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Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
2 reviews
harrimyers's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
currently placed at 4.25 but definitely could move to 4.5. a very good, concise overview of both the american death industry, but also how the western world views death in general. the formatting was brilliant and this book has taught me so much about the death industry that i either hadn’t even stopped to consider or hadn’t known at all. it was a very interesting look at how the death industry in america has directly warped people’s views of death and their relationships with their own mortality. doughty’s personal experiences are fascinating, if slightly… concerning at times. her stories from the crematorium were the most engaging part of this book and how the author links these to her past childhood experiences with death and to philosophical and cultural views of death was highly impressive. at times, the tone felt a little too… casual? but i suppose that part of this comes down to doughty’s mission to demistify death and part because this book was made to be engaging to read. however, with this in mind, there was a few instances where this casual tone did do a disservice to her argument, especially in regards to the size of the corpses and her brief dip into her run of the bdsm scene in hawaii. overall, this book was definitely thought provoking and has definitely demistifyed a lot about death for me (coming from someone who often already considers death to be an important thing to be conscious about) as well as making me stop and think very carefully about what i want to happen to me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident
Minor: Cultural appropriation and Colonisation
clarathromycin's review
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Dementia, Cannibalism, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Sexual harassment