When Breath Becomes Air: A great read worth your time!

Book Review

What would prompt a very ill man, struck by terminal lung cancer – with months to live and a newborn to spend precious time with – to put aside a huge chunk of his time left on earth to write a book?

When I read an article about Dr. Paul Kalanithi’s death, and then a glowing review of his book, I was intrigued enough to pick up a copy. And what a book! ‘When Breath Becomes Air’ is neither an autobiography nor a novel, but it deftly combines the intimacy of the former with the crisp objectivity of the latter.

Whatever were the reasons that compelled Paul Kalanithi to persevere with writing the book in the face of often-debilitating illness, we can be thankful for them. Because it’s a stunning book that combines the rare insight of a brilliant physician with the sheer helplessness and candor of a stricken patient. He doesn’t wallow in self-pity or take us through his bucket list. Neither does he talk down to the reader from a neurosurgeon’s lofty perch. What he does do – and very lucidly at that – is give us a better understanding of the everyday aspects of life and death he confronted, first as a doctor and then as a patient dealing with a fatal prognosis. A terminal journey that begins with the shock of realization and progresses through an acceptance of its inevitability.

As the book ends with an abruptness leaving behind a sense of what could have been, it perfectly captures the incomplete graph of the writer’s short lifetime. A poignant epilogue from his wife Lucy, herself a doctor, then reveals facets of his personality he chose not to reveal to his readers while also giving us a glimpse of her strength in dealing with the enormity of their situation. When Breath Becomes Air is a great piece of writing that leaves you reflecting on the very essence of the writer’s pursuit: finding meaning in life and in its antithesis – death.

An absolute must-read.