When Breath Becomes Air

First, I was moved to tears as I finished the book. This intense emotion was initiated by the death of the author with an abrupt end of the book. What I learned from the author is what it truly means to dig deep within oneself to find the strength and courage to move forward.

In the author, I saw honesty, fortitude, empathy, etc. I admire these attributes and desperately try to manifest them myself, all while attempting to help others do the same. Dig deep enough, and we all can find the courage.

This is an absolutely devastating book. I read it in a single sitting some years ago, and I don’t think I’ve ever stopped thinking about it. And if “devastating” doesn’t sound like a recommendation, I understand, and yet—it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Although Kalanithi was a neurosurgeon, not a professional philosopher, he was a humanist in the best sense of the word, constantly struggling to make meaning in his life through philosophy, literature, and the arts. When he receives what will be his terminal cancer diagnosis, his big question is: do I do surgery with the… show more.

Oh, this book! It’s so moving. It’s so sad. It’s so beautiful. And it lingers in my mind years after I first read it.

Paul Kalanithi wrestles with a question you’d never wish upon a 36-year-old neurosurgeon with stage IV lung cancer, married with a child. What makes life worth living in the face of death? He writes, “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything… I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” While he stared bravely ahead as he faced death, he penned a beautiful book… show more.

This is a poignant memoir by Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon confronted with terminal lung cancer.

The book offers a profound, intimate look at how Kalanithi grapples with his own mortality and the fragility of life, something I needed at a particular low point in my life.

His eloquent prose reveals his personal journey to understand what truly matters, ultimately finding purpose in his work, relationships, and the pursuit of knowledge. By sharing his unique perspective on life, love, and death, When Breath Becomes Air served as a powerful reminder to me to cherish every moment and prioritize what truly gives… show more.

This is a book about mortality that was famously written by a dying author.

It’s also a book about the life of a surgeon, who has special insight into the stuff of life, i.e. the organs he severs in an unforgettable dissection scene. What I admire most is the quiet, lyrical voice of the book.

It’s sad, but it’s lovely, and it has a kind of stillness I often aspire to match in my own writing. Passages float in the air. 

My mother gifted me this book after the death of my father, which was a gut-wrenching event for the entire family and which mirrored Kalanithi’s ending. It’s the only nonfiction book on my list, but a very important one. Death is the ultimate disappearance, is it not? And something we all have to come to terms with in myriad ways. This book helps prepare us for the death of others and for our own final disappearance.

As recent as its publication was, Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air has truly become an instant classic in the space of medical memoir as it spans the space between and across the authoritative physician and the patient seeking help. In Paul’s case, he experienced both as he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer during his surgical residency. Paul manages to reveal within his words and complex thoughts just how rich a person’s spirit can be even whilst its body is beginning to fail. 

Paul Kalanithi was a young neurosurgeon diagnosed with a terminal illness who took to the pen to describe the last of his days in a stirring memoir that was eventually finished by his wife after his untimely demise.

The autobiography of a young neurosurgeon, his diagnosis with cancer, and his transition from doctor to patient. A moving discussion on mortality, and the gap between the idealism of medicine and the reality of its practice.