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From Here to Eternity
October 2017: Society
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From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty -- 4 stars
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I’ve been eyeballing this one- sounds like something I’ll like. Great review!
Tracy wrote: "I’ve been eyeballing this one- sounds like something I’ll like. Great review!"Tracy, if you listen to audio, it was pretty good! Caitlin reads and and while she does not have the typical audiobook narrator voice, it was interesting to hear how much she obviously likes the subject matter.
Plus, it was only like 5.5 hours, so it was a quick listen!
This sounds pretty interesting. I have some non-traditional post death plans (involving donating my body to science, but specifically to forensics where the body is placed outdoors to help understand degredation), and my family thinks I'm basically nuts, but I don't care. I like the idea of the circle of life, and sustaining other creatures in some way appeals to me. If I can help scientists solve crimes, awesome.
Anita, she has a chapter on that!
No way! Okay, I will have to read it now . . .
Oh yeah! I've been meaning to add this book. I just listened to Adam interview her on the Adam Ruins Everything podcast. She runs a nonprofit funeral home in California. Apparently they instruct people on how to care for a deceased loved one, to ease the financial burden. I too, am interested in non-traditional post death plans and she did briefly touch on some of them in the interview. So if anyone can't decide if they're interested or not, give Death Acceptance a listen - especially if you can't decide whether or not to do the audio.
Definitely a book right up my alley. Adding it to my TBR mountain.
4 stars
Caitlin Doughty is quirky and endearing, and #lifegoals to achieve her openmindedness, compassion, and encouragement when it comes to dealing with death how you want to deal with it. You do you, everybody. Whether that is living with the deceased person for years like they have never died, having an open air funeral pyre in the forest, or mummifying the body in an arid environment. No judgment from Caitlin!
The author explains the funeral mentality of several different societies around the world. She was reverent without being too serious, and provided context as to religious and cultural underpinnings. And, in a smooth move that won over this reader, she provides some interesting information about whale falls in the deep sea!
I will give one warning: Doughty explains the struggles one of her friends had dealing with dead after losing her baby when 6-months pregnant. Y'all, it was sad. And I can picture it hitting too close to home for some people.
Otherwise, I have really enjoyed both of Doughty's books and truly appreciate her mindset regarding death and her thoughts on how the funeral industry could be reformed.