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A review by katrod
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
My only complaint is that this book wasn’t longer! I wanted to be taken to twice as many places and cultures throughout the world to learn their death rituals. Does that sound strange?
I’m just fascinated by the way different cultures honor their dead and the way that informs how we handle death in our lives. In the US, most consider death a taboo topic, and many people fear death when it is the most inevitable thing in our lives.
I think if we talked about it more and had different traditions, we would feel more comfortable facing our own and our loved one’s deaths.
This may feel very morbid to you, and that is my point! We shouldn’t feel so uncomfortable talking about this! Doughty does an incredible job at showing her readers other ways of honoring death and I think those who read this book might start to feel just a bit more comfortable talking about this inevitability.
I also really loved the sustainability aspect of this book. Doughty talks about the environmental impact of death, which I’ve also always been interested in.
I used to want to be cremated and planted in a special urn that grows into a tree. But Doughty explains that 1) cremation can actually create over 500 lbs of carbon emissions PER cremation, and 2) once you’re cremated, your remains retain none of the nutrients that would actually help grow the tree. So while this is a nice sentiment, it’s really just that.
There are other ways to make death greener, and Doughty discusses a few in the book, but many of them are considered taboo, or even illegal in this country.
This book is a fascinating exploration of death rituals and how we can start to look forward and modernize the way we think about it while also honoring ancient traditions.
I’m just fascinated by the way different cultures honor their dead and the way that informs how we handle death in our lives. In the US, most consider death a taboo topic, and many people fear death when it is the most inevitable thing in our lives.
I think if we talked about it more and had different traditions, we would feel more comfortable facing our own and our loved one’s deaths.
This may feel very morbid to you, and that is my point! We shouldn’t feel so uncomfortable talking about this! Doughty does an incredible job at showing her readers other ways of honoring death and I think those who read this book might start to feel just a bit more comfortable talking about this inevitability.
I also really loved the sustainability aspect of this book. Doughty talks about the environmental impact of death, which I’ve also always been interested in.
I used to want to be cremated and planted in a special urn that grows into a tree. But Doughty explains that 1) cremation can actually create over 500 lbs of carbon emissions PER cremation, and 2) once you’re cremated, your remains retain none of the nutrients that would actually help grow the tree. So while this is a nice sentiment, it’s really just that.
There are other ways to make death greener, and Doughty discusses a few in the book, but many of them are considered taboo, or even illegal in this country.
This book is a fascinating exploration of death rituals and how we can start to look forward and modernize the way we think about it while also honoring ancient traditions.