Review by Gift Nwagu -- Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
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Gift Nwagu
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Review by Gift Nwagu -- Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben
[Following is a volunteer review of "Dying Well" by Susan Ducharme Hoben.]
Dying well, Our Journey of Loss and Love is Susan Hoben’s way of urging the modern human society to restructure its view of death and the journey towards it. The author uses this book as a means to recount and appreciate her journey while saying goodbye to her husband. It also discusses her means for accepting a life without him.
Having already had her own personal brush with breast cancer and a scare with a benign tumor, Susan knows what to expect when in 2008, the doctors discover an esophageal tumor in her husband of more than thirty years, Bruce Hoben. She knows the drill but, like many other people, is not happy to utilize her knowledge, more so when it is specifically in relation to her loved one. Based on previous experiences and discussions, the couple decides that no matter what happens, they would live their lives to the fullest, one day at a time. Driven by their decision, the author makes the remaining nine months of her spouse’s life the best and most love-filled period possible and goes on to recount all the memories, both good and bad, textually, in this novel.
I love the way she portrays her husband as more than a spouse. He is also a best friend to her and a partner in crime. Many authors, when discussing gradual death situations, tend to fall victim to focusing on the death aspect of the person instead of talking about the good, the bad, and the funny of their life. This author, on the other hand, reveals her husband as a whole human, who actually lived a life, through this book.
The author’s use of dates, in addition to her descriptive writing style, gives off an effect of readers taking the journey with Bruce as he “dies well” and truly depicts his death as such, a journey, not an end goal, the latter of which is more predominant in modern culture. She chooses to write the book from the first-person point of view, making the novel even more personal.
Her honesty is also to be sought after. The fact that she comes clean about some tumultuous times and relationships of hers makes reading the novel more of a vulnerable encounter, as opposed to if she strictly highlighted the good times.
I cannot pinpoint anything I specifically despised in the book. I rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars because I believe every aspect of the book is executed perfectly, apart from one or two errors. I only pick out two objective errors, which appear to be strategically made for the purpose of plot development. The book appears to be professionally edited.
The best audience for this piece of text is any adult who may be facing a life-threatening sickness or has a relative/friend who may. This book may help you change your perspective on the event of death and even gives ideas on things to do to fully harness the experience of life. This book is not suitable for children. Religious preference should not be much a problem when reading this book. There is a mildly erotic scene present. Though curse words are not explicitly mentioned, they have been heavily implied. The book is highly educational and is filled with a plethora of medical field jargon. The jargon is surprisingly understandable because, for the majority of the words, explanations quickly follow after when in occurrence.
The author successfully impacts me with her central message, which resonates through all the book pages, to celebrate life, not fear death. Though the title of the book is beautifully named, another apt name for the book may as well be “Celebration of Life”. This is because the book has this quality about it that always urges the reader to reflect on and savor life. That being said, I would recommend this book to just about anyone and, in respect of the late Bruce as well as the central philosophical message of the novel, would strongly suggest that it be read slowly to fully absorb the message.
******
Dying Well
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Dying well, Our Journey of Loss and Love is Susan Hoben’s way of urging the modern human society to restructure its view of death and the journey towards it. The author uses this book as a means to recount and appreciate her journey while saying goodbye to her husband. It also discusses her means for accepting a life without him.
Having already had her own personal brush with breast cancer and a scare with a benign tumor, Susan knows what to expect when in 2008, the doctors discover an esophageal tumor in her husband of more than thirty years, Bruce Hoben. She knows the drill but, like many other people, is not happy to utilize her knowledge, more so when it is specifically in relation to her loved one. Based on previous experiences and discussions, the couple decides that no matter what happens, they would live their lives to the fullest, one day at a time. Driven by their decision, the author makes the remaining nine months of her spouse’s life the best and most love-filled period possible and goes on to recount all the memories, both good and bad, textually, in this novel.
I love the way she portrays her husband as more than a spouse. He is also a best friend to her and a partner in crime. Many authors, when discussing gradual death situations, tend to fall victim to focusing on the death aspect of the person instead of talking about the good, the bad, and the funny of their life. This author, on the other hand, reveals her husband as a whole human, who actually lived a life, through this book.
The author’s use of dates, in addition to her descriptive writing style, gives off an effect of readers taking the journey with Bruce as he “dies well” and truly depicts his death as such, a journey, not an end goal, the latter of which is more predominant in modern culture. She chooses to write the book from the first-person point of view, making the novel even more personal.
Her honesty is also to be sought after. The fact that she comes clean about some tumultuous times and relationships of hers makes reading the novel more of a vulnerable encounter, as opposed to if she strictly highlighted the good times.
I cannot pinpoint anything I specifically despised in the book. I rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars because I believe every aspect of the book is executed perfectly, apart from one or two errors. I only pick out two objective errors, which appear to be strategically made for the purpose of plot development. The book appears to be professionally edited.
The best audience for this piece of text is any adult who may be facing a life-threatening sickness or has a relative/friend who may. This book may help you change your perspective on the event of death and even gives ideas on things to do to fully harness the experience of life. This book is not suitable for children. Religious preference should not be much a problem when reading this book. There is a mildly erotic scene present. Though curse words are not explicitly mentioned, they have been heavily implied. The book is highly educational and is filled with a plethora of medical field jargon. The jargon is surprisingly understandable because, for the majority of the words, explanations quickly follow after when in occurrence.
The author successfully impacts me with her central message, which resonates through all the book pages, to celebrate life, not fear death. Though the title of the book is beautifully named, another apt name for the book may as well be “Celebration of Life”. This is because the book has this quality about it that always urges the reader to reflect on and savor life. That being said, I would recommend this book to just about anyone and, in respect of the late Bruce as well as the central philosophical message of the novel, would strongly suggest that it be read slowly to fully absorb the message.
******
Dying Well
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
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