Review of My Living Will
-
S T
- Posts: 50
- Joined: 23 Jun 2021, 16:21
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 25
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-s-t.html
- Latest Review: Beneath the Muscle by Lauren Powers
Review of My Living Will
[Following is a volunteer review of "My Living Will" by John Trautwein.]
Everyone faces happiness, sorrow, trials, and tribulations in life. However, we should always be optimistic. We should be ready to face any challenge that life throws at us. What about those individuals who face depression due to such challenges and are unable to face the sorrows of life? What about those individuals who take up the grave step of committing suicide? What about the lives of their family members and the pain that they have to endure for the rest of their lives? My Living Will by John Trautwein is a painful story of such a loss. The author shares his personal experience of the death of his son. He shares his ordeal and his journey of coping with the pain and moving ahead in life.
John Trautwein’s eldest son, Will Trautwein, commits suicide at the tender age of fifteen. The anguish of seeing the lifeless body of his dearest son brings tremendous pain to him and his family. John was an accomplished baseball player during his young days. He used to see himself in his son Will, who excelled in academics as well as sports. Will was a happy-go-lucky guy. He was cordial towards everyone and was loved by all. He was an adorable son and a loyal friend. By the conventional norms of life, he seemed to be leading a perfect life. Then, one fine day, it was revealed that he had committed suicide. The reason was that he was suffering from depression for a long time. This revelation comes as a shock to most of us, who think that depression is rare in individuals who seem to be leading happy lives. The author has elaborately discussed such facets of life and encourages people to speak up about it. Mental health has long been a taboo topic in our society and people feel shy or scared to share their experiences. The author urges the need to normalize talking about our mental health with our near and dear ones. He teaches us to be okay with the fact of not being okay in life.
He vividly narrates the occurrences of that fateful day. The pain is evident in his writing. The suffering from that tragedy continued to haunt him and his family for years. There also comes a time when the author gets surrounded by the guilt of being responsible for his son’s death by not understanding that he was suffering from depression. But the family manages to support him during that phase of his life and reassures him that it was nobody’s fault. Finally, they channel their hardship into their strength and establish a foundation to help other parents and children. The Will To Live Foundation was their way of easing the grief in life by strengthening the lives of others so that nobody ever faces the turmoil that they underwent. They attach importance to the existence of somebody in our lives, ‘life teammates’, as they call them, who will help us figure out the problems in life and guide us towards the right path. The story also narrates the experiences and interactions of his family members and their journey of moving on through this foundation.
The positive aspects of this book are noteworthy. I loved the author’s strength of mind behind writing this memoir and his lucid manner of writing. His words speak of his anguish and aptly convey the message without being preachy. The book is a manual for understanding mental health and a great self-help guide for such situations. There are many real-life pictures of the author, his son Will, and their family moments, which make the story more relatable and touching. The negative aspects of this book can be explained as follows. First, it is quite verbose at times. Secondly, the constant reference to baseball as the means to overcome grief, from the author’s point of view, was confusing and unrealistic. Thirdly, the book dealt with a sensitive topic, and at times, the narration became too intense for me. There are also persistent religious references that might not appeal to a universal audience.
The book is exceptionally well edited and I didn’t find any noteworthy errors. Considering the positive and negative aspects together, I would rate it 3 out of 4 stars. It was an emotional story. This book is ideal for people who are struggling to cope with their grief or have lost a loved one. It also creates awareness regarding mental health and inspires us to heal with time. I will not suggest this book for young readers because of the sensitive theme of the book.
******
My Living Will
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Everyone faces happiness, sorrow, trials, and tribulations in life. However, we should always be optimistic. We should be ready to face any challenge that life throws at us. What about those individuals who face depression due to such challenges and are unable to face the sorrows of life? What about those individuals who take up the grave step of committing suicide? What about the lives of their family members and the pain that they have to endure for the rest of their lives? My Living Will by John Trautwein is a painful story of such a loss. The author shares his personal experience of the death of his son. He shares his ordeal and his journey of coping with the pain and moving ahead in life.
John Trautwein’s eldest son, Will Trautwein, commits suicide at the tender age of fifteen. The anguish of seeing the lifeless body of his dearest son brings tremendous pain to him and his family. John was an accomplished baseball player during his young days. He used to see himself in his son Will, who excelled in academics as well as sports. Will was a happy-go-lucky guy. He was cordial towards everyone and was loved by all. He was an adorable son and a loyal friend. By the conventional norms of life, he seemed to be leading a perfect life. Then, one fine day, it was revealed that he had committed suicide. The reason was that he was suffering from depression for a long time. This revelation comes as a shock to most of us, who think that depression is rare in individuals who seem to be leading happy lives. The author has elaborately discussed such facets of life and encourages people to speak up about it. Mental health has long been a taboo topic in our society and people feel shy or scared to share their experiences. The author urges the need to normalize talking about our mental health with our near and dear ones. He teaches us to be okay with the fact of not being okay in life.
He vividly narrates the occurrences of that fateful day. The pain is evident in his writing. The suffering from that tragedy continued to haunt him and his family for years. There also comes a time when the author gets surrounded by the guilt of being responsible for his son’s death by not understanding that he was suffering from depression. But the family manages to support him during that phase of his life and reassures him that it was nobody’s fault. Finally, they channel their hardship into their strength and establish a foundation to help other parents and children. The Will To Live Foundation was their way of easing the grief in life by strengthening the lives of others so that nobody ever faces the turmoil that they underwent. They attach importance to the existence of somebody in our lives, ‘life teammates’, as they call them, who will help us figure out the problems in life and guide us towards the right path. The story also narrates the experiences and interactions of his family members and their journey of moving on through this foundation.
The positive aspects of this book are noteworthy. I loved the author’s strength of mind behind writing this memoir and his lucid manner of writing. His words speak of his anguish and aptly convey the message without being preachy. The book is a manual for understanding mental health and a great self-help guide for such situations. There are many real-life pictures of the author, his son Will, and their family moments, which make the story more relatable and touching. The negative aspects of this book can be explained as follows. First, it is quite verbose at times. Secondly, the constant reference to baseball as the means to overcome grief, from the author’s point of view, was confusing and unrealistic. Thirdly, the book dealt with a sensitive topic, and at times, the narration became too intense for me. There are also persistent religious references that might not appeal to a universal audience.
The book is exceptionally well edited and I didn’t find any noteworthy errors. Considering the positive and negative aspects together, I would rate it 3 out of 4 stars. It was an emotional story. This book is ideal for people who are struggling to cope with their grief or have lost a loved one. It also creates awareness regarding mental health and inspires us to heal with time. I will not suggest this book for young readers because of the sensitive theme of the book.
******
My Living Will
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Beneath the Muscle by Lauren Powers
