When Breath Becomes Air Book Reviews

AUTHOR
Paul Kalanithi
SCORE
4.5
TOTAL RATINGS
9,615

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi Book Summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living?

NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage

Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.

Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.

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Book Name When Breath Becomes Air
Genre Biographies & Memoirs
Published
Language English
E-Book Size 7.74 MB

When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi) Book Reviews 2024

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loved the title. excellent, fast paced, emotional, thoughtful, informative.. can’t say enough good things about this book!!!

Meaningful! And a beautiful read. I won’t lie that I cried while reading this book. This book raises a question within you, are we leading a meaningful life? Life is short and death is inevitable. This book has left me in thinking about my purpose. I can’t stress more, must read!

Heartbreakingly beautiful!. Every word resonated, and tears flowed powerfully at the end!

For everyone.. This is the best book.

Accepting death.. This brave man, husband and physician gave the best last contribution to love, life and death we all face .

10/10. This book is so great it’s a must read.

Very moving. This was an extraordinary book. Such a prospective to have a physician as a patient , experiencing what madden medicine can achieve from the patient prospective.

Letdown. 200 book/ yr reader and this is one of the highest rated letdowns of a book I’ve ever read. Dude tried to use big words to pull you in emotionally to a very anti climactic and unfulfilling story.

Wow. Beautiful and poignant.

Stunningly beautiful…. … and poignant.

Amazing. Hemingway said, “Write hard and clear about what hurts.” This book takes that axiom and turns it into soaring poetry. This is a story of death and dying that is both inspiring and lyrical.

Beautiful!. A nephrologist that I admire and respect profoundly, recommended this book to me. Well, it did not disappoint. It was beautifully written. I couldn’t stop reading it even with tears clouding my vision. Rest In Peace Paul.

My favorite book. I love, love LOVED this book. Every person I recommend this book falls in love with it as well. It is truly one of those rare books that fully immerse you in the experience. It’s a book that you can’t stop thinking about. A book you can’t wait to get back and read. I can not recommend this enough. It was so inspiring, may the doctor Rest In Peace forever.

No connection. I just couldn’t connect with this book. And I have experienced cancer myself.

Inspiring. Incredible book about the hardship of finding oneself again after a terminal illness diagnosis. Made me fall in love with medicine again.

Overwhelmingly Beautiful. Heart-wrenching and absolutely beautiful. Couldn’t put it down or stop crying. Thought provoking and life changing for me, personally.

Fantastic. Highly recommended

Amazing. Sad but the best book I ever read .

Phenomenal. Incredible book that deeply moved and inspired me. Paul left a legacy that will live on forever.

Truly touching story. I am a pre-med student, and I come across this book online. I am attracted by the title and the author’s story. I am so happy I didn’t miss this book. I am impressed by Paul’ reflection about death and meaning of life as both a physician and patient. It makes me reflect on why I choose medicine the first place. Paul is an example of the physician I strive to be, a deep thinker, a tender caregiver and a fierce fighter. Amazing read.

Simply amazing. Must read, unbelievable

Amazing.. When I began reading this book it was only to earn extra credit in my microbiology class. After the first chapter I couldn’t put it down. Such a great read and reminder to always do what we love, among other things. Make sure you’ve got a tissue box near by, you’ll need it!

Excellent book.. This was a beautifully written book that really hits home. I recently lost my father to stage IV pancreatic cancer. This book has provided me with some new insight and perspective. Some of the similarities are shocking and also familiar. It opened up old wounds, but allowed me to see clearer. I cried. I began to mourn again. It all caught up to me because of this book. Yet, there is the beauty of this creation. Paul wrote so eloquently. His prose is unmatched. His story is almost surreal. I wish I could have met this man and his family.

Amazing!!!. A must! Brought tears to my eyes, so lovely.

Interesting. I liked this man, I’m sure he was a great doctor, and it’s clear he died nobly, reflectively, with great humanity and vulnerability. But yet I didn’t love this book. It was interesting but did not affect me as much as I expected it to. I didn’t think the writing was top notch (if he’d become a writer instead of a surgeon, the writing would probably have been less self-conscious and detached). He had a great story to tell & he told it well. But I don’t think this book rose to the level of literature.

DY Florida. As a nurse and a wife of a medical professional who passed less than two years ago, I found this book so insightful.

This book is… beautiful.. Interesting, informative and dramatic, this book is simply a beautiful gist from a beautiful man and his family. Like his life, it was over too soon.

Stunning. Beautiful, full of joy and hope account of a remarkable life filled with purpose, love and intentional living. Inspiring on many different fronts, especially what it means to find purpose, to love, and to die with dignity.

Riveting!. This book is so full of insight and awesome perspectives! It kept me so interested I had a difficult time putting it down. Paul was such an awesome doctor and human being, able to connect and truly care about his patients as people.

A well written book, makes you think about your own. A good read after a long time. Life’s fragile, time is the most important commodity we have, make the best of it.

When Breath Becomes Air. This book is an inspiration on how to live and die with grace.

Meaningful. Human.. Thoughtful. Moving. Emotional. Human. A wrestling with life and death from a neurosurgeons, and thinkers, perspective. An exposition on the constant introspective challenges of how best to live ones life, what is meaningful, what do you value, and what is your legacy? Those answers change in context, and they’re not the same for everyone: here’s a great framework.

Great book. All I have to say is I cried for 30 minutes straight and the end of this book, and I don’t cry.

Paul Kalanithi. An amazing memoir and so honestly written. One comes away with an awareness of the intensity of responsibility of becoming a medical professional. Viewing life and death so intimately. Took my breath away.

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR. BEAUTIFUL STORY❤️

Beautifully Written. Emotional and powerful book, get ready for tears towards the end.

Great book!. Inspirational and touching!

Poignant, essential, gutting.. An important and authentic conversation on what it means to live with death. I’m very humbled to have been able to learn from Paul and Lucy by way of this memoir. Thank you.

Brilliant. I laughed and cried and had to look up words, the best reading experience.

A beautiful reminder of what makes life worth living.. I am thankful Paul shared his words with the world.

Best book I’ve had the chance to read in years. Crude meaning behind the importance of living a life well lived.

When Breath Becomes Air is Inspiring and engrossing. I’ve read this beautiful book twice now and it has become one of my top inspirational memoirs. Paul, a gifted neurosurgeon has just hit his stride when he’s diagnosed with cancer. His perseverance pays off not in a longer existence but rather a more meaningful one. A fascinating look at one doctor’s ability to accept his premature death and live in the present.

Very emotional. This was an emotional book. I like how he educated us whilst telling his story as a patient and a doctor.

Powerful. I couldn’t put this book down. Paul’s writing is descriptive and thoughtful. I would highly recommend reading this book and following him through his journey. Inspiring.

Phenomenal. Absolutely life changing.

A gorgeous. and bittersweet story. I’ve read it several times and enjoyed it every time.

Illuminating. Like Martha Weinman Lear’s “Heartsounds”, “When Breath Becomes Air” is an enlightening, medical-insider’s view of life, death, and the period in-between an “I just want my life back” illness, terminal or not. Peppered with snippets of both familiar and esoteric poetry and philosophy, Dr. Kalanithi’s lovely prose will impel you to reinterpret the meaning of both the literature and your own life, and is worthwhile reading for anyone who has, is, or will face serious illness, whether as patient, recovered survivor, caregiver, or loved one. In short, for everyone. It will provide a lasting understanding that you are most definitely not alone.

A EMTs Perspective. This book brought me to tears, from a human perspective and a healthcare worker perspective. Amazing book (don’t read the end on an EMS shift, you will cry till the sun comes up)

When Breath Becomes Air. I find myself reading this book over and over again. For him to write about so many of his personal triumphs ( including death; there is triumph in death as well)as well as his disappointments; made Paul very personable. I know from a nurses prospective that he would’ve been a fine and compassionate doctor.

Beautiful. This was a beautifully written piece. Emotional page turner.

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Please, we don’t know each other, but you have to reas This book. Thanks for this amazing book. Thanks for sharing this part of your life. I will keep it in my heart .

Amazing heartfelt book. I absolutely loves this book! What an emotional journey this book takes you on.

Beyond excellent. Raw, real, captivating, encouraging - are just some of the descriptors that come to mind. It is a highly recommended for various groups and for different reasons. Everyone will be able to take something meaningful away, but the group who should really encouraged to read and discuss its content are physicians, established and inspiring ones. Remember YOU are interacting and treating a person. Empathy is a must, not an afterthought.

When Breath Becomes Air. When Breath Becomes Air is a true testament to the admirable and purposeful life lived by Dr. Paul Kalanithi. Thank you Paul and Lucy for sharing your remarkable story.

Excellent!,,. This is the book that makes you think about what’s important in life and make you appreciate everything about it. Paul took us in his journey of his quest to become a doctor, the most difficult kind, a neurosurgeon and a scientist. With his love of literature in which he studied thoroughly before becoming a doctor, he was trying to understand the philosophy around death. Then the unimaginable happened. He got cancer at the end of his neurosurgery fellowship training. The fatal kind with tumors all over his lungs and brain. He got to be in a weird fate, the patient of whom he would have counsel for treatment. In this book he present the before, full of potential and our belief to defy death by making plans for the future we take for granted as most of have in youth. Then he present after diagnosis, how do you find meaning and purpose to live when you don’t know if tomorrow is going to come. It’s very intriguing with depth and his own thoughts facing death courageously right in the center. I don’t take for granted the time I have in this earth and I try my best to live in the moment. This book illuminates life in its fragility. It’s great that he had an awesome supporting wife and family. This makes the difference when cancer hits an individual.

Unbelievable.. This book is a rollercoaster of feelings and emotions. Happiness, sadness, anger, hope, joy, defeat, etc. Very inspirational and gives the reader an interesting point of view from both sides (patient and doctor)

Incredible. I will not be attempting to write a review for this book that gives it justice. Proper words don’t exist to explain the profound thoughts this book provoked and the impact it’s had on my life.

"Breath becomes air". One of the seminal works of literature that in my opinion merits the Nobel prize. The biography of a part of the Author's life where a neurosurgeon learns to grapple with life and death in a very personal way and from both ends of the table is simply put "beyond this world". As a surgeon myself, I have been deeply influenced by the thoughts and words reflected in this masterpiece. RIP Paul...

A masterpiece. This book is amazing, it is written so beautifully and thoughtfully, I am in awe of Paul’s writing. Furthermore the final chapter will make you cry buckets. Omg such a tragedy

I usually don’t read but wow. I usually don’t read but I saw a linknd in post saying it’s a must read so I did while this covid stuff goes down. MAN was it good! Strongly recommend :)

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Summary of When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

The When Breath Becomes Air book written by Paul Kalanithi was published on 12 January 2016, Tuesday in the Biographies & Memoirs category. A total of 9,615 readers of the book gave the book 4.5 points out of 5.

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