“Women’s bodies are so often under the purview of men, whether it’s our reproductive organs, our sexuality, our weight, our manner of dress. There is a freedom found in decomposition, a body rendered messy, chaotic, and wild. I relish this image when visualizing what will become of my future corpse.”
REVIEW
Interested in a detailed summary with read-alikes?? Check out my Annotation of this book.
Author: Caitlin Doughty
Category/Type: Adult Non-fiction
Genre: Memoir/Travel
Subgenre: Death & Dying
Publication Date: October 9, 2018
Number of Pages: 288; includes acknowledgement, notes, and index
Series (if applicable): This is book is not part of a series
Content warnings (may contain SLIGHT SPOILERS): This book is a candid, non-fictionalized examination of death, dying, and funeral practices for humans. Anyone sensitive to this subject matter should proceed with caution.
Representation:
The author is a {white) female practicing in a male-dominated field.
The book includes accounts from the author’s travels around the world representing death practices of other cultures. The reader should keep in mind that the author is an affluent white American and this perspective may have impacted descriptions.
Summary: In the United States, death is a taboo topic and also a very profitable industry. Could it be different? From Here to Eternity investigates and ponders the alternatives to Western death practices.
Author Caitlin Doughty, well-known for her work to reform the American death industry, uses this book to examine death culture around the world. From open air pyres in Colorado, to sky deaths, Indonesian mummies, and just about everything in between, Doughty compares and contrasts how funeral traditions have shaped the way cultures think about death, dying, and the dead. For readers in the US, this book centers death, an uncommon thing for the society, creating a safe space to learn about and think about it. Doughty’s serious tone does not come across as negative and her work gives the reader space to pause and consider what they would like their own ending to look like.
While Doughty has done some groundbreaking work in the American funeral industry, this book is not particularly innovative. The cursory explorations fall flat and leave readers unsatisfied.
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
WARNING: May contain spoilers
Honestly, I was rather underwhelmed by this book. I was really excited going in, I had heard so much about it and so much about how Doughty is changing the funeral industry for the better in the West but, overall the book was...meh. It was easy to read and I surprised myself by how quickly I got through it, even with a lack of enthusiasm. There are some good moments, for sure, and Doughty imparts good insight about the way humans think about death, but I didn't feel like I learned a lot, which is generally what I'm looking for in a non-fiction book. Part of this might also be because I listen to a lot of science podcasts and Doughty appeared on many to promote the book when it was first published. There's nothing wrong with that, but it left me feeling like I had heard everything before.
Disappointingly, along with good insight about other cultures' death practices, there is almost always a "but we can't do that in the West/in America" sentence to follow it up. It doesn't come as a call to action, but instead is a downer after learning about a funerary alternative. I did appreciate the author’s avoidance of thrusting an opinion down the reader’s throat but more investigations in how alternatives could be incorporated into Western culture would have improved the reading experience for me.
Between the Covers
I ended up with a British printing, and the physical difference between this and America paperbacks was noticble right away. My copy was thick for such a short paperback because the paper was good quality and responsibly sourced. Compared to US paperbacks, I would almost say that the pages are a lightweight cardstock, no lie! Also, it is perfect bound, like all paperbacks post-1950ish, but the ease of reading in-hand is excellent. The spine did show wear after use but I only had to crack the glue once to make the book open more easily. It's like the publisher wanted the reader to actually be able to read the book, crazy!
Final resting place: Since I found this book underwhelming, I donated it to my neighborhood Little Free Library.
WHAT I’M READING NOW
My annotations and reviews are always running a bit (or more) behind what I’m actually reading so here’s a little bit of a teaser, if you will, for reviews to come.
Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun