Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Cancer'
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
40 reviews
leweylibrary's review against another edition
4.75
Overall this book is a lot of morbid, informative fun! I feel like it's made me think about death and dying in an entirely different way--I already caught myself while watching the new Hunger Games prequel thinking about the dead bodies of the fallen tributes and how decomposed they must have been lol. It also connected some dots for me about past experiences concerning death. I had always thought I was uncomfortable with the first funeral I ever went to just because it was my first funeral, but I think I really was uncomfortable with the unnatural-ness of that funeral, how my great aunt didn't look like her anymore and she didn't look...dead enough to be dead.
I really want an updated version of this book--surely there are more "green" burial options now 10 years later? I also went ahead and put holds on all of the author's other books. Not only do I love the subject matter she focuses on, but I love her writing. She reminds me of Jenny Lawson with how deep and personal she can get but then also crack a weird, inappropriate joke in the next breath lol.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Mental illness and Dementia
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Terminal illness
tipsyspacedragon's review against another edition
4.5
I imagine even reading this without prior context, I would still feel depth of connection to the subject, through the experiences shared here.
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Gore and Medical content
Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
weelasswithabook's review
4.5
🌟 Non Fiction
🌟 Popular Science/Autobiographical
This was an interesting read. At surface level, it's a book filled with insights and tidbits of information regarding the life of a crematorium worker. At it's heart, it explores the reckoning of coming to terms with your own mortality and making a difference moving forwards.
Featuring rather gruesome descriptions of death, the decomposition process and pre-burial/cremation preparations, I'd approach with caution if you have a weak stomach. There's also something triggering about the emotionally detached discussions around disposal of infant remains (although not don't callously, it did deeply affect me in a certain way), but it's relevant to the book itself.
One thing that jumped out to me and changed my perceptions was CDs lack of judgement. Exploring different cultures post mortem processes, there was no criticisms there, only the acceptance that something that seems so abstract and gruesome to us is part of someone's sacred culture. For example, tribal rituals where cannibalism is involved. Most people would recoil instantly, buy Doughty discusses these rituals with respect and emphasising how this is simply a different cultures practise and how to them, our ideals of cremation and/or preserving corpses would be looked down upon. So I really appreciated that aspect of it.
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
indieandajean's review against another edition
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was untrue and that this book was not only extremely well written, but was the key to understanding why Caitlin's death fascination began and how she used her experiences to start the order. This book is a fantastic piece of memoir, and it is also a great place for the uninitiated to start when learning more about the good death and the ways in which we can begin to challenge the funeral industry as it exists today.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
spookily's review
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Violence, Dementia, War, and Classism
Minor: Fatphobia, Sexism, Excrement, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
pixelpigeon's review
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Cancer
oliverreeds's review
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
asiaasiaja's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Colonisation
maethereader's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Cannibalism, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Car accident
ssarahbbeth's review
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, and Dementia