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A review by applesaucecreachur
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
dark
funny
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I appreciate this book for what it is: A professional journalist writing a history of corpses, while herself being an amateur on the subject. While much of the contemporary content is now out of date, I still walk away from the book with a few key takeaways.
1. Our corpses are not "us". In life, they were our vessels. Now, they are shells.
2. That said, as a future medical care provider and future surviving loved one, the remains of those departed are worthy of respect and care.
3. There's been a lot of thought and disagreement put into how we ought to treat corpses. Do we bury them? Burn them? Dissolve them? Compost? Scatter? Stick in an anatomy lab? Put on display? Pulverize in controlled car crash scenarios? Eat????
4. While sometimes self-aware, this book was a bit orientalizing and generally racist. (The bit about the Spanish American War and the indigenous soldiers? Come on now.)
This book was moderately informative and mildly entertaining. Now I gotta go figure out what to do with my husk when I'm done with it.
1. Our corpses are not "us". In life, they were our vessels. Now, they are shells.
2. That said, as a future medical care provider and future surviving loved one, the remains of those departed are worthy of respect and care.
3. There's been a lot of thought and disagreement put into how we ought to treat corpses. Do we bury them? Burn them? Dissolve them? Compost? Scatter? Stick in an anatomy lab? Put on display? Pulverize in controlled car crash scenarios? Eat????
4. While sometimes self-aware, this book was a bit orientalizing and generally racist. (The bit about the Spanish American War and the indigenous soldiers? Come on now.)
This book was moderately informative and mildly entertaining. Now I gotta go figure out what to do with my husk when I'm done with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Ableism, and Gun violence
Minor: Abortion