurgeon, a husband, a man once fascinated with death confronted by his own mortality sooner than he imagined. I listened to this on audio and having those words read out to me was an incredibly moving and thoughtful experience. Not to be too sentimental here, but there was a kind of honor in being invited into Paul's experiences, his family, his life and his death. He shares with us knowledge that he worked so hard for, but also that was hard-won through experience. It's a book not only about his death, but about his life and how he lived it when confronted with something that is true for all of us: we don't know when we'll die, and how we live changes as we consider the time that stretches before us.

Regardless of how you feel about his beliefs, from his faith to his clear view on the excellence/calling of doctors, you can feel how truly be believed these things. It made his memoir come to life.

In all, I'm glad I finally picked this up and experienced it and can actually imagine reading it again.

(Nonfiction November 2017, read during plane ride back from YallFest 2017.)