Zelanator reviewed When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Review of 'When Breath Becomes Air' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
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.
