SCPL Online NonFiction Book Club discussion

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for our March book selection. My name is Diana, and I will be leading this month’s discussion. Our title this time around is When Breath Becomes Air by the late Paul Kalanithi.

This moving memoir is the story of a man who, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, finds himself facing a diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer. This is the story of Kalanithi’s life and also, the story of his transformation from doctor to patient as he faced this unexpected and terminal illness head-on.

I won’t sugar coat the subject matter—this is a very difficult and emotional read, but it is also a profound and beautiful contemplation of mortality and what makes a life worth living. Recently, When Breath Becomes Air was selected as the 2016 Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Memoir and Autobiography.

The book is available from the Library in several different formats, all of which are accessible at the following link: https://goo.gl/6Vv47q

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did, and I look forward to discussing it with you. Feel free to respond to my questions, or post your own thoughts!

~Diana~

I borrowed the audiobook version of this book and listened to it while moving this weekend. It goes very quickly which I think is indicative of the writing which is very much a race against time. I will be interested in hearing everyone else’s comments. I think the part that struck home for me was that I am very close in age to Dr. Kalanithi and the same age that he was when he was first diagnosed. I have also just finished university. Not nearly as many years as him but I just completed my master’s degree last fall so it is easy to imagine how devastating it would be to receive a diagnosis like his at this point. I thought he handled it very well. Thank you for recommending this book!

Thank you for your comments, Heidi. I also listened to the audio version the first time I read this book, and I really enjoyed that format. As I am also in my mid-thirties, the book struck a chord for me as well. Although I've now been out of school for quite awhile, I sometimes still feel like my adult life is just getting started. There is so much more I hope to learn and accomplish in the coming years, and I agree that it would be absolutely devastating to have those dreams dashed by a diagnosis of terminal cancer. I look forward to discussing further with you and the other readers!