Review by samantha124 -- Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
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- Latest Review: Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
Review by samantha124 -- Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
[Following is a volunteer review of "Dying Well" by Susan Ducharme Hoben.]
Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben is a non-fiction memoir that presents an end of life journey. The writer creates an awe-inspiring memoir of her husband’s months-long journey towards death, in her book she teaches us “how to live”, “how to love”, and most importantly her husband’s story teaches us “how to die”; something she is a strong advocate for. This memoir truly touches one's heart by presenting the final moments of one’s life with one’s loved ones, it presents the final feelings of a dying man, it shows us that death can be a sacred rite of passage instead of a medical nightmare, and most importantly it truly teaches us how to die with acceptance.
The author begins by presenting a journey side by side with cancer. She begins by offering her own story about overcoming the challenges and obstacles that cancer brings in your way, she describes her own gruelling journey of coming to terms with having this devastating illness. Following, she presents the truly heart-wrenching story of her husband Bruce, something that illustrates the acceptance of having terminal cancer and a journey towards death. Here the author offers touching scenes describing the feelings of hope and despair both at the same time, whereby the author teaches us how to come to terms with the truth and how to accept it. To continue, the author shocks us by providing some brief moments of joy, which she later suddenly takes away. Following this part of the book, she walks us down somewhat of what she calls a memory lane, where he somewhat has really come to terms with the facts and has decided to revisit his past. Concluding, she shows us how death can be a sacred rite of passage, rather than medical torture, she shows us how we can have a quality ending for life, she shows us the importance of dying in the right and better way.
Within this memoir, she truly explains the importance of dying properly, she truly advocates for a better quality of life towards the ending; she truly made us realize that you have to accept that “whether you a street sweeper or a king you have to dance with the grim reaper”. One unique attribute that I appreciated is how hard the author tries to send her message across, one that she states as “Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone.” She does this by stating multiple times across the book that there are many people who are less fortunate, and that there are many people who have it harder in situations like hers because they lack certain skills.
This memoir is a quick and addictive read that tells the journey towards death and acceptance from the perspective of a loving wife. The entire narrative takes place over quite a long period of time which makes the character development impressive and thorough. This is one of the many brilliant things that the author did to make this book incredibly flawless. The fact that this is actually a true story and the fact the character development was so thorough made feels like I actually knew the character, it made be able to relate with the character, it almost made me feel as if I was witnessing the entire event take place first-person.
Without any signs of profanity and no inappropriate content at all, I believe that this book would be appropriate for most audiences. The benefits that one can get from this book are just countless, it teaches us “how to live”, “how to love” and “how to die” just like the way the author intended. This book was spectacularly edited, and even with thorough and careful searching, I didn’t find a single error, which moreover contributes to the fact that this memoir is practically flawless. There is nothing that I disliked about this memoir, I have read plenty of books and this is definitely one of the rare ones which contain no negative points.
The bbook easily receives 4 out of 4 stars, for being such an addictive and well-crafted memoir. Honestly, I see no reason to give any less star if a memoir is crafted so exceptionally. It is a story that is not only an amusing one like many others I have read before but rather it is one that is inspiring in contrast, it is one that truly teaches you and in a way touches your heart.
******
Dying Well
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben is a non-fiction memoir that presents an end of life journey. The writer creates an awe-inspiring memoir of her husband’s months-long journey towards death, in her book she teaches us “how to live”, “how to love”, and most importantly her husband’s story teaches us “how to die”; something she is a strong advocate for. This memoir truly touches one's heart by presenting the final moments of one’s life with one’s loved ones, it presents the final feelings of a dying man, it shows us that death can be a sacred rite of passage instead of a medical nightmare, and most importantly it truly teaches us how to die with acceptance.
The author begins by presenting a journey side by side with cancer. She begins by offering her own story about overcoming the challenges and obstacles that cancer brings in your way, she describes her own gruelling journey of coming to terms with having this devastating illness. Following, she presents the truly heart-wrenching story of her husband Bruce, something that illustrates the acceptance of having terminal cancer and a journey towards death. Here the author offers touching scenes describing the feelings of hope and despair both at the same time, whereby the author teaches us how to come to terms with the truth and how to accept it. To continue, the author shocks us by providing some brief moments of joy, which she later suddenly takes away. Following this part of the book, she walks us down somewhat of what she calls a memory lane, where he somewhat has really come to terms with the facts and has decided to revisit his past. Concluding, she shows us how death can be a sacred rite of passage, rather than medical torture, she shows us how we can have a quality ending for life, she shows us the importance of dying in the right and better way.
Within this memoir, she truly explains the importance of dying properly, she truly advocates for a better quality of life towards the ending; she truly made us realize that you have to accept that “whether you a street sweeper or a king you have to dance with the grim reaper”. One unique attribute that I appreciated is how hard the author tries to send her message across, one that she states as “Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone.” She does this by stating multiple times across the book that there are many people who are less fortunate, and that there are many people who have it harder in situations like hers because they lack certain skills.
This memoir is a quick and addictive read that tells the journey towards death and acceptance from the perspective of a loving wife. The entire narrative takes place over quite a long period of time which makes the character development impressive and thorough. This is one of the many brilliant things that the author did to make this book incredibly flawless. The fact that this is actually a true story and the fact the character development was so thorough made feels like I actually knew the character, it made be able to relate with the character, it almost made me feel as if I was witnessing the entire event take place first-person.
Without any signs of profanity and no inappropriate content at all, I believe that this book would be appropriate for most audiences. The benefits that one can get from this book are just countless, it teaches us “how to live”, “how to love” and “how to die” just like the way the author intended. This book was spectacularly edited, and even with thorough and careful searching, I didn’t find a single error, which moreover contributes to the fact that this memoir is practically flawless. There is nothing that I disliked about this memoir, I have read plenty of books and this is definitely one of the rare ones which contain no negative points.
The bbook easily receives 4 out of 4 stars, for being such an addictive and well-crafted memoir. Honestly, I see no reason to give any less star if a memoir is crafted so exceptionally. It is a story that is not only an amusing one like many others I have read before but rather it is one that is inspiring in contrast, it is one that truly teaches you and in a way touches your heart.
******
Dying Well
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
