Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

34 reviews

kira20's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Cancer, and Death

Moderate: Gore and Suicide

venetiana's review against another edition

I'm sure this is great, just too heavy for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Cancer

Moderate: Medical content and Medical trauma

Minor: Grief

thefemale_nickmiller's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

mdwsn27's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death, Medical content, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

whatannikareads's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

super obvious observation, but you could tell paul was really intelligent and thoughtful from his writing alone. it's kinda crazy that he wrote this in the later stages of his cancer, when it's a struggle just to breathe, let alone write a memoir. it tickled the part of my brain that is interested in science and medicine, and i appreciate that this memoir merged those two interests. i learned a lot about neuroscience and the brutal work life of neurosurgeons. and i admire that paul was so passionate about writing and literature. i think because of how intelligent he is, he lost me at some parts that got more technical and descriptive. i think he occasionally strayed from his central point and went on tangents. but the epilogue made me cry hard and feel existential. i think memoirs like this are really thought-provoking and i'd like to dive into other works in this vein.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Death, Medical content, and Grief

tpeacock9's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

berryradical's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

I was able to read this book in a day. Definitely cried. The briefness we have on this planet makes you question things like what to let go of or what to pursue based on what you value. Paul going from a surgeon being paged to patient status places his viewpoints in perspective. He leaves behind a legacy of trying to help others in a vulnerable state. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Death

readandfindout's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

On first read in 2017: This has to be one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time now. I often find that, though I will enjoy a memoir, it doesn't really resonate with me. But this certainly did.

The entire time that I was reading this book, I was noting the similarities between my thinking and Paul's. I wish that we had been able to meet, because I think we could have had some very interesting discussions about mortality and meaning. I also found myself awed by his integrity, throughout his life as well as when he was facing death.

On 2023 reread

Overall rating: 4.75 stars

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Cancer, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit and Suicide

meremeth's review

inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death

beetandbaguette's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Vomit, and Pregnancy