Thomas Lynch serves his readership as a poet and memoirist, and his townspeople as a funeral director. In this wholly unique collection of essays, ...
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Feb 21, 2008
Mere
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Wow...I mean wow. A poet & an undertaker - a sensible combination, Thomas Lynch writes with such grace and clarity I often found myself rereading passages or laughing out loud. I didn't always agree with the Lynch's religious or political views, nor the way in which he expressed them, but accept my lens is a little thicker. It never ceases to amaze me how our culture deals - or doesn't - with death...a subject that has, does or will affect and effect us all. wow.
OOO - also, if you a More...
OOO - also, if you a More...
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Oct 11, 2007
Jenny
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Although The Undertaking includes a plethora of examples of the experiences Lynch has seen throughout his years as an undertaker, the book is really more a book about life than it is about death. Woven in essays throughout the book, Lynch engages in reflective consideration about death and expresses his wisdom and humor with a poetic meticulousness.
I found the book to be beautiful and mesmerizing, drawing me slowly into the issue of how death affects life. This book is probably o More...
I found the book to be beautiful and mesmerizing, drawing me slowly into the issue of how death affects life. This book is probably o More...
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Nov 03, 2008
Becky
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Perhaps my fascination with this book says a little something of my darker side, but when it's a book this good, I don't mind letting the skeleton out of the closet for a nice jaunt. The essays are eloquent as only the words of a poet can be (yes, he is a poet as well as an undertaker!) with a sprinkling of profanity and such to keep Lynch human. The points of his poignant essays hit home with their well-made arguments and other sides of the story. I can only wish when my time comes I have so
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Mar 10, 2011
Loren
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Thomas Lynch is an undertaker and a poet. Unsurprisingly, one occupation interests me more than the other. When he tells the tales of things he has seen -- the late night “removals” he's performed, the children he buried while his own kids grew up, the bedrooms he painted so the surviving spouse wouldn’t sleep beneath the shotgun’s evidence -- those stories are riveting.
Some of what he has to say comes perilously close to testifying: he has seen our futures and it’s later than we thin More...
Some of what he has to say comes perilously close to testifying: he has seen our futures and it’s later than we thin More...
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Aug 08, 2010
Linda
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While searching for another book I came across this title and immediately remembered it with reverence. So, I checked it out at the library and re-visited the pages. What a book! Every word is a jewel; every page is a treasure. Well, maybe not the part about golf, which I hate, but oh well. Thomas Lynch is an undertaker. He is also a poet so he chooses his words with care. I love/loved his take on death and his careful detailing of the rituals of death combined with his deeply religious,
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Dec 19, 2009
Visha
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Somehow, lately, I keep coming across undertakers and funeral homes (in literature, thank goodness).
Lynch's collection of essays is beautifully written; the pace of his writing flows with the rhythm of a grandfather clock's pendulum - even, slow, comforting, reliable. I loved his tone even more than his poetically magnificent sentences - he's dry, not without gallow's humor, and lacking the kind of judgement and religious fervor I expected. He braids his subjects with ease, and mana More...
Lynch's collection of essays is beautifully written; the pace of his writing flows with the rhythm of a grandfather clock's pendulum - even, slow, comforting, reliable. I loved his tone even more than his poetically magnificent sentences - he's dry, not without gallow's humor, and lacking the kind of judgement and religious fervor I expected. He braids his subjects with ease, and mana More...
Aug 14, 2009
Fred
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I had hoped for much more from this book. It received good notices and won the American Book Award. But there were a few aspects of the book and the writing that put me off, and I quit at the halfway point.
First, I would very much like publishers to stop putting out essay collections that appear to be continuous narratives. Such a form can be done well (Atul Gawande's BETTER achieved a continuity with a consistent theme and editing that reinforced it, despite the fact that it was cle More...
First, I would very much like publishers to stop putting out essay collections that appear to be continuous narratives. Such a form can be done well (Atul Gawande's BETTER achieved a continuity with a consistent theme and editing that reinforced it, despite the fact that it was cle More...
May 02, 2008
Padraic
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My senior year high school American lit teacher was an undertaker by trade. So this book makes great sense to me. Coming from a culture that rarely distinguishes between the dead and the living, I find Lynch's essays bleak, hilarious, and sublimely spiritual. Which is exactly why some of you will hate him.
As Olympia Dukakis says to Vince Gardenia in Moonstruck, "I just want you to know no matter what you do, Cosmo, you're gonna die, just like everybody else."
As Olympia Dukakis says to Vince Gardenia in Moonstruck, "I just want you to know no matter what you do, Cosmo, you're gonna die, just like everybody else."
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Feb 02, 2011
Jeffrey
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The novel is an almost technical way to look at death in light of elements of dark comedy. There are moments where Thomas Lynch depicts the process of preparing the body for a funeral as a mix of duty and modern mentality. He states that the world changed when the toilet was brought into the household, waste simply disappeared at the pull of the handle. This mood is carried throughout when he compares the decomposition of the body with the need to quickly make a proper funeral and final memories
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Jul 01, 2009
Gail
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Thomas Lynch is one of those writers I've heard about for ten years but had never read. Famous to all ( all who read) as the poet/funeraldirector.
This is a collection of his essays, some previously published in Harpers and the London Review of Books. I don't know if one can "tell" someone is a poet by his or her prose, but Lynch is certainly an admirable stylist. He squeezes out all the extras and leaves the reader with the essense, pungent, earthy, rich.
I Lk More...
This is a collection of his essays, some previously published in Harpers and the London Review of Books. I don't know if one can "tell" someone is a poet by his or her prose, but Lynch is certainly an admirable stylist. He squeezes out all the extras and leaves the reader with the essense, pungent, earthy, rich.
I Lk More...
Jun 30, 2011
Jennifer
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I really enjoyed this 'dismal' book. The author, poet/undertaker weaves lyrically but sometimes very pragmatically in, out and around the big subjects of Life and Death and lives and deaths.
I sometimes felt he was a little too defensive about his trade - he doesn't (I don't recall) quite describe Jessica Mitford (of "The American Way of Death") as 'that nasty woman' but you do get the impression that's what he thinks. I don't feel he adequately addresses why she might have be More...
I sometimes felt he was a little too defensive about his trade - he doesn't (I don't recall) quite describe Jessica Mitford (of "The American Way of Death") as 'that nasty woman' but you do get the impression that's what he thinks. I don't feel he adequately addresses why she might have be More...
Feb 16, 2008
daysgoby
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Beautiful and lyrical, this book sucked me in from the second page and wouldn't let go. More about the impact of being the undertaker in a small town than the actual business, it was written by a poet/undertaker in a small town in Michigan who uses words like darts to exactly indicate his meaning.
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Jul 12, 2009
Joey
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What is there to say about an undertaker who moonlights as a poet?
In this collection of essays, Lynch ponders many of the questions about death and life, his intimate perspective providing a sometimes jaded, most often though, reverential view on society's obsession and revulsion of all things deathly.
Lynch has a lyrical voice, a prophet's insights and manages to meld these in compelling essays that always seem to just skirt the overarch.
He reminds us there More...
In this collection of essays, Lynch ponders many of the questions about death and life, his intimate perspective providing a sometimes jaded, most often though, reverential view on society's obsession and revulsion of all things deathly.
Lynch has a lyrical voice, a prophet's insights and manages to meld these in compelling essays that always seem to just skirt the overarch.
He reminds us there More...
Sep 24, 2008
Jan
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Very interesting book. Some parts he was a little wordy. I wondered if he was completely off his subject, but then he would bring whatever he was talking about back around to the main subject. Gives a litte insight into the life of an undertaker.
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Oct 12, 2010
Juan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 07, 2009
Heyhansen
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At times funny and difficult, this is a book written by someone you don't really get to talk to that often, the undertaker. Definitely some enjoyable or maybe better said interesting, stories but it left me wanting a bit. It reminds me of a friend of mine who grew up with the undertakers son, the stories have a similar ring.
I think what disappointed me is the author, who reminds you he is a poet regularly and describes poets as the ones who work with "sex and death" seems fairly More...
I think what disappointed me is the author, who reminds you he is a poet regularly and describes poets as the ones who work with "sex and death" seems fairly More...
May 29, 2008
Lisa
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Lynch is my new favorite author. I should say "poet," because that's what he does in his other job. His prose just drips with poetry. He writes the way that I wish I could. Don't miss his work.
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Dec 04, 2011
Jeff
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Billed as a memoir by a Michigan poet-slash-mortician, this book reads more like a collection of essays on various topics relevant to the apparent fact that Thomas Lynch's life is dominated by poetry and mortality. I often enjoyed his look-at-me prose stylings but on several occasions his tone jarred with my feelings. Also, i occasionally suspected fabrication, which—after reading the caveats in the Acknowledgments—i presume might have been the direct result of Lynch's need to maintain the priva
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Apr 07, 2011
Tabitha
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The style and organization of The Undertaking is unique and thoughtful. The book follows no chronological narrative structure, but you do feel led thoughtfully on a journey through the author’s musings. It starts and ends with mirroring essays. The first, The Undertaking, explains the circumstances that led to Lynch’s profession and lets us in on a few basics that will help us keep up with him on the journey. Primarily his assertion that “the dead don’t care” and the reminder that death is a
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Jun 16, 2011
Rachelle
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It's good. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I didn't think I'd be drawn in so quickly and thoroughly. Thomas Lynch is a philosopher, poet, mortician, observer of life, a family man, and a practical fellow. I loved his musings. Loved his way with words. Loved his embrace of the family business - undertaking. Loved his toying with the word "undertaker" and his capacity to find amusement in people's reactions to his profession. The book is inspiring. Made me think in new ways abo
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Oct 12, 2010
Tris
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I'm a nurse who works with older folks who have a tendency to become hospice patients and die (NOT my fault, I swear). I find myself thinking about these essays all the time. Thomas Lynch writes beautifully--dry and clear, betraying his inherent kindness all over the place. He has a perspective on the whole death and dying thing that I find very comforting, and manages to be funny without ever being disrespectful. I frequently disagreed with his opinions, but was able to appreciate them, non
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Jun 24, 2009
Wyatt
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I'm definitely not a "pro-lifer" in the politcally-hijacked sense of the term, but I did really like Lynch's outlook on being pro-life in a more real sense: "For if we live in a world where the value of life is relative, and death is welcomed and well regarded, we live in a world vastly more shameful, abundantly sadder, and ever more perilous than all the primitive generation of our species who were sufficiently civilized to fill with wonder at the birth of new life, dance with t
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Jan 09, 2012
Catherine
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At first, Lynch's sensitive and honest accounts of all the life that surrounds death captivated me. He gracefully stresses the importance of maintaining ritual in dealing with our dead, a practice that he insists is imperative to the healing of those that are left behind and meaningless to those that have moved on. He presents fascinating personal and historical anecdotes about dealing with the dead and he does it all in beautiful prose.
For me, the second half seemed to unravel, a More...
For me, the second half seemed to unravel, a More...
Nov 26, 2010
Nancy
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A Poet’s Take on Life, Death, And Everything in Between
The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch. W.W. Norton & Company 1997 $13.95.
“This is none of my business”, Thomas Lynch proclaims about his funeral, and yet, it is his: funeral director, mortician, undertaker, poet. Mr. Lynch is an Irish poet who here presents a dozen essays about his stock in trade, deftly weaving together anecdotes of the dead with funeral conventions and all manner of hi More...
The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch. W.W. Norton & Company 1997 $13.95.
“This is none of my business”, Thomas Lynch proclaims about his funeral, and yet, it is his: funeral director, mortician, undertaker, poet. Mr. Lynch is an Irish poet who here presents a dozen essays about his stock in trade, deftly weaving together anecdotes of the dead with funeral conventions and all manner of hi More...
Sep 29, 2010
Jeff
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Incredible book! A "must read" for anyone in the funeral service industry, or if you're just curious about its inner workings. Poet, writer, and third generation funeral home owner Thomas Lynch has an elegant, introspective and philosophical point of view about handling the deceased. I'd like to share a few of my favorite passages:
On page 33, he compares funeral directors to toilets: "It is the same with our dead. We are embarrassed by them in the way that we are embar More...
On page 33, he compares funeral directors to toilets: "It is the same with our dead. We are embarrassed by them in the way that we are embar More...
Oct 28, 2009
Sarah
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For someone who works around death every day, Thomas Lynch sure has an uplifting attitude about life. These essays were filled with poetic beauty and thoughtful ideas about how we live, how we die, how we grieve, how we celebrate, and how we deal with death and dead people. But it's not morbid at all. In many of the essays, Lynch keeps a lighthearted and often humorous tone that helps keep his topics from dragging down the reader. I think the opening essay is my favorite, starting with the very
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Aug 17, 2009
Audacia
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Summer reading for grown up goths: a memoir by a poet/undertaker.
I enjoyed reading this book; it was a good read. It won't, however, stick with me much.
The writing is well-crafted and savory, but it doesn't take you anywhere. The first fifty pages were the best, and it really could've been a tightly written essay instead of a 200 page book.
That said, there is a really radiant passage in the beginning of the book about American space and life, with this lovely More...
I enjoyed reading this book; it was a good read. It won't, however, stick with me much.
The writing is well-crafted and savory, but it doesn't take you anywhere. The first fifty pages were the best, and it really could've been a tightly written essay instead of a 200 page book.
That said, there is a really radiant passage in the beginning of the book about American space and life, with this lovely More...
Apr 18, 2009
Nathan
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This is a thought-provoking and compelling read, especially for nonfiction. Lynch is an undertaker (hence the pun in the title) and a poet (hence the pun in the title) whose musings and reminisces about death and dying are extremely rewarding and challenging to read. No one likes to think about death, and that's exactly why The Undertaking is so valuable to read. It is a necessary book.
Lynch has a lot to say about dying and funerals. He contrasts modern conveniences and the correspon More...
Lynch has a lot to say about dying and funerals. He contrasts modern conveniences and the correspon More...
Feb 17, 2009
selena
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Thomas Lynch’s The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade is a collection of personal essays that speak eloquently of life, love, death and the emotions in between. For a book about death, it was surprisingly uplifting. Lynch is by occupation an undertaker and also a poet; a strange combination that gives wonderful insights about a misunderstood occupation. Though a work of non-fiction, it wasn’t a boring or dry read because of his poetic style of writing. It contained beautiful prose a
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Nov 12, 2007
Kim
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As a second-generation funeral director, poet Thomas Lynch has had more occasions than most to ponder death at close range. "The Undertaking" is a collection of essays inspired by his trade. While there are some tearful moments--when Lynch's mother is dying of cancer or when he and his brothers prepare their father for burial--the overall effect is uplifting. This is largely because Lynch is not afraid of grief. Rather, he sees mourning as a necessary, and even noble, part of life: 'Mo
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