When Breath Becomes Air
| Author | Paul Kalanithi |
| Vote | 10/10 |
| Reviewed on | 2019-01-05 |
| Read in | English |
I don’t usually cry on books. It doesn’t depend much on the content itself, I guess. I like sad books, for some reason. Maybe it’s because they feel very real. By the end of this one, though, I had to put it down two or three times because I was sobbing violently.
It’s a very touching reflection on life and death, which happens to be one of my favorite subjects. Its author, Paul Kalanithi, was a medical student and practitioner who was a few steps away from becoming a neurosurgeon. But at around the age of 35, he got lung cancer. He started writing this book after learning his diagnosis.
He reflects on the reasons that led him to choose to become a doctor first, and then specifically a neurosurgeon. He reflects on what makes us humans what we are, and on what makes a life worth living.
Read it as a powerful reminder of what your life is about.