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A review by netflix_and_lil
Mortals: How the Fear of Death Shaped Human Society by Rachel E. Menzies, Ross G. Menzies
3.0
Whenever people asked what I was reading this week and I told them about Mortals, it always led to an interesting conversation. People in my life needed very little permission to talk about death. This book wants people to have these discussions; to throw away the western veil of secrecy surrounding death and as someone who believed that my own mortality didn't frighten me as much as losing the people I love, this book made me consider that trying to outlive death is innate.
A lot of this book is a compilation of various studies, history and case studies that all revolve around this idea of death being the ultimate influence on our lives, society, beliefs and accomplishments, and god damn if I didn't kind of believe that by the end. However, I didn't love every chapter of this book; some just felt more thought out than others, with more defined conclusions and evidence, while others wrapped up quite abruptly and without really linking the elements of the chapter together. There were some extremely strong opinionated remarks made, and while I like a strong author voice in non-fiction they were often stated as fact. It was generally judgemental of anyone doing anything to prevent aging and extending life, and while I think there was a great point made on how capitalism exploits this human fear of being mortal, it puts a big emphasis on people only being able to be truely happy through nihilism, which just isn't for everyone. Mortals puts forward some great philosophical questions, and compiles some fascinating data, and while I felt it sometimes veers off into tangents, I believe it made its point. I don't necessarily fear death, but obscurity? Terrifying.
A lot of this book is a compilation of various studies, history and case studies that all revolve around this idea of death being the ultimate influence on our lives, society, beliefs and accomplishments, and god damn if I didn't kind of believe that by the end. However, I didn't love every chapter of this book; some just felt more thought out than others, with more defined conclusions and evidence, while others wrapped up quite abruptly and without really linking the elements of the chapter together. There were some extremely strong opinionated remarks made, and while I like a strong author voice in non-fiction they were often stated as fact. It was generally judgemental of anyone doing anything to prevent aging and extending life, and while I think there was a great point made on how capitalism exploits this human fear of being mortal, it puts a big emphasis on people only being able to be truely happy through nihilism, which just isn't for everyone. Mortals puts forward some great philosophical questions, and compiles some fascinating data, and while I felt it sometimes veers off into tangents, I believe it made its point. I don't necessarily fear death, but obscurity? Terrifying.