Paul DeSantis
John Green has achieved such a monumental level of celebrity that I was initially unsure if people really enjoyed his work, or if his fans just loved that he put out another thing for them to consume. I have definitely caught a "vlogbrothers" video here and there and I loved "Crash Course World History" when I was in school, but I wanted to read this book without the outside context of John Green as much as I could.
As with many other "collection of essays," I think your connection to the author really drives where or not you find the writing interesting, and I don't think I would have picked it up unless someone who was a fan of John and enjoyed reading the book hadn't recommended it to me.
Ultimately, I think the book is extremely well written and is very captivating. John does a great job of taking some smaller ideas and concepts and adding some of his own personal experiences to make the idea just feel so important. There are a lot of aspects of daily life that just go underappreciated, and it's nice to think about sunsets, Halley's comet, and Diet Dr Pepper sometimes when there is so much else going on. I was also surprised to see that some people dislike the "meandering" that happens in each chapter, but ultimately the meandering is the book. Anyone can read the Wikipedia page about the Lascaux Cave Paintings and get the gist of what they are, but John's writing can help us to understand what the cave means.
I would definitely recommend giving this book a read. The audiobook is also particularly good, John is a great narrator. I am also interested in checking out some of his fiction, although I do worry that I am too far from the intended demographic. We will have to see.
John Green has achieved such a monumental level of celebrity that I was initially unsure if people really enjoyed his work, or if his fans just loved that he put out another thing for them to consume. I have definitely caught a "vlogbrothers" video here and there and I loved "Crash Course World History" when I was in school, but I wanted to read this book without the outside context of John Green as much as I could.
As with many other "collection of essays," I think your connection to the author really drives where or not you find the writing interesting, and I don't think I would have picked it up unless someone who was a fan of John and enjoyed reading the book hadn't recommended it to me.
Ultimately, I think the book is extremely well written and is very captivating. John does a great job of taking some smaller ideas and concepts and adding some of his own personal experiences to make the idea just feel so important. There are a lot of aspects of daily life that just go underappreciated, and it's nice to think about sunsets, Halley's comet, and Diet Dr Pepper sometimes when there is so much else going on. I was also surprised to see that some people dislike the "meandering" that happens in each chapter, but ultimately the meandering is the book. Anyone can read the Wikipedia page about the Lascaux Cave Paintings and get the gist of what they are, but John's writing can help us to understand what the cave means.
I would definitely recommend giving this book a read. The audiobook is also particularly good, John is a great narrator. I am also interested in checking out some of his fiction, although I do worry that I am too far from the intended demographic. We will have to see.
Overall, I think this book is worth reading. It helps to demystify the "process" of dying and helps readers to understand that there are some aspects of dying that seem unusual, but are actually very common. I appreciate the messaging that everyone grieves differently, but from a technical aspect I think the book needs some editing.
If I could make a big change to this book, I would have recommended this book to be about Hadley, but not written by Hadley. There are a lot sections that just come across as Hadley patting herself on the back: Oh, Hadley, you're the only nurse that makes me smile and treats me right... and while it all might be true it just doesn't feel that way sometimes. I would have preferred to see Hadley's work approached more from a journalistic standpoint, with someone observing Hadley and talking to her patients. Obviously stories from her previous work deserve to be in the book, but it needs something to anchor it to the truth.
I do think Hadley is doing a great job of talking to the public about hospice. Her writing makes it seem less scary and depressing. Ideally dying is a peaceful process and hospice nurses, doctors, and workers are responsible for ensuring that. Highly recommend for a book club as I think everyone has a story about death they want to talk about, but don't have the appropriate venue.
Overall, I think this book is worth reading. It helps to demystify the "process" of dying and helps readers to understand that there are some aspects of dying that seem unusual, but are actually very common. I appreciate the messaging that everyone grieves differently, but from a technical aspect I think the book needs some editing.
If I could make a big change to this book, I would have recommended this book to be about Hadley, but not written by Hadley. There are a lot sections that just come across as Hadley patting herself on the back: Oh, Hadley, you're the only nurse that makes me smile and treats me right... and while it all might be true it just doesn't feel that way sometimes. I would have preferred to see Hadley's work approached more from a journalistic standpoint, with someone observing Hadley and talking to her patients. Obviously stories from her previous work deserve to be in the book, but it needs something to anchor it to the truth.
I do think Hadley is doing a great job of talking to the public about hospice. Her writing makes it seem less scary and depressing. Ideally dying is a peaceful process and hospice nurses, doctors, and workers are responsible for ensuring that. Highly recommend for a book club as I think everyone has a story about death they want to talk about, but don't have the appropriate venue.
Added to listBoneyardwith 6 books.
