In the past 1,5 months, I've been reading exclusively about death and dying (and sometimes grief). I wanted to put together a list of the works I've read on this topic in case anyone is ever interested.
Psychological-ish books
-Living With Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Kübler-Ross was the person who came up with the idea of talking with terminally ill patients. This book was about the experiences of the family of the dying person.
-On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Here she focuses on the experiences of the dying patients and talks about how they go through the 5 stages (yes those famous 5 stages) when faced with their own death. Unlike what people are saying, those 5 stages are not about how others react to the death but the dying person themselves as they face their death.
-How Children Grieve by Corinne Masur: Very detailed and helpful guide for dealing with 0-18 year olds that go through grief and how to help them cope with it better
-Staring at the Sun by Irvin Yalom: Straightforward an existentialist take on death. gave me good take aways.
Written by terminally ill people
-When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi: A doctor's autobiography and his experiences with his own terminal cancer. Was tear jerking.
-Dying: A Memoir by Cory Taylor: Also an autobiography. Has a relaxed language. You don't want her to stop talking.
-Mortality by Christopher Hitchens: Unfortunately my least favorite out of the three. He had a very journalistic language. I tried very hard to like it but perhaps because I'm not a native speaker, it was difficult to follow.
Non-fic but not exactly psychological
-How We Die by Sherwin B. Nuland: Very brutal. Very explicit. Very raw. Almost gory, but then again human body is gory. He talks about how we literally die. Approach with caution for naked explanations of death. I liked it quite a lot tho.
-Advice for Future Corpses (And Those Who Love Them) by Sallie Tisdale: Probably one of my fav ones among all these reads. Tells you, as a friend, what to do and what not to do around a dying person. How to handle the whole process and afterwards. Very clear and relaxed language.
-Ölüm Yaşamın Mührü by Berna Köker Poljak: This is a Turkish author, IDK if it's translated into other languages, I hope it gets translated in the future. It's on the experiences of a death doula living in Australia. She asks hard questions but with a lot of compassion.
Fiction but not exactly?
-Agua Viva by Clarice Lispector: Reading this left me with an all-emotion-soup. I read an English translation, so I honestly felt like I was cut off from her real words. and I realize it isn't exactly about death or dying, but it seemed to me that she used existence itself as a mirror, the only mirror we can use to look at death. I loved how she cuts down to the bones with her words.
-The Schopenhauer Cure by Irvin Yalom: it's not exactly a memoir. a psychiatrist learns that he's terminally ill and gets into contact with a former patient, whose personality and dialogues felt..... forced and unnatural. The book isn't completely untied from Staring at the Sun. If I were to choose between the two, I'd go with that one and not this book.
Please let me know if there are any books that you're aware of that are related to these topics. I lean towards non-fiction these days but I know that fiction is a perfect means to cope with the reality of harsh truths.
