Name: When Breath Becomes Air
Rating: 4.453952321204517 (797 reviews)
ISBN: 9781984801821

Abraham Verghese

Paul Kalanithi

When Breath Becomes Air

Laura Mei

Alex Stelzhammer

Mackenzie Shah

Kamu Pancholi

Sofia Kopkášová

In the end, it cannot be doubted that each of us can see only a part of the picture. The doctor sees one, the patient another, the engineer a third, the economist a fourth, the pearl diver a fifth, the alcoholic a sixth, the cable guy a seventh, the sheep farmer an eighth, the Indian beggar a ninth, the pastor a tenth. Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete. And Truth comes somewhere above all of them, where, as at the end of that Sunday's reading, the sower and reaper can rejoice together.

casey

If the weight of mortality does not grow lighter, does it at least get more familiar?

Mya Aitken

Issi 

cherie

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir. Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

Kara vd Berg

I'm not a fan of memoirs, but this one touched me deeply. It is a reminder that the only certainty in life is that we will die, but also that life - with its love, hope, heartbreak, struggles and triumphs - is extraordinary.

I picked up this book as an aspiring surgeon, hoping to learn more about medicine. It taught me so much beyond that. It taught me about the perspectives on imminent death and the meaning of life.

zoe 

At the age of 36, on the verge of a completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi's health began to falter. He started losing weight and was wracked by waves of excruciating back pain. A CT scan confirmed what Paul, deep down, had suspected: he had stage four lung cancer, widely disseminated. One day, he was a doctor making a living treating the dying, and the next, he was a patient struggling to live. Just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined, the culmination of decades of striving, evaporated. Breath Becomes Air approaches the questions raised by facing mortality from the dual perspective of the neurosurgeon who spent a decade meeting patients in the twilight between life and death, and the terminally ill patient who suddenly found himself living in that liminality. At the base of Paul's inquiry are essential questions such as: What makes life worth living in the face of death? What happens when the future, instead of being a ladder toward the goals of life, flattens out into a perpetual present? When faced with a terminal diagnosis, what does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another one fades away? As Paul wrote, "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." Paul Kalanithi passed away in March 2015, while working on this book.

When breath becomes air

Abdelaziz Almulla

What did I think? When Breath Becomes Air has come into my life at exactly the right time. I bought it a few months ago, and chose to read it now, not knowing what to expect. As soon as I started reading it, I was hooked. Paul Kalanithi's style of writing is truly a unique one. Beyond that, Paul shows a side of the world that us as "patients," as I'd like to call us, rarely get to see. The perspective of the other side, of those doctors who are treating us. As much as we complain about some of them, we learn here that a lot of them really are just doing their job, and are trying their best. Paul goes on to talk about one of my favorite topics: Philosophy. Paul is an intellectual, no doubt. And in my opinion, his take on philosophy, especially that of human life is a brave one. Bravery, that's another thing we constantly see in this book. Paul Kalanithi is a brave, and inspiring man. He taught me that during tough times in your life (and his time was more definitely tougher than the time I am going through), one must not stop, but instead one must go on, persevere, and be strong, for their own sake. I also learned--or rather relearned--to accept whatever life may give me, or slap me in the face with. I should take the good, and embrace it, and throw away the bad, and learn from it. Paul Kalanithi's story is one of bravery, inspiration, and strength. It is a book of love, happiness, and acceptance. Anyone who is going through difficulty in their lives will be inspired by Paul's resilience.

Kinanti Desyanandini

Beautifully written, stunningly tragic. Paul gently invites us to consider our undeniable mortality and what defines meaning in life. “You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.” On a lighter note, crying is optional but highly recommended.

Jennifer

All medical schools and medical professional field-schools should make this book required reading for all students, especially those interested in a surgical field. Any human being should also read this, too, but as someone who works in the healthcare industry and who loves someone in the medical profession, this really hit home for me. I read this book while traveling, so I would not recommend reading this book in public where people can see you cry. So. Good. Thank you, Paul, for sharing yourself during one of the most difficult challenges one can face in a lifetime.

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

A beautifully touching book, written as only a gifted author, dying, could.

Fred Rivett

Contemplative, written beautifully reflecting Paul's appreciation for literature and deep thought. 

Cassandra Tang

book’s so TOP TOP that i desire to read it once a month 

Beautifully written. While reading, I felt like I have a deep connection with the family. I was with them going through it all.

Tina Villarete

this book left me feeling hollow (in a good way)

A cloth bag containing eight copies of the title.

This was an amazing book. I have felt everything from sorrow to joy. I do not think any other book has made me think this much. I do not have the words to correctly describe the feeling this book gives me. Truly a masterpiece.

Emily Burns

When I finished the final page of this book, I felt both broken and full. That is what grief, in all of its complexities, feels like to me. I mourn for all the world has lost in losing this man. A friend of mine said it best: this book is a gift.

Elisavet Rozaki 

Monicap

finished this the third time and i know, for sure, there will be a fourth, a fifth, a sixth time, and so many more of it. 

Son Nefes Havaya Karismadan

Ubeyd Gencer

“Bu kitap sayesinde, Paul Kalanithi’yi hiç tanımayanlar bile ölümünün yasını tutacak;hayat hikayesinden herkes faydalanacak.Hepinize,her birinize tavsiye ederim.”-Ann Patchett

Isabella 

This book is so raw and beautiful. It was a short book, but it was very remarkable. I deeply admire Paul for his unwavering passion. It was so well-written that it tugged my heartstrings.

i couldn't put it down. i finished reading it in a day in a half (granted it's not particularly long). it's...sad, i suppose, but it wasn't the kind of sad in which you sit there wanting to cry for five hours because of how it'd ended. it was the kind of sad that dwells quietly, the one that makes you think about your life, the people you love, the people that don't have much of either.

Deepika Ramesh

This heartbreaking memoir is powerful. My blog: http://worncorners.com/2016/03/22/whe...

Althea Trixie

** spoiler alert **
           This is the first book that I finished - and actually enjoyed - this year, despite the content of the memoir. I heard bits of opinions about this book, but I never really paid attention because it didn't really sparked my interest. All it did was solidify a surface level opinion - wich was "Oh, it's a story about a doctor". Little did I know that I was gonna be shedding tears over this book at 10pm in my pajamas. 

For a memoir, this is considerably short. If I wasn't procrastinating, I think it would only take me 4 hours max to finish it. This book was straight to the point, while providing emotional substance to the storyline. This was written by Paul, and was later finished by his wife, Lucy, because sadly Paul passed away at the age of 36.

I think this just hits too close to home, because I'm a medical student as well. And most of the diagnosis or anything medical related, I cold understand pretty quickly. It also made me realize how incredibly HARD it is to pursue neurosurgery, or any medical profession outside my 4 year course in nursing school. He relayed the picture of a neurosurgeon perfectly, even while battling his disease. 

It made my chest physically ache, to think how his life could've played out if he didn't get cancer. I am incredibly saddened to know how he never truly tapped his full potential with his residency, and his shortlived fatherhood to his now 8-year-old daughter.

Idk.

This book just made me realize how serious medical school is. How entering this field can alter the entirety of your life, the majority of your life. And I'm one of the people who made this joice, to enter this field and I wanna have the passion and grit that Paul once had. I wanna see the world through his perspective. I wanna have his drive to strive for something great each day.

I always considered - in the back of my head - to pursue neuroscience. To be a neurosurgeon. But as I finished the book and saw how many things you have to sacrifice to be a neurosurgeon - it scared me.

One of the few things I've picked up from the book is, you need to love medicine - your job, or else it's just isn't worth it. And I agree. I always looked at my career as something that I HAVE to do, but that will inevitably ruin me in the long run. And I don't know if I still have a strong will to recover after that. 

Who knows?

Anyways, to sum this all up, When Breath Becomes Air made an impact in my life and probably the choices I'm gonna make in my medicine field life.

You were great, Paul.

Thank you for inspiring me.

Was macht das eigene Leben lebenswert? Was tun, wenn die Lebensleiter keine weiteren Stufen in eine vielversprechende Zukunft bereithält? Was bedeutet es, ein Kind zu bekommen, neues Leben entstehen zu sehen, während das eigene zu Ende geht? Bewegend und mit feiner Beobachtungsgabe schildert der junge Arzt und Neurochirurg Paul Kalanithi seine Gedanken über die ganz großen Fragen.

source: https://www.randomhouse.de/Buch/Bevor-ich-jetzt-gehe/Paul-Kalanithi/Knaus/e485966.rhd

Was am Ende wirklich zählt - Das Vermächtnis eines jungen Arztes

Bevor ich jetzt gehe

Laura K

Ciel Zero

[ BOOK IG: @clumsyciel ]

overall rating: 5/5 ⭐️
time taken to read: ~2 days
number of sticky tabs: 20

"You can't ever reach perfection, but you believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving." (page 115) 

WBBA is a memoir by Dr. Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon that is diagnosed with lung cancer on his last year of residency. all of his dreams and plans for the future are shattered, and he learns how to live meaningfully while he is still on the road of acceptance for this new path in his life. 

first and foremost, i just need to announce that i cried a lot over this book. Dr. Kalanithi's writing is so mesmerising; all of his raw emotions are written eloquently across a page. perhaps that was a weird way of phrasing it, but that was how the book felt.

in the foreword by Dr. Abraham Verghese, he describes Dr. Kalanithi's funeral as 'i saw faces looking calm, smiling, as if they had witnessed something profoundly beautiful' (page xx).
i find this part in particular; incredibly beautiful. funerals, as sad as the occasion is, it is a celebration of how one lived. each and every life is meaningful, no matter what one has done during their time of living. everyone has been put here for a purpose. it so happens that Dr. Kalanithi has found his; to become a neurosurgeon to save people, a father to his daughter, and to inspire others through his writing. 

this book has made me realise that even through death, life is always worth living for.

When Breath Becomes Air

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