Review by habsfan212 -- Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
-
habsfan212
- Posts: 49
- Joined: 03 Mar 2020, 23:32
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 12
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-habsfan212.html
- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review by habsfan212 -- Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
[Following is a volunteer review of "Dying Well" by Susan Ducharme Hoben.]
That was a really heartbreaking story. Heartbreaking, yet full of hope. Hope that death can be positive. Hope that something good can result from something as devastating as a terminal cancer. Sometimes, we wish we could know we are living an important moment and not only realise it afterwards. This book shows us Bruce had the chance to know that for every single last moment of his life.
The book takes us through a couple’s journey as Bruce is living his last months after getting diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Bruce’s wife, the author Susan Ducharme Hoben, survived a breast cancer several years ago, but this time, there’s no escaping it. The aggressive treatment seems to work at first, but the cancer comes back even worse and Bruce makes a decision. A decision to stop fighting, to hold on his quality of life as long as he can and to enjoy the end with the people he loves.
This story will make you feel happy and sad at the same time. It is beautiful to see a good man getting the ending he deserves. He doesn’t get a fairy tale ending, but a meaningful one. If you are having a hard time, this book will help you feel better and help you realise what matter the most, even giving you the push to reach out to someone important you haven’t seen in a long time. Is it difficult to watch the last goodbyes and you will definitely shed some tears. I know I did.
What I loved the most about the book Dying Well: Our Journey of Love and Loss by Susan Ducharme Hoben is the author’s honesty. She’s not the one dying, but she’s still suffering and she never hides anything from the readers. We witness the frustration she can endure and the guilt she feels for having these thoughts while her husband is slowly dying. The result is a novel not afraid to show things as they really are and makes it easier to relate to the readers.
It’s not easy finding something negative about this book, but if I had to point out absolutely, I’d say the lack of pace here and there. Some moments did not appeal to me as far as others and I had to resist the temptation to rush through the pages to more interesting chapters. I don’t think I should take that into account in the score I give because I understand these moments may be important for the author who really lived them. It’s a memoir, not an embellished imagined story, and you feel through every pages the work behind that memoir to make this story appealing. Needless to say it is perfectly edited. My score is 4 out 4 stars. It deserves it.
******
Dying Well
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
That was a really heartbreaking story. Heartbreaking, yet full of hope. Hope that death can be positive. Hope that something good can result from something as devastating as a terminal cancer. Sometimes, we wish we could know we are living an important moment and not only realise it afterwards. This book shows us Bruce had the chance to know that for every single last moment of his life.
The book takes us through a couple’s journey as Bruce is living his last months after getting diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Bruce’s wife, the author Susan Ducharme Hoben, survived a breast cancer several years ago, but this time, there’s no escaping it. The aggressive treatment seems to work at first, but the cancer comes back even worse and Bruce makes a decision. A decision to stop fighting, to hold on his quality of life as long as he can and to enjoy the end with the people he loves.
This story will make you feel happy and sad at the same time. It is beautiful to see a good man getting the ending he deserves. He doesn’t get a fairy tale ending, but a meaningful one. If you are having a hard time, this book will help you feel better and help you realise what matter the most, even giving you the push to reach out to someone important you haven’t seen in a long time. Is it difficult to watch the last goodbyes and you will definitely shed some tears. I know I did.
What I loved the most about the book Dying Well: Our Journey of Love and Loss by Susan Ducharme Hoben is the author’s honesty. She’s not the one dying, but she’s still suffering and she never hides anything from the readers. We witness the frustration she can endure and the guilt she feels for having these thoughts while her husband is slowly dying. The result is a novel not afraid to show things as they really are and makes it easier to relate to the readers.
It’s not easy finding something negative about this book, but if I had to point out absolutely, I’d say the lack of pace here and there. Some moments did not appeal to me as far as others and I had to resist the temptation to rush through the pages to more interesting chapters. I don’t think I should take that into account in the score I give because I understand these moments may be important for the author who really lived them. It’s a memoir, not an embellished imagined story, and you feel through every pages the work behind that memoir to make this story appealing. Needless to say it is perfectly edited. My score is 4 out 4 stars. It deserves it.
******
Dying Well
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
