Being Mortal

     Author                        Atul Gawande

     Country                      United States

     Genre                          Non Fiction

     Publication Date        October, 2014

     Pages                           263





I have recently started a book club with my college friends and this was our first picks. Hence, it was very special to me! Having vaguely heard about this book before, I had never found the courage to pick this up (yes - you need courage to read a book!). But I am delighted to share that this was not only a great read, but also very enlightening and enriching.

 

Written by a medicine professional, "Being Mortal" is an interesting take on Medicine and Mortality. Through his book, Atul Gawande explores the fact that while the scientific advancements in medicine have done a great service by extending human longevity, they tend to make us forget that we are all mortal and life has to come to an end finally. There is a fine line between "fixing" issues, pushing limits and accepting the reality.

"Decline remains our fate, death will someday come" brings this to life very aptly.

Atul further explores the concept of independence and how a debilitating life, one which starts to lose independence is very hard for the aged. The idea of being dependent and losing your freedom is the very premise on which nursing homes are built and there is nothing more depressing than this for the aged.

 

The other key aspect of the book which rings a bell personally for me is that, even in old age, all humans are keen to have a purpose larger than themselves. As life debilitates through age, clinging on to a purpose and a meaning is very important to most, but the constant need of medicine and of old age care to focus solely on safety and health takes away from this purpose. What matters in life changes significantly as one nears the end, but the need for a "purpose" remains equally important or rather, to a certain extent, becomes more important.

Some of my best quotes from the book are:

 

"Medical professionals concentrate on repair of health,  not sustenance of the soul."

 

"We think our job in medicine is to ensure health and survival. But really it is larger than that. It is to enable well being. And well being is about the reasons one wishes to be alive."

In summary, this is a great book and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is up for a new and unique challenge!