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leweylibrary's review against another edition
4.75
Overall this book is a lot of morbid, informative fun! I feel like it's made me think about death and dying in an entirely different way--I already caught myself while watching the new Hunger Games prequel thinking about the dead bodies of the fallen tributes and how decomposed they must have been lol. It also connected some dots for me about past experiences concerning death. I had always thought I was uncomfortable with the first funeral I ever went to just because it was my first funeral, but I think I really was uncomfortable with the unnatural-ness of that funeral, how my great aunt didn't look like her anymore and she didn't look...dead enough to be dead.
I really want an updated version of this book--surely there are more "green" burial options now 10 years later? I also went ahead and put holds on all of the author's other books. Not only do I love the subject matter she focuses on, but I love her writing. She reminds me of Jenny Lawson with how deep and personal she can get but then also crack a weird, inappropriate joke in the next breath lol.
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Mental illness and Dementia
Minor: Cancer, Addiction, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness
ju_harue's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence
weelasswithabook's review against another edition
4.5
🌟 Non Fiction
🌟 Popular Science/Autobiographical
This was an interesting read. At surface level, it's a book filled with insights and tidbits of information regarding the life of a crematorium worker. At it's heart, it explores the reckoning of coming to terms with your own mortality and making a difference moving forwards.
Featuring rather gruesome descriptions of death, the decomposition process and pre-burial/cremation preparations, I'd approach with caution if you have a weak stomach. There's also something triggering about the emotionally detached discussions around disposal of infant remains (although not don't callously, it did deeply affect me in a certain way), but it's relevant to the book itself.
One thing that jumped out to me and changed my perceptions was CDs lack of judgement. Exploring different cultures post mortem processes, there was no criticisms there, only the acceptance that something that seems so abstract and gruesome to us is part of someone's sacred culture. For example, tribal rituals where cannibalism is involved. Most people would recoil instantly, buy Doughty discusses these rituals with respect and emphasising how this is simply a different cultures practise and how to them, our ideals of cremation and/or preserving corpses would be looked down upon. So I really appreciated that aspect of it.
Graphic: Cancer, Cannibalism, Death, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Terminal illness
u_0's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
maggies's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Murder, Medical content, Death of parent, Gore, Child death, Suicide, and Body horror
indieandajean's review against another edition
5.0
I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was untrue and that this book was not only extremely well written, but was the key to understanding why Caitlin's death fascination began and how she used her experiences to start the order. This book is a fantastic piece of memoir, and it is also a great place for the uninitiated to start when learning more about the good death and the ways in which we can begin to challenge the funeral industry as it exists today.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical trauma, Death of parent, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Addiction, Car accident, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Chronic illness, and Cancer
Minor: Animal death
aquakirst's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Medical trauma, Classism, Addiction, Gore, and Dementia
Minor: Excrement
spookily's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Blood, Child death, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide
Moderate: Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Dementia, Drug use, Cancer, Classism, Violence, War, and Addiction
Minor: Sexism, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Car accident, and Excrement
bookish_purrsuits's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Death of parent, Death, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
asiaasiaja's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death, Child death, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Car accident, Medical content, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Grief, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Excrement, Classism, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Vomit, Miscarriage, Cannibalism, Sexism, and Dementia
Minor: Fatphobia, Cursing, Colonisation, Body shaming, Xenophobia, and Cancer