Books

Just to refresh the mission here:

I read a whole bunch of books last year, and I’m gonna try to review one per day until I’ve covered them all.

Stay tuned for a scathing review of When Breath Becomes Air tomorrow

Day 15: When Breath Becomes Air

A neurosurgeon reflects on the meaning of life as he approaches death. What could be bad about that, right? Such poignant irony! Such perspective!

When I plucked this off of my wife’s section of the bookshelf, that’s what was running through my head.

“Great, I’ll read it and then my wife and I can talk about it together!”

So I’m psyched. I love books about death. I love reading books by super smart people. I get settled in and start reading.

It quickly becomes clear to me that I’m reading a collection of essays, panicked diary entries, and dollar store philosophical ramblings. Apparently the editors, without a living author to work with, decided to just ship it as they found it.

If Kalanithi had made a miraculous recovery, he’d have reread this, realized that it’s sentimental hallmark movie slop, and tucked it in the drawer where it belongs.

I went to my wife to say all this. Her response: “Oh yeah, never read it.”

Two stars. Don’t fall for it.

Great critique and unique take for sure! It is very haphazard and pushed. And I do agree, for the type of reader and level of intellect Kalanathi has, he likely would have hated it. But having said that, it’s a great glimpse into his thoughts (maybe biased) on surgery and life as a whole devoted to years of training.