When Breath Becomes Air

'When Breath Becomes Air' is without question one of the more difficult and beautiful reads I've ever experienced. The story of a gifted surgeon in whose hands many might be saved, facing and succumbing to cancer is at once so wonderfully crafted and so painfully descriptive that it proved very hard to finish. Not because it was uninteresting or unworthy of a read, but because Dr. Kalanithi in my estimation has such a clear finger on the pulse of what it means to be human, what it means to fear death, and what it means to triumph in life. He is a true literary scholar and weaves the most beautiful observations about the struggle of those who face crippling disease with his rich and classical knowledge of literature and philosophy. This is no ordinary and technical examination of disease and its biological impact upon human tissue, but more a treatise of the human spirit. My congratulations to Dr. Kalanithi for his courage and for his family's permission to share in his thoughts about death and dying. I found myself in tears often, not for Dr Kalanithi's loss, but for his grace and beauty in facing it.