WHEN BRETAH BECOMES AIR- “POETIC, POIGNANT, PAINFUL”

I picked up “When breath becomes air” by Paul Kalanithi with a heavy heart. Since I knew that reading one’s encounter with the only reality, death, would be neither easy nor entertaining. The realization that we all are mortal would be frightening to core. Except that we do not know that number of days we are left with. 

Then, Paul Kalanithi was not another man: he was a doctor, the one who saves lives. How it would be to turn a patient from a doctor. That also when he least expected it, when he is considered GOD by the ailing patients.

 It is nothing less than a thunderbolt from a clear blue sky.   

The book begins with a brief description of his childhood at Arizona. His keenness in understanding the essence of human existence since childhood. And his confusion in selecting the career ahead. A part of his soul wanted him to be writer, another part suggested him to be a doctor. Ultimately finalizing Neurosurgery as his path, his destiny.

And deciding to turn a writer at a later stage, once he becomes a successful neurosurgeon.

He never portrays himself as a super-human, who shrugged of the fear of death. But the image he draws is of a real human being, fragile, but fighting, strong, yet weak, determined, still faltering.  The book is the account of his dreams, his thoughts, and the pain he encountered whilst undergoing treatment for the unforgiving illness.

It will touch your heart, will make you cry, perhaps inwardly, and will scare even the strongest. I wanted to write more about the book, but am falling short of words. Then, no word can describe death, it can only be felt. 

“When breath becomes air” could only be the title of the book, I felt. Nothing else could have depicted the crux of the book. Helplessness of ever powerful human being, When breath, that contains life, turns to nothing, but lifeless, meaningless, air. 

Pros: Everything, from the prologue to the epilogue written by Lucy Kalanithi.  The heart-wrenching narration would move you; make your heart writhe in pain.

Cons: The repeated usage of medical terms, for which I had to look up at Google, interrupted the flow. 

Rating: 5/5