When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is this week’s book recommendation.
Genre: Autobiographical
Why should you pick it up?
“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. ”
That’s part of the blurb for ‘When Breathe Becomes Air‘. Imagine what Paul Kalanithi must have felt when everything he had worked hard for all his life was within his reach but suddenly he was shortchanged for time. The hourglass of his life had very less time left for him. The hard work he had put in to be a neurosurgeon and the sacrifices he had made for that putting off time with his partner, everything suddenly lost relevance. The hardest part of reading this book was that it was not fiction. Needless to say, this is a book which touched me deeply. It was a mirror to the impermanence of life. It made me want to hug my family more and be there for them more.
You should read this book because it’s one of the most moving autobiographies you’ll ever read. And it’s real, the emotions raw. That’s sadly the high point of it.
Link to Good Reads:
Link to purchase on Amazon:
When Breath Becomes Air
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This was the book that etched itself in my heart when I read it. It’s one of my most favourite books of all time. I broke down when I read the epilogue in Lucy Kalanithi’s words. It was a very difficult yet incredibly moving book to read.
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Oh how much I cried while reading this! Just like Shy, the epilogue had be crying out loud and hysterically. It pained me so much.
This was a very difficult book to read as it was so emotion heavy and you need to be made of stone to not feel it. In the end, it was a very moving and beautiful story though.
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I really appreciate your choice and I will go through it.
Would definitely buy this book. Thanks for sharing
Wow.. seems interesting and it is always good to read real experiences and emotions than reading a fiction. Thanks for recommending it. Will add to my wish list.
I like to read autobiographies though I need to take out time to read my favourite books. Apart from that, I love the image you chose for the post- I would also like to lie down under the sun someday and read my book.
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I’ve been keeping off this one. Not sure I have the stomach for it. But everyone seems to be recommending it. Maybe I will read it one day.
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Thos one was absolutely heart and gut wrenching. I remember feeling the same when I read My Sisters Keeper.
This book has been on my radar for a long while now– I’m going to get it as son as I’m in a bit of a happier place in my own life.
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