With the End in Mind
Dying, Death, and Wisdom in an Age of Denial
Ratings9
Average rating4.4
For readers of Atul Gawande and Paul Kalanithi, a palliative care doctor's breathtaking stories from 30 years spent caring for the dying.
Modern medical technology is allowing us to live longer and fuller lives than ever before. And for the most part, that is good news. But with changes in the way we understand medicine come changes in the way we understand death. Once a familiar, peaceful, and gentle -- if sorrowful -- transition, death has come to be something from which we shield our eyes, as we prefer to fight desperately against it rather than accept its inevitability. Dr. Kathryn Mannix has studied and practiced palliative care for thirty years. In With the End in Mind , she shares beautifully crafted stories from a lifetime of caring for the dying, and makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation, but with openness, clarity, and understanding. Weaving the details of her own experiences as a caregiver through stories of her patients, their families, and their distinctive lives, Dr. Mannix reacquaints us with the universal, but deeply personal, process of dying. With insightful meditations on life, death, and the space between them, With the End in Mind describes the possibility of meeting death gently, with forethought and preparation, and shows the unexpected beauty, dignity, and profound humanity of life coming to an end.
Tags
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
With The End In Mind was recommended to me during my hospice volunteer training and my death doula training. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to/is working with the dying, anyone who has anxiety around death, or anyone with aging family who has never been around death.
We live in a society that shuns the end of life. Something that was once integrated into the day to day has been moved behind the scenes and has become scary and unknowable.
With The End In Mind is a collection of stories about death. There is little conflict between characters, we're not seeing patients being mistreated, there is no drama. Each story is a combination of multiple patients in order to provide a clear message. It is a collection of lessons to help you feel more at ease with the idea of death and to recognize certain patterns so you can better care for those around you.
I think everyone should read this book.
i found this to be such a powerful and moving collection of stories
each story offers an insightful perspective about death and the process of dying, with occasional brief, in-between chapters that helped me further examine and develop my own already held beliefs and feelings about what it means to die... and actually, what it means to be alive, too. having read this book, i am better prepared to discuss death and related topics when offering comfort to a friend.
at least every other account of a patient made me cry. the stories are so sad, and yet it's honestly an inspirational, encouraging and life-affirming book. by acknowledging and keeping in mind my impermanence in this world, i am more present, more appreciative, more alive.
a really, really great book.
