From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

Opinion: Great book written by mortician Caitlin Doughty exploring death culture around the world. This is the first book I read after discovering @themorbidlycuriousbookclub (the start of my descent into morbid books), I’m glad I chose it as my first book, and I would recommend it to anyone remotely interested in death and funeral practices. Doughty is an engaging writer who explains the subject material with respect and compassion, I never felt shocked or uncomfortable reading the details of death in this book. I will say though, there are cartoonish illustrations of death scattered throughout that may be a little jarring. Synopsis: Doughty visits eight locations, three of which are in the United States, exploring the different views on death, including how the dead are cared for and funeral rituals. Doughty often speaks on modern funeral practices here in the US, where our dead are hastily carried away and special care is taken to hide the realness of death from loved ones, ultimately leading to this anxiousness and fear of death in our society. Doughty’s aim is to inform the reader of different death practices, often more personal, so that we might feel more comfortable with inevitability of death.

This is a commonly shared book with patients and friends.

3.75. Very interesting and thought provoking.

A very interesting exploration into death and death cultures and practices around the world, especially as these were mostly all new to me - from the Japanese who retrieve bone fragments following the cremation of their loved ones to place into their urns with chopsticks, to burial by vultures in Zoroastrian sky burials, to open air burials in neighbourhood gardens and the evolving research into composting the bodies of our loved ones.

I greatly enjoyed Doughty's [b:Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory|25189315|Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory|Caitlin Doughty|https:i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436549658l/25189315._SX50_.jpg|39962326], (so much so that it was likely my gateway book into non-fiction reading in general, as it was accessibly, interesting and engaging). It was therefore a delight to discover this title, which I listened to the audiobook edition of, and which I feel was equally as good.

My only qualm with this book is that it didn't quite flow at times, jumping back and forth with Doughty's train of thought - this lost me occasionally.

Fascinating read. I wasn’t ready for it to end.