Audiobook Download
English language
Published Jan. 12, 2016 by Books on Tape.
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.
What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a …
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.
What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.
Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.
Source: www.booksontape.com/book/258507/when-breath-becomes-air/
This book was so good that I don’t even know how to write a review about it. Made me sob. It’s the perfect complement to Being Mortal.
Absolutely LOVED this book. 100% recommended to everyone and it has topped the list of my favourite books.
A thoughtful and deeply moving memoir that forces one to ponder and confront their own mortality. In some ways, Kalanithi's memoir reminded me of the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, as both men were furiously writing within a limited time frame imposed by terminal cancers. Both men were also reflecting back on their lives, assessing mistakes, acknowledging failures and successes, making amends, and perfectly cognizant that their work would likely be published posthumously.
Kalanithi had his life mapped out. He was preparing to exit an arduous and long residency in neurosurgery and all but had his dream job sealed up--becoming a neurosurgeon-neuroscientist at Stanford. But then when the unexpected occurred, a terminal lung-cancer diagnosis at thirty-six, he and his wife were forced not only to recalibrate their financial, marital, and career ambitions but had to fundamentally reconsider the meaning of life and, especially, of a life "well lived."
Honestly, I …
A thoughtful and deeply moving memoir that forces one to ponder and confront their own mortality. In some ways, Kalanithi's memoir reminded me of the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant, as both men were furiously writing within a limited time frame imposed by terminal cancers. Both men were also reflecting back on their lives, assessing mistakes, acknowledging failures and successes, making amends, and perfectly cognizant that their work would likely be published posthumously.
Kalanithi had his life mapped out. He was preparing to exit an arduous and long residency in neurosurgery and all but had his dream job sealed up--becoming a neurosurgeon-neuroscientist at Stanford. But then when the unexpected occurred, a terminal lung-cancer diagnosis at thirty-six, he and his wife were forced not only to recalibrate their financial, marital, and career ambitions but had to fundamentally reconsider the meaning of life and, especially, of a life "well lived."
Honestly, I thought this was a great book to read near the conclusion of a tumultuous year where I dealt with a lot of professional and personal change in my life. It placed a lot of my problems in a better frame and reinforced that notion that life is often full of unexpected changes--some tragic, some wonderful--and we must learn to adapt and, to paraphrase Tolkien's Gandalf, chose what we are to do with the time we are given.
I felt like I read this entire book with a lump in my throat. Incredibly sad, yet inspiring at the same time. As a father of young children, his story hit especially close to home. It’s also amazing just how talented he was. In another life, he could have been a dedicated author, and with his stylistic prose, I would have read every one of his books.
What an incredible book. Emotionally not the easiest topic, but there are so many wise words in here. Gives you a lot to think about in your current live and how you value things. Highly recommended.
I'm a complete sucker for the Memoir genre and this one did not disappoint. And the afterward by the author's wife left me a crying mess. I'm not usually big on audiobooks (I guess my mind usually just wanders too much when I try a book in this form), but I highly recommend the audio version of this one!
I'm a complete sucker for the Memoir genre and this one did not disappoint. And the afterward by the author's wife left me a crying mess. I'm not usually big on audiobooks (I guess my mind usually just wanders too much when I try a book in this form), but I highly recommend the audio version of this one!
Lekarsko - bardzo dobrze, ciekawe wspomnienia, oddana praca lekarza. Historia powołania również.
Od strony pacjenta (druga część książki) - już dużo słabiej. Niby nadal jest sporo wiedzy lekarskiej, lecz ta część jakby słabsza.
Zasadniczo dobra książka, lecz spodziewałem się czegoś "więcej" od głównego tematu książki.
Lekarsko - bardzo dobrze, ciekawe wspomnienia, oddana praca lekarza. Historia powołania również.
Od strony pacjenta (druga część książki) - już dużo słabiej. Niby nadal jest sporo wiedzy lekarskiej, lecz ta część jakby słabsza.
Zasadniczo dobra książka, lecz spodziewałem się czegoś "więcej" od głównego tematu książki.
A sobering read. Definitely gives you something to think about and to give thanks for. His words to his daughter really hit home in me being a new father. I recommended 100%.
This man certainly puts most of the rest of us petty mortals to shame. If I could live and die with even just an approximation of his rectitude, diligence, and openness, then I would consider it a triumph.
Hm. Ging so. Sehr amerikanisch und natürlich eine tragische Geschichte - mit unter 40 an Lungenkrebs zu sterben, mit einem kleinen Kind, das sich an den Vater nicht wird erinnern können. Aber irgendwie habe ich wohl die Message nicht ganz verstanden.... Der Autor hatte vermutlich einfach zu wenig Zeit, um sie in einem ausführlicheren Buch auch mir klar zu machen.
Beautiful account of what it is to face your own mortality, way ahead of schedule, and from the ironic perspective of someone who was no stranger to dwelling in a place of life and death. I didn't have any ah-ha moments while reading this book, but I did gain an appreciation for the short and meaningful life Dr. Kalanithi lived.
Beautiful account of what it is to face your own mortality, way ahead of schedule, and from the ironic perspective of someone who was no stranger to dwelling in a place of life and death. I didn't have any ah-ha moments while reading this book, but I did gain an appreciation for the short and meaningful life Dr. Kalanithi lived.
'When Breath becomes Air' is an incredible and - for lack of a better word - poetic book that is inspirational and deeply soul-nourishing. I've highlighted and re-read passages and sentences on nearly every page in this book. The writing is simple yet very powerful, I recommend this book to everyone.
'When Breath becomes Air' is an incredible and - for lack of a better word - poetic book that is inspirational and deeply soul-nourishing. I've highlighted and re-read passages and sentences on nearly every page in this book. The writing is simple yet very powerful, I recommend this book to everyone.
A wonderfully written treatise on the nature of death and the wonder of life, written by a brilliant neurosurgeon and cancer victim. Highly recommended, especially for those in the medical field.
A wonderfully written treatise on the nature of death and the wonder of life, written by a brilliant neurosurgeon and cancer victim. Highly recommended, especially for those in the medical field.
Once in a while, there's a book that will make me pause when I finish reading it. I will close the book and simply hold it and look at the cover and try and absorb what I just experienced. This is one of those books. It takes hold of you.
It's NOT easy to read from an emotional stand point. You know that Paul died prior to publication. I was most moved and drawn in by the epilogue, written by his wife Lucy.
Once in a while, there's a book that will make me pause when I finish reading it. I will close the book and simply hold it and look at the cover and try and absorb what I just experienced. This is one of those books. It takes hold of you.
It's NOT easy to read from an emotional stand point. You know that Paul died prior to publication. I was most moved and drawn in by the epilogue, written by his wife Lucy.
