Book Reviews

Being Mortal

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Eternal Optimism

To be clear, I blame this book review on my eternal optimism, and not on Atul Gawande’s straightforward writing style. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End was, and was not, what I expected. Gawande provides important information that I think we all need to hear. Most of us want to know about aging, and how our lives and the lives of our loved ones might look in the end. It’s valuable information that we often avoid.

Beautifully written…In his newest and best book, Gawande has provided us with a moving and clear-eyed look at aging and death in our society, and at the harms we do in turning it into a medical problem, rather than a human one. ~The New York Review of Books

Written by a Surgeon

The tension came in for me not with the content, but with the lack of soft landing for my own personal anxiety. Nothing is sugar coated; it’s quite what you would expect from a book written by a surgeon. I thought I was ready for it, but I wasn’t. I needed reassurance, more of the really soft fluff in the feather pillow and not just the sharp edges.

Although this book was published in 2014 and an international bestseller, I had never heard of it. I saw it recommended in a caregiver’s group for Parkinson’s patients online. I expected that it would somehow uplift me, at least by the final chapter. Page after page, I kept waiting for that redemption of the sadness I felt as I read. I wanted the feel-good ending, a tiny puff of the air of motivation at minimal. Some hope. A bright spot. It never came for me. I simply felt sad(der).

The Dynamics of Aging

I do recommend this book. I think it is a good read. Many of you will enjoy reading the factual information and science behind how our bodies age. It prompted me to question God a bit. Was there no other way? Why do some suffer so immensely over great lengths of time while others do not?

The family and society dynamics Gawande discusses are also fascinating to me; how care has drastically changed in the United States over time. Gawande writes, “Your chances of avoiding the nursing home are directly related to the number of children you have, and, according to what little research has been done, having at least one daughter seems to be crucial to the amount of help you will receive” (79).

Purchase Your Copy

In case Being Mortal triggers you, I wanted to write an honest review. It’s worth reading because we need to think and plan for what’s coming down the road, even if we don’t look forward to facing it.

Purchase your copy here for almost 50% of the cover price and support this blog at the same time!

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