Notable Work of Paul Kalanithi
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.
When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity — the brain — and finally into a patient and a new father.
What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away?
Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.
“I am dying, but till I die, I am actually living.”
“As a resident, my highest ideal was not saving lives- everyone dies eventually- but guiding a patient or family to an understanding of death or illness.”
When I read this book, I was a brain tumour patient recovering from a craniotomy and undergoing radiation. I have read the entirety of this book while sitting in the lobby of the hospital. So each and every word of the author wrote resonated with my soul. But even if you manage to ignore that fact, you will find that reading this book will soothe all your ruffled souls and make you think about life. This book gives you a perspective into a deeply battered soul and makes you realize that no matter how close you are to someone, you will never understand what exactly do they go through. You will learn that no matter what, you ought to respect and give dignity to life.
This book will haunt you in the most beautiful way possible. It is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. If we talk about the literary value of the book, it is a very poignant book that treat every nuance of the tragedy in a very delicate and careful way. You will realize that you won’t rush through any part of the book. In fact, there will be times when you keep the book aside and deliberate and contemplate about what the author just said and take your time to assimilate it. In the world of quick reads, that is a huge achievement!
And at the end of it, you will realize that the author left you with much more than pennies for your thoughts — he leaves you with the feeling that you gained a friend in the book!
Happy reading! :)
