This book is a memoir of Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University, who is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in his mid-thirties. Kalanithi uses the pages in this book to not only tell his story, but also share his ideas on how to approach death with grace and what it means to be fully alive. The memoir chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naive medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. Following his diagnosis, Kalanithi and his wife decided to have a child and his cancer stabilized temporarily where he was able to return to work. However, Kalanithi succumbed to his illness and died in March of 2015.
“I’m usually not one for tear-jerkers about death and dying,” writes Bill Gates, the philanthropist and Microsoft cofounder. “But this book definitely earned my admiration—and tears.”
On the third Tuesday of every month, the Intergenerational Book Club, a group of men and women of all ages, comes together at the library to share their opinions and ideas about the selected book. All are welcome at the Thomaston Library on October 17th at 2:30 p.m. If you live in Thomaston and would like to attend but need a ride, please call the library at 354-2453 a week before the discussion date. In November the IGBC selection is Writing my Wrongs by Shaka Senghor. The library will have copies available including on Kindle.
No comments:
Post a Comment