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A review by phantomgecko
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I read this because I'd heard it was kinda funny and worth reading. Both those things are true, but there's so much more.
Doughty is right. The way our society does death is bad. As a literal insider of the death industry, she points out a lot of the things that are "secretly" bad and also the things that are "normal" that are also pretty bad. Her background in history just enriches her argument as she provides legitimate examples of alternatives. What we do with death now is not the only way, not the best way.
I didn't expect the existentialism or philosophy, but in hindsight, duh, a book about a crematorium is going to muse about death. I don't agree with everything Doughty thinks, but man, she brings up some good points. Being desperately afraid of death is making our society worse: obsession with youth, maltreatment of the elderly, anxiety associated with the unknownness of death, and all the equivocation vis a vis what happens when people die. Things should definitely change.
While I think everyone should definitely read this book, I appreciate that not everyone actually should. The contents are disturbing and upsetting. There's talk of suicide, depictions of decomposition, details of funerary practices, infant death and disposal, and like...it talks about death the entire time. Doughty's explanation of her first experience with death honestly makes me heartsick, and I'm not okay. But it's still such a good book, so if you can stomach it, please read it.
Doughty is right. The way our society does death is bad. As a literal insider of the death industry, she points out a lot of the things that are "secretly" bad and also the things that are "normal" that are also pretty bad. Her background in history just enriches her argument as she provides legitimate examples of alternatives. What we do with death now is not the only way, not the best way.
I didn't expect the existentialism or philosophy, but in hindsight, duh, a book about a crematorium is going to muse about death. I don't agree with everything Doughty thinks, but man, she brings up some good points. Being desperately afraid of death is making our society worse: obsession with youth, maltreatment of the elderly, anxiety associated with the unknownness of death, and all the equivocation vis a vis what happens when people die. Things should definitely change.
While I think everyone should definitely read this book, I appreciate that not everyone actually should. The contents are disturbing and upsetting. There's talk of suicide, depictions of decomposition, details of funerary practices, infant death and disposal, and like...it talks about death the entire time. Doughty's explanation of her first experience with death honestly makes me heartsick, and I'm not okay. But it's still such a good book, so if you can stomach it, please read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism