Portland Public Library

The end, the human experience of death, Bianca Nogrady

eng

Includes bibliographical references (page 260)

no index present

non fiction

The end

bibliography

822643767

Bianca Nogrady

the human experience of death

Beautifully written and highly researched, this book provides a different framework through which to view death instead of the fear and mystery that so often shrouds this incredibly important moment of life. We know so much about birth--women have shared their experiences and medicine has exhaustively documented it. But at the other end of a life, death is hidden, taboo, mysterious, fearful, rarely shared, and often a lonely, dark bookend. Death is one of few experiences that unites every single being on the planet, but we don't talk about it, we try not to think about it, and anyone who breaks these unspoken taboos is viewed as being unnecessarily morbid. Yet many who have been present at the death of a loved one talk of it as being a gift, they have taken part in a profound moment. This is an exploration of that experience, exploring the human experience of death from every angle--the spiritual, the historical, the physical, the metaphysical; from the perspective of those who have witnessed it, those who face it, and those who have somehow stepped back from it. The End investigates an experience common to every single one of us and does so in a way that is engaging, compelling, a bit funny, and a bit quirky in places, sometimes heartbreaking, but most of all fascinating

Why we die. Eternal life ; Who wants to live forever? ; Adapted to die ; The final countdown ; Nearly immortal ; Damage ; Killed by death -- Defining death. A short history of death ; The point of no return ; One word for snow ; Why define death? ; Donation after cardiac death ; To be or not to be ; Diagnosing death ; The future of death -- Experiencing death. The good, the bad and the ugly ; To sleep, perchance to dream ; Near-death experiences ; Staring death in the face ; The experience of death -- A place to die. Intensive care ; Pallative care ; Hospice ; Ambulance ; Home -- A time to die. Hanging on ; Letting go ; Switching off ; Embracing death -- From the outside. To be there, or not to be there ; The threshold choir ; What to expect ; The unexpected ; The unexplainable -- Death and belief ; Have a little faith ; What is death? ; Death through a child's eyes ; Balm for the soul ; The rite and rituals of death ; The end