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33 Meditations on Death: Notes from the Wrong End of Medicine
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“Brilliant - a grimly humourous yet humane account of the realities of growing old in the modern age. Everybody over the age of 60 should read it and ponder their probable future.” - Henry Marsh
What is a good death? How would you choose to live your last few months? How do we best care for the rising tide of very elderly?
This unusual and important book is a series of reflections on death in all its forms: the science of it, the medicine, the tragedy and the comedy. Dr David Jarrett draws on family stories and case histories from his thirty years of treating the old, demented and frail to try to find his own understanding of the end. And he writes about all the conversations that we, our parents, our children, the medical community, our government and society as a whole should be having.
Profound, provocative, strangely funny and astonishingly compelling, it is an impassioned plea that we start talking frankly and openly about death. And it is a call to arms for us to make radical changes to our perspective on ‘the seventh age of man’.
“Brilliant - a grimly humourous yet humane account of the realities of growing old in the modern age. Everybody over the age of 60 should read it and ponder their probable future.” - Henry Marsh
What is a good death? How would you choose to live your last few months? How do we best care for the rising tide of very elderly?
This unusual and important book is a series of reflections on death in all its forms: the science of it, the medicine, the tragedy and the comedy. Dr David Jarrett draws on family stories and case histories from his thirty years of treating the old, demented and frail to try to find his own understanding of the end. And he writes about all the conversations that we, our parents, our children, the medical community, our government and society as a whole should be having.
Profound, provocative, strangely funny and astonishingly compelling, it is an impassioned plea that we start talking frankly and openly about death. And it is a call to arms for us to make radical changes to our perspective on ‘the seventh age of man’.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published April 16, 2020
140 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 21, 2020
(3.5) Jarrett is an NHS consultant in geriatric and stroke medicine. I’ve read a lot of books about death at this point, so it takes a really special one to entice me to read the whole thing rather than just skimming for interesting nuggets. This contains the usual mixture of personal material, patients he’s treated, thoughts on the general standard of care in this country, and recommendations for how to have a healthier societal attitude towards death. All set out more entertainingly than in Seamus O’Mahony’s The Way We Die Now.
If you read one 2020 release on death, it should be Rachel Clarke’s Dear Life, but if you are motivated to go for a second, you could do worse than pick up this one. I especially liked the chapter on living statements and living wills; he gives his own (slightly tongue-in-cheek) as examples. Bear in mind that he’s a rabid atheist in case that’s likely to bother you (“Christianity is fundamentally a death cult”).
A favorite passage: “it is never worth pursuing some worthy, self-improving cultural goal if it proves tedious. Life is too short to waste on virtuous projects. So if ploughing through Ulysses, or indeed Don Quixote, proves painful, chuck it away and read the John Grisham novel you know you will enjoy.”
[Too bad he repeats an enduring myth, though: “hair may go on growing for a day or so, unaware of the death of its host.” Whereas I know from Caitlin Doughty’s Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? that the hair and fingernails of a corpse only appear to keep growing because of the skin drying out and retracting.]
If you read one 2020 release on death, it should be Rachel Clarke’s Dear Life, but if you are motivated to go for a second, you could do worse than pick up this one. I especially liked the chapter on living statements and living wills; he gives his own (slightly tongue-in-cheek) as examples. Bear in mind that he’s a rabid atheist in case that’s likely to bother you (“Christianity is fundamentally a death cult”).
A favorite passage: “it is never worth pursuing some worthy, self-improving cultural goal if it proves tedious. Life is too short to waste on virtuous projects. So if ploughing through Ulysses, or indeed Don Quixote, proves painful, chuck it away and read the John Grisham novel you know you will enjoy.”
[Too bad he repeats an enduring myth, though: “hair may go on growing for a day or so, unaware of the death of its host.” Whereas I know from Caitlin Doughty’s Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? that the hair and fingernails of a corpse only appear to keep growing because of the skin drying out and retracting.]
September 3, 2020
This book is too jam-packed with scientific facts, expert insights and medical escapades for the reading process to be a meditative experience. But it is absorbing and thought provoking and I will definitely be meditating on some of the content for a long time to come. Although it was written before the current pandemic, the points Jarrett makes are even more pertinent today as we are forced to make choices that impact the old and the young in different and often competing ways.
April 22, 2023
I was thrilled to acquire this book from the Book Depository and added it to my TBR list right away (instead of placing it in the TBR hoard). Sadly, Book Depository is closing and I found myself reading this today while home sick with COVID after successfully avoiding it for three years. Ultimately, we need more books like this; compassionately blunt and truthfully poignant. Death SHOULD be considered a natural consequence of living, the ultimate diagnosis for all of us. Dr. Jarrett does a phenomenal job of emphasizing quality over quantity, especially after specializing in forty years of geriatric care. The longer we refuse to discuss, prepare for, acknowledge, and ultimately embrace death, the more harm we will collectively inflict on the patients we care for. I have experienced the wonders and limits of modern medicine for almost eighteen years; I’ve had patients beg to die and beg to live. The reality is that whether death calls us at 42 from COVID (hopefully not because I have lots more to read but la! if so) or in our sleep at 103, tomorrow is not promised to anyone and life is SO much richer if lived in friendship with death. Thank you, Dr. Jarrett!!
May 7, 2020
This book is 5 star essential reading.
It's refreshing to read the work of a health professional and author who is not afraid to address the unglamorous and fundamentally very grim aspect of life which, if we are honest with ourselves, is at the centre of all our existences. Writing with wit and humour, and referencing the wide-ranging interests and experiences he obviously has, David Jarrett brings much appreciated human emotion and warmth to his book. I have already experienced the deaths of a number of people close to me, for which this book brings belated understanding of the difficult and heart rending processes of each of them, which I perhaps didn't have during those times. And of course, the book serves as a sensible and humane preparation for my own inevitable demise, whenever that may arrive.
It's refreshing to read the work of a health professional and author who is not afraid to address the unglamorous and fundamentally very grim aspect of life which, if we are honest with ourselves, is at the centre of all our existences. Writing with wit and humour, and referencing the wide-ranging interests and experiences he obviously has, David Jarrett brings much appreciated human emotion and warmth to his book. I have already experienced the deaths of a number of people close to me, for which this book brings belated understanding of the difficult and heart rending processes of each of them, which I perhaps didn't have during those times. And of course, the book serves as a sensible and humane preparation for my own inevitable demise, whenever that may arrive.
February 10, 2023
I thought this book was utterly brilliant. -Written by a Doctor/consultant of nearly forty years, in a style that is wise, pragmatic, and vividly descriptive. There is stark detail of all the aspects of death, in all its many manifestations, using personal individual examples.
The book offers those looking for some philosophy about the subject plenty to dwell upon, and furthermore in parts it is amusing as well as shocking!
As another reviewer said-“This book will stay with you”.
The book offers those looking for some philosophy about the subject plenty to dwell upon, and furthermore in parts it is amusing as well as shocking!
As another reviewer said-“This book will stay with you”.
April 17, 2022
Every human should read this serious, funny, and always compelling book.
March 4, 2021
eye-opening account from doctor with decades experience in treating elderly, frail patients
rails against over medicalisation of the elderly, over treatment, which can increase suffering without delivering benefit or quality of life for patient
very honest account, also deals well with the need for people to document their desires and preferences clearly while they are well and capable
rails against over medicalisation of the elderly, over treatment, which can increase suffering without delivering benefit or quality of life for patient
very honest account, also deals well with the need for people to document their desires and preferences clearly while they are well and capable
May 5, 2024
I wouldn’t say these 33 (and a third) chapters are meditative experiences; if you were to begin reading this expecting a tranquil, gentle guide through mortality and grief’s throes then you will soon realise that’s not what you’re going to get. What you might get, and certainly what I got, was an experienced, intelligent, common sense approach to not just the broadness of death or the acceptance of life as rapid and finite but the wider societal impact of issues western culture will not touch.
David Jarrett makes his position very clear throughout the book, does not shy away from opinions still deemed controversial, and does not censor that which might be uncomfortable to confront. It goes beyond death acceptance, or “the good death” even. Explored here are attitudes to life too. What constitutes quality of life? Do we still not grasp that quantity is sometimes not only futile but harmful? What is it about our culture that will have our medical institutions unable to let go of their death grip (pun intended) on interventional medicine in the very aged, the profoundly cognitively declined, the deserving of release from the agony their flesh prisons have become? The answer is multifaceted and is the partial framework of this book, the other part of it being the warmth, humour and honesty of Jarrett’s storytelling, which was thoroughly enjoyable and made for a pleasant and easy reading experience despite the heavy subject matter. I found myself nodding along enthusiastically and agreeing with every point the author made throughout with a sense of gratitude that the way I think about this is not crazy, cold-hearted, or unethical, but a sensible kindness, and frankly the only version of “dignity in death” that I care to receive when my time comes.
This is going on my list of “books about death to recommend to people who literally didn’t ask” because from start to finish it was a death-affirming joy of a read. Easy five stars.
David Jarrett makes his position very clear throughout the book, does not shy away from opinions still deemed controversial, and does not censor that which might be uncomfortable to confront. It goes beyond death acceptance, or “the good death” even. Explored here are attitudes to life too. What constitutes quality of life? Do we still not grasp that quantity is sometimes not only futile but harmful? What is it about our culture that will have our medical institutions unable to let go of their death grip (pun intended) on interventional medicine in the very aged, the profoundly cognitively declined, the deserving of release from the agony their flesh prisons have become? The answer is multifaceted and is the partial framework of this book, the other part of it being the warmth, humour and honesty of Jarrett’s storytelling, which was thoroughly enjoyable and made for a pleasant and easy reading experience despite the heavy subject matter. I found myself nodding along enthusiastically and agreeing with every point the author made throughout with a sense of gratitude that the way I think about this is not crazy, cold-hearted, or unethical, but a sensible kindness, and frankly the only version of “dignity in death” that I care to receive when my time comes.
This is going on my list of “books about death to recommend to people who literally didn’t ask” because from start to finish it was a death-affirming joy of a read. Easy five stars.
January 25, 2022
33 essays - 34 to be precise (a postscript on covid-19).
Despite the author’s use of humour in places, and some praise (NHS care) and positivity, this book is probably one of the most sobering collection of essays I’ve yet come across. I suppose I allowed myself to be misled by the word “meditations” in the title. This isn’t a benign philosophical work, rather a critical look at the developed worlds attitude to death, quality of life near its end, healthcare (particularly in the UK). It’s grim reading for the most part; practically ranting in one or two places.
In a nutshell, he is asking us, why are we obsessed with prolonging human lifespans and dying with indignity, more often these days with progressive and irreversible cognitive impairment? Shouldn’t we expect, and even demand, a better end of life for ourselves and our loved ones?
He makes a good case for change in the main. The insight into healthcare, hospitals and the healthcare professions; and some accounts of patients at end of life is informative and interesting. I think he’s absolutely right: it’s something we all should (re)consider, the sooner the better. Give it a read.
Despite the author’s use of humour in places, and some praise (NHS care) and positivity, this book is probably one of the most sobering collection of essays I’ve yet come across. I suppose I allowed myself to be misled by the word “meditations” in the title. This isn’t a benign philosophical work, rather a critical look at the developed worlds attitude to death, quality of life near its end, healthcare (particularly in the UK). It’s grim reading for the most part; practically ranting in one or two places.
In a nutshell, he is asking us, why are we obsessed with prolonging human lifespans and dying with indignity, more often these days with progressive and irreversible cognitive impairment? Shouldn’t we expect, and even demand, a better end of life for ourselves and our loved ones?
He makes a good case for change in the main. The insight into healthcare, hospitals and the healthcare professions; and some accounts of patients at end of life is informative and interesting. I think he’s absolutely right: it’s something we all should (re)consider, the sooner the better. Give it a read.
January 15, 2023
A thoughtful and thought provoking series of short chapters that explore different aspects of what can - or does - happen at the end of life, often illuminated by the author's own experience as a doctor, but also as a human with relatives, friends, and foibles of his own.
Dr. Jarrett has a humane outlook and advocates against subjecting people to prolonged deaths that involve only extended treatments and extended suffering. Interestingly, it's the one chapter about someone who didn't die, which recounts his own experience being successfully treated by the NHS (Britain's National Health Service) that helpfully reminds us that, while he has focussed on people at the ends of their lives, sometimes medical treatments work and people do recover.
Dr. Jarrett has an engaging and occasionally (appropriately) humous style. I appreciate his perspective born of decades of experience, even when I don't like what he has to say (or, in a few cases, disagree with him). If not exactly a traditional set of "meditations",. this is a book that invites the reader to think about an important topic and which will almost certainly inform the reader's own thinking on the subject.
Dr. Jarrett has a humane outlook and advocates against subjecting people to prolonged deaths that involve only extended treatments and extended suffering. Interestingly, it's the one chapter about someone who didn't die, which recounts his own experience being successfully treated by the NHS (Britain's National Health Service) that helpfully reminds us that, while he has focussed on people at the ends of their lives, sometimes medical treatments work and people do recover.
Dr. Jarrett has an engaging and occasionally (appropriately) humous style. I appreciate his perspective born of decades of experience, even when I don't like what he has to say (or, in a few cases, disagree with him). If not exactly a traditional set of "meditations",. this is a book that invites the reader to think about an important topic and which will almost certainly inform the reader's own thinking on the subject.
June 28, 2023
This is an insightful, sensitive, good-humoured & nuanced take on death; what makes a good death and a bad one. The author’s opinions on medicalisation and overuse of futile life-prolonging treatments echo my own so it was refreshing to take those in. I graduated last year with my MA in biomedical ethics so this was absolutely up my street and has made me want to go and write an essay, which is something I never thought I’d ever say again, lol. The chapter at the end on covid was hard-hitting and made me well up. I was glad to read it. This shit needs to be said and people need to listen. I respect the author’s reluctance to get too political (although he did, a little bit) but I would absolutely be all for the inclusion of more politics; what about any of this isn’t political? I’m sure his views are spot on if the content in this book is anything to go by. I agree wholeheartedly that we, especially in the uk, need to talk more openly about death! Also, more people need to adopt an unabashed hatred for golf!
March 12, 2021
Not so much meditations in the traditional sense, more contemplations on a life lived in medicine and seeing the impact of ill health and ageing, and the stark realities of dying and death.
Death is not to be feared. This book opens up the conversation and asks the reader to consider the inevitable and be clear with ourselves, and our loved ones what we would like our last days to be like should we not be in a position to communicate this.
There are so many ways to live and several ways to die. Yet in dying and saying our final goodbyes we can make peace with ourselves and the world around us.
We are all going to die. Thinking about this can only serve to reinforce that life is for living and as many moments as possible to be embraced!
Death is not to be feared. This book opens up the conversation and asks the reader to consider the inevitable and be clear with ourselves, and our loved ones what we would like our last days to be like should we not be in a position to communicate this.
There are so many ways to live and several ways to die. Yet in dying and saying our final goodbyes we can make peace with ourselves and the world around us.
We are all going to die. Thinking about this can only serve to reinforce that life is for living and as many moments as possible to be embraced!
June 24, 2021
Not my usual sort of read, but I heard the geriatrician David Jarrett speaking on Start the Week on radio four recently. This book was not an easy read because of the subject matter, death. Nevertheless, I think it is hugely important. It doesn’t spout on about theories but does talk about the stark reality of care and treatment of the elderly. It is about how we might think about care that extends life and at what price (not £££), about living wills, about facing reality and also about the NHS and health care provision around the world.. which was hugely interesting (chapter 22). It was a bit miserable at times, a bit funny at others, but also, I think, a very necessary read about a subject we foolishly let ourselves be ignorant about.
July 19, 2022
A fascinating book by a doctor who's had a fascinating career, Dr. Jarrett is witty and doesn't gloss over the (many) dark sides of late-life care and death. As an American, it's interesting (and saddening) to see the differences between the "system" we have in the US (free-for-all) and the NHS (flawed, but still solid). As people are living longer and longer, it's about time we have a societal-level reckoning with the way we treat the elderly and the infirm, and although this is not primarily a "how-to" guide, Dr. Jarrett's pragmatic observations and suggestions on that matter are worth listening to. A surprisingly light read about a very dark subject.
June 1, 2021
Total bookgasm !
I'll be honest and say I'm a bit in love with David Jarrett right now . He writes so beautifully - with honesty and humour - about a subject so few people are comfortable discussing. This book should be on every syllabus of every educational establishment, in my opinion - along with Atul Gawande's 'Being Mortal' and anything by Caitlin Doughty .
On top of the medical insight, Jarrett has a great love of some awesome music. Among others, he quotes the Antony and The Johnsons song 'Rapture' - one of my all-time favourites. Like I said, but of a crush right now ❤📚❤📚❤
I'll be honest and say I'm a bit in love with David Jarrett right now . He writes so beautifully - with honesty and humour - about a subject so few people are comfortable discussing. This book should be on every syllabus of every educational establishment, in my opinion - along with Atul Gawande's 'Being Mortal' and anything by Caitlin Doughty .
On top of the medical insight, Jarrett has a great love of some awesome music. Among others, he quotes the Antony and The Johnsons song 'Rapture' - one of my all-time favourites. Like I said, but of a crush right now ❤📚❤📚❤
August 1, 2021
노인의학 전문의인 의사의 경험과 사색을 통해 좋은/나쁜 죽음은 무엇인가에 대해 생각해보게 하는 책이다. 언젠가는 죽을 것이고, 죽음이 가까워졌을 때 어떻게 살다 죽을 것인가, 어떤 의료적 조치를 받을 것인가에 대해 신체와 정신이 건강한 지금부터 고민하고 결정해두는 건 중요한 것 같다. 생전 진술서, 생전 유언장을 미리 써둬야겠다는 생각이 들었다. 에세이에 가까운 글이라 내용 흐름이 체계적이지 않았다. 환자의 증상이나 상태, 의학적 현상을 자세히 설명하는 부분은 생생하게 와닿았지만, 환자의 취향이나 가족의 상황을 자세히 묘사하는 부분이 조금 지루했다.
May 4, 2024
The idea that in 2020 when published it was still necessary to state the bleeding obvious that over treatment is harmful especially at the end of life is a bit horrific.
Dr Jarrett tells a good tale when describing patient history but made me cringe a few times - especially when describing child free holidays as the moral equivalent of racial segregation!
Dr Jarrett tells a good tale when describing patient history but made me cringe a few times - especially when describing child free holidays as the moral equivalent of racial segregation!
December 11, 2021
Probably a book that should be read by everyone who is 60 plus. Finishing the book did not leave me knowing exactly what to do but did make me think that it was wise to do planning for what will come.
February 1, 2022
Thought provoking, poignant and both sad and distressing in equal measure. Ultimately though I found it a bit on the repetitive side and that the individual meditations didn't really cohere into an overall argument.
December 31, 2022
Heard the author at Hay and bought the book. Thought it may be a difficult read (I don’t work in healthcare), but I was wrong. The last chapter, the last paragraph has propelled me forward into living life for now! A fascinating and engaging read.
January 21, 2023
A blunt factual book written by a doctor specialising in geriatric care.
He has strong views on medicine prolonging the life more for the sake of family members rather than the suffering patient. The subject of making your wishes known regarding your end of life care is also emphasised.
He has strong views on medicine prolonging the life more for the sake of family members rather than the suffering patient. The subject of making your wishes known regarding your end of life care is also emphasised.
September 22, 2023
Did not finish...I think this may be a case of the wrong book at the wrong time. It started out okay, but it wasn't what I was expecting. It is definitely meditations on death from a medical perspective.
June 11, 2021
Profound, humorous, scary, thought provoking. Essential reading for baby boomers, certainly made me think. Also strangely life affirming.
June 29, 2021
Six weird reviews
Powerful Examination. Real. Grimy. Powerless.
Powerful Examination. Real. Grimy. Powerless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 7, 2021
Interesting and well written. I want to go and write my living will now! I like the reflections on the importance of quality of life as we age.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2021
Excellent informative read.
Not for those who fear or feel awkward about discussing dying.
Reaffirmed my resolve to take control before losing it.
Not for those who fear or feel awkward about discussing dying.
Reaffirmed my resolve to take control before losing it.
August 21, 2021
Provides good for thought about my care and the care of other members of my family, especially at the end of life.
August 27, 2021
Certainly thought provoking
Rambled sometimes but made me think of my own mortality and to put things in place relating to my demise that we all tend to put off..
Rambled sometimes but made me think of my own mortality and to put things in place relating to my demise that we all tend to put off..
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November 3, 2021Excellent, thought provoking and often warm. More an experience than a book which I imagine is what many people will look for when approaching it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews