When Breath Becomes Air in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Oct 13, 2016 Melissa rated it really liked it

This book was recommended by Jessica Fechtor earlier this year, and I had been curious about it for a while. I found an audio version at my library and decided to check it out. I figured it would be something thought-provoking.

Paul Kalanithi is definitely an engaging writer, but it's sad to think that he's not around to know this. After building up his life and plans for the future, to all of a sudden have them come to a screeching halt is unsettling.

His stories about his experiences on the pat This book was recommended by Jessica Fechtor earlier this year, and I had been curious about it for a while. I found an audio version at my library and decided to check it out. I figured it would be something thought-provoking.

Paul Kalanithi is definitely an engaging writer, but it's sad to think that he's not around to know this. After building up his life and plans for the future, to all of a sudden have them come to a screeching halt is unsettling.

His stories about his experiences on the path to becoming a neurosurgeon were interesting, although sometimes upsetting. However, I wish he had focused more of his energy on his transition from living to what would come next. Or talk about his last months on Earth instead of focusing so much on the past. I do understand that he wanted his readers to know who he was before he became terminally ill, but I went in expecting him to have more insight on knowing he was going to die and not being able to prevent it from happening.

His wife, Lucy, shared a lot of her experience closer to the time of his passing and beyond. I also wish she would have written her thoughts into earlier chapters, such as when he first got his diagnosis, when she first became pregnant, etc.

Sunil Malhotra had a very soothing voice and I feel he captured Paul's personality well and conveyed what he wanted to say in a meaningful manner. I did zone out at some parts, like when there was a lot of medical jargon or he was getting too philosophical or introspective. Paul, through Sunil's voice, always found ways to bring me back into the narrative. Cassandra Campbell, who read for Lucy, also had a pleasant voice.

Overall, it was a good book and I'm still sad that Paul didn't get a chance at a full life. It makes me question certain things even more, such as why good people like Paul, who were committed to helping others live, have to die young while people who treat others terribly get to life a long life. (Not naming any names though.) This is something that has been bothering me for a while and I still can't figure it out.

I hope that more people will read this book, not only to keep Paul's legacy going strong, but also to live their lives in his honor, through kindness, compassion, thoughtful actions, bravery, etc.
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Nov 14, 2017 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: wouldnt-normally-read, memoir-and-autobiographical-essays, lotsa-buzz, contemplation

I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my own mortality had changed both nothing and everything. Before my cancer was diagnosed, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. After the diagnosis, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. But now I knew it acutely. The problem wasn’t really a scientific one. The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live.

My father died two weeks ago, after a long battle with cancer. While my old

I began to realize that coming in such close contact with my own mortality had changed both nothing and everything. Before my cancer was diagnosed, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. After the diagnosis, I knew that someday I would die, but I didn’t know when. But now I knew it acutely. The problem wasn’t really a scientific one. The fact of death is unsettling. Yet there is no other way to live.

My father died two weeks ago, after a long battle with cancer. While my older daughter was winning the second state championship with her Marching Band, I was a few hundred miles away, sitting in a hospital room all night long, watching my father die. It's a powerful experience. You can deny reality as long as you wish, but it will eventually come back and smack you in the face. My father was unconscious in his last hours, so I can't know what the experience was like for him; and before that he never gave up hope, he always had an optimistic outlook, so we always talked about getting better. That's a little more personal than I usually get in a book review, but it's that kind of book, I guess. I want to know what it was like for my father on that final journey that he was not really ready to take. What is it like on the other side of that hope, when you know it's over?

It is a powerful experience, to sit with someone as they die, to be there for their last breaths. I imagine it is a powerful experience for the dying, too. THe difference, of course, is that I am still here to talk about it.

I will never know what was in my father's mind in his last hours. This book didn't help me learn it. Since Kalanithi became too ill to complete the book, I don't even know what was in his mind in his last hours. It's his memoir, so he got to choose what to include, of course, and I'm a bit disappointed with some of his choices. First of all, he rarely mentions his wife. His main oncologist, Emma, plays a large role here, but his wife is just a shadow on the side. I know that can't have been how it was. Perhaps it was too personal, perhaps it was too difficult to write about, perhaps he was saving those parts for later and never got to them. He also shies away from the hard stuff: the fear, the breakdowns he must have had, the path he took before he found acceptance. That's really want I wanted to read bout, and I can understand why he didn't want to go there, but I'm also disappointed. But I do know some of his thoughts leading up to it. He was brave, he faced the end with open eyes, and that is comforting for me.

I highlighted many passages. He had powerful insights. One thing I did not like was his section on coming back to the church after his stint as an atheist. I disagree with everything he said there about life only having meaning if one believes in a god. My life has meaning without any god, and the meaning is: Life. There is no other meaning. It just is. We are alive because we are alive, we love each other and perceive life because we are sentient, and it's all due to random chance. I think perhaps Christianity was comforting him since it was like coming back home to his childhood. ...more

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Jan 12, 2017 Rae rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bio-memoir, 2017

Kalanithi, a neurosurgery resident, is given a terminal diagnosis of lung cancer.

A beautiful memoir about living while you are dying. Worth all the hype. I loved it.

See also The Last Lecture and The End of Your Life Book Club.

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Mar 31, 2017 Una rated it it was amazing

This book will affect everyone who takes the time to read its pages. The story is poignant and raw. It hits home because everyone has someone in their lives who has had cancer, survived it, fighting it or succumbed to it. It is fascinating to read what it is like through a neurosurgeons mind. They know so much, too much sometimes and that knowledge can really affect you. I feel for Paul's wife and daughter.

I definitely recommend this book to everyone. It really is a quick and easy read but so d ...more

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Oct 18, 2017 Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: medicine, memoir

A beautiful book about what it means to live and what it means to die. Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon, scientist, philosopher, and writer, wrote this book in his final months dying from lung cancer. What a wonderful gift to his wife and daughter and to the whole world. Truly, everyone should read this.

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