kitkat2500's review
5.0
A must-read for anyone interested in end-of-life care, and how our society is failing to deal wisely with this reality.
anna_laaa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
exlibrismmba's review
4.0
Interesting stories and reflection worthy points. The idea that extending life at all costs has been the modus operandi of current medicine, but what happens when this is not on the best interest of the patient? How do we decide where is the line between a life worth living and the delay of demise?
findyourgoldenhour's review
5.0
This book is sometimes difficult to read, but anyone who has older parents, or loved ones, or will themselves die one day should read this book. So, yeah, I think everyone should read it. I've been a fan of Gawande's writing since I used to get the New Yorker and read his book Complications. He is a really good writer and is clearly a compassionate surgeon. He addresses how we care for the aging and dying, and how doctors are just not prepared to have tough conversations with their patients. He tells us stories of terminal patients that he thinks he handled poorly because it was hard to face their mortality, and he shares his family's experience with his father's illness and death. So much of this was familiar to me after watching my father and my father-in-law die; palliative care is so crucial! Definitely worth reading.
applesaucecreachur's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Some books come at just the right time, and this one is at an unfair advantage: To those living in the modern-day United States, this message will always be necessary.
I won't deny that, despite the litany of gathered stories and devoted editors and researchers that this book employed, the ultimate message still comes from the perspective of one male medical doctor. He offered allowances for capitalist structures including insurance systems in how he references the financial cost of medical care while dying. The basis of this book refers to disability as an unfortunate reality to be overcome at best, and at worst, a fate worse than death; while the message is about the end of life, I interpreted this as not a message that disability is merely another facet of life.
Still, I believe that Dr. Gawande and his team's tireless work paid off in Being Mortal. Gawande calls out modern medicine and its practitioners for morphing death into a demon to be battled til the bitter end (and oftentimes, beyond), rather than as something to be accepted for the sake of the dying and their beloveds. While he offers guiding principles, everyone's experience with and therefore their discussions about death are different, and that is the point. Patients are people and they contain multitudes. Our love for our people must keep their humanness, and not their treatment regimen, at the forefront.
I won't deny that, despite the litany of gathered stories and devoted editors and researchers that this book employed, the ultimate message still comes from the perspective of one male medical doctor. He offered allowances for capitalist structures including insurance systems in how he references the financial cost of medical care while dying. The basis of this book refers to disability as an unfortunate reality to be overcome at best, and at worst, a fate worse than death; while the message is about the end of life, I interpreted this as not a message that disability is merely another facet of life.
Still, I believe that Dr. Gawande and his team's tireless work paid off in Being Mortal. Gawande calls out modern medicine and its practitioners for morphing death into a demon to be battled til the bitter end (and oftentimes, beyond), rather than as something to be accepted for the sake of the dying and their beloveds. While he offers guiding principles, everyone's experience with and therefore their discussions about death are different, and that is the point. Patients are people and they contain multitudes. Our love for our people must keep their humanness, and not their treatment regimen, at the forefront.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Medical trauma and Ableism
treyhunner's review
4.0
This book is emotional and took me a while to get through, but it was worth it. Considering end of life care is important for everyone. This book has given me some things to think about as I grow older and as my parents and relatives grow older.