Review of Dying Well

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Tyler Titus
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Review of Dying Well

Post by Tyler Titus »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Dying Well" by Susan Ducharme Hoben.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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The book, Dying Well by Susan Ducharme Hoben, is an autobiographical story of Susan and her husband, Bruce. Bruce is diagnosed with esophageal cancer and after fighting the cancer with the strongest mix of chemo, the cancer returns with a vengeance. Instead of pursuing a different treatment, Bruce decides to spend the rest of his time on Earth surrounded by his family.

One aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the vocabulary the author chose to incorporate. She had the opportunity to change the vocabulary terms to something less “medical speak” so that more readers would be able to read along more easily. Instead, she chose to include all the medical terms in her story so that it accurately represented what was happening and what Bruce and she were going through. In no way is this book an informational guide into what exactly it is like to have cancer and understand the procedures and treatments that go along with it, but it does allow the reader to have a better understanding of what people go through that have cancer.

One aspect of this book that I did not quite enjoy was Susan’s internal commentary about how she was feeling during Bruce’s cancer journey. She does comment occasionally during the book about how unfair it is for Bruce, a man that ate right and exercised, to get cancer while others that are taking much less care with their bodies are able to live in peace without sickness. I agree that the book would have been unappealing to me if the entire story was of her speaking about how unfair life was, but I do not agree with how she puts herself down for her “selfish” comments. Life is unfair, but you are allowed to be angry and want to shout at the world for taking your love away. I wish she did not put herself down when she had these internal comments throughout the book.

I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The book had no grammatical errors that I could find and it was written exceptionally. The story has a bittersweet ending as it is always sad when we lose someone close to us. Susan does a great job of explaining death and how it does not always need to be a very sad moment. I agree with Bruce and her that going out in your own terms surrounded by loved ones instead of withering away due to treatment and surrounded by hospital staff is a better way to go. Bruce also experienced his “lasts” surrounded by his children and grandchildren and I guarantee he had no last regrets when he passed.

This book is recommended for teenagers and up. The book uses a lot of medical terminology that most children would not understand and would have trouble following. This book also deals with death and the ending is not quite sad but more bittersweet. This is a book for audiences that do not always expect a happy ending. This book also has an overarching theme of family. Readers that value family above all else would greatly enjoy this book.

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Dying Well
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