tiffyboomboom's review against another edition
4.0
Very good. I liked the way there were personal stories intermingled throughout the book
sydneysexson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
liralen's review against another edition
4.0
Norma Bowe, a nurse (and PhD-holder, among other things), teaches a class on death at Kean University—death, and then quite a lot about life. It's one of the university's most popular courses, and perhaps one of the most emotionally challenging. The Death Class isn't written by Bowe, though: Hayasaki is a reporter who spent several years shadowing Bowe, including sitting in on the course and completing the assignments.
That's the fact I kept returning to as I read The Death Class: what a different book it was than it would have been if written by Bowe. That's not a criticism—I don't know what Bowe would have done with the topic, have no way of knowing if I'd find her worth reading as a writer, etc.—but it was noticeable. Hayasaki focuses less on the material that Bowe covers, choosing instead to spend a considerable amount of page space on a few of Bowe's students, ones with particularly compelling (I hesitate to say 'particularly grisly') stories. It's an engrossing read, sometimes a rather depressing one. I did wish for more details of Bowe's class. The students take a lot of field trips, for example (to cemeteries, morgues, prisons, etc.), and while we see some of those visits, I wanted to better understand the purpose. Is the goal demystification? Normalising of death? Group therapy? Something to do with the sanctity of human life? All or none of the above?
Hayasaki must have come away from her research with so much material, and I struggle to imagine even beginning to puzzle out how to fit all the pieces together. This works for me—but I remain curious about what the same material might look like from Bowe's perspective.
That's the fact I kept returning to as I read The Death Class: what a different book it was than it would have been if written by Bowe. That's not a criticism—I don't know what Bowe would have done with the topic, have no way of knowing if I'd find her worth reading as a writer, etc.—but it was noticeable. Hayasaki focuses less on the material that Bowe covers, choosing instead to spend a considerable amount of page space on a few of Bowe's students, ones with particularly compelling (I hesitate to say 'particularly grisly') stories. It's an engrossing read, sometimes a rather depressing one. I did wish for more details of Bowe's class. The students take a lot of field trips, for example (to cemeteries, morgues, prisons, etc.), and while we see some of those visits, I wanted to better understand the purpose. Is the goal demystification? Normalising of death? Group therapy? Something to do with the sanctity of human life? All or none of the above?
Hayasaki must have come away from her research with so much material, and I struggle to imagine even beginning to puzzle out how to fit all the pieces together. This works for me—but I remain curious about what the same material might look like from Bowe's perspective.
silodear's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I sure loved Norma Bowe and her death class, and I definitely felt deeply for the folks profiled throughout this narrative. But the author seems to deeply believe that people with mental health issues are either going to murder someone or kill themselves, and I just can't hang with that. It spoiled the book for me. I also struggled with how much the author sensationalized death. I was under the impression that this book set out to demystify and normalize death, as Norma's class does. But if that was the intent, this book failed. For me, at least.
affiknittyreads's review against another edition
3.0
Like many other reviewers, I wish there had been more in the book about the actual class, rather than being just a story about the professor and some of her students. The book, at the end, isn't as much about death and dealing with it as it is about finding meaning in life in spite of great suffering. It was a compelling read because of the subjects' personal triumph over their struggles. But if you are looking for a book that discusses the sociology or psychology of death from an academic perspective, then you are likely to be a little disappointed.
sarakomo's review against another edition
2.0
2020: Eh. This book gets a very mediocre "meh" from me.
I took a class called "Death and Dying" during my senior year of college, and I was hoping that this book would emulate some of what I found there. The class was provocative, challenging, and covered a wide range of beliefs about death. We explored both traditions for the burials and funerals, and what various cultures believed happened to our souls after we die. It was informative and inspiring.
In contrast, this book basically tells the story of several members of the class, and their terribly tragic lives. Sure, death has touched their lives repeatedly, but it comes across as tragedy porn in the book, rather than an informative and thought-provoking look at HOW death has touched their lives. The teacher of this course is Dr. Norma Bowe, who is an angelic soul trying to save all of New Jersey. No time is spent explaining how Dr. Bowe finances any of her miracle endeavors. I'd never even heard of Kean University; I'm not sure how much a tenured professor actually makes there, but it seems a little impossible for her to have achieved everything she writes about.
The book is overall poorly written. There are misplaced modifiers all over the place: "I met one of the survivors of the US Airways flight that had landed in the Hudson River at a Dunkin' Donuts near his home in Long Island". It took me three tried to read this sentence and realize that the plane had not crashed into a restaurant. It's also disorienting to be reading about the students' lives, and then to be reminded at the end that the author had also taken the class. This would have been a much stronger book if she included more of her own journey through the class. I also can't forgive her use of "transsexual" to describe one of the students (this book was written in 2014. You knew better.)
I'd recommend picking up a copy of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death or Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's On Death and Dying before I'd spend any time on this book.
I took a class called "Death and Dying" during my senior year of college, and I was hoping that this book would emulate some of what I found there. The class was provocative, challenging, and covered a wide range of beliefs about death. We explored both traditions for the burials and funerals, and what various cultures believed happened to our souls after we die. It was informative and inspiring.
In contrast, this book basically tells the story of several members of the class, and their terribly tragic lives. Sure, death has touched their lives repeatedly, but it comes across as tragedy porn in the book, rather than an informative and thought-provoking look at HOW death has touched their lives. The teacher of this course is Dr. Norma Bowe, who is an angelic soul trying to save all of New Jersey. No time is spent explaining how Dr. Bowe finances any of her miracle endeavors. I'd never even heard of Kean University; I'm not sure how much a tenured professor actually makes there, but it seems a little impossible for her to have achieved everything she writes about.
The book is overall poorly written. There are misplaced modifiers all over the place: "I met one of the survivors of the US Airways flight that had landed in the Hudson River at a Dunkin' Donuts near his home in Long Island". It took me three tried to read this sentence and realize that the plane had not crashed into a restaurant. It's also disorienting to be reading about the students' lives, and then to be reminded at the end that the author had also taken the class. This would have been a much stronger book if she included more of her own journey through the class. I also can't forgive her use of "transsexual" to describe one of the students (this book was written in 2014. You knew better.)
I'd recommend picking up a copy of Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death or Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's On Death and Dying before I'd spend any time on this book.
cheraford's review against another edition
5.0
Great book that made me thing about my attitude towards life as well as death. would highly recommend
amandanan's review against another edition
3.0
Not sure how to accurately portray my feelings towards this book. Definitely gave me a lot to think about. The exercises at the end of the chapters were eye opening.
ayanez427's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed the book, I was a little let down by the fact that it was not what I expected. I (very excitedly) won this through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. I had thought there would be more discussion about the class itself, with anecdotal passages to back up the different discussion topic...especially as I started reading and saw questions that were posed as take home assignments and class discussion topics. However, the book's main focus appeared to be topics of mental illness and community service. While these two topics do relate to death and grief, they do not seem to answer the main tag line of the book "Why does a college course on death have a three year waiting list?"
theobacn's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe three and a half stars if I'm feeling generous. The writing was not bad, it just didn't all come together for me as a cohesive story, or at least not one about death. Really more a biography of the woman who teaches this class and several of her students. Some really poignant moments and a few very intriguing characters but some of it felt forced.