Humans have expressed ideas about death since cave paintings and stone tablets. In this space we’re offering some more recent books that we find particularly important, thought provoking, and helpful.
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Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death
Butler’s account of the decline and death of her father is harrowing, instructive, and a call to action. “Before I shepherded my parents through to their deaths, I thought that medical overtreatment was mainly an economic problem,” Butler writes. “After my father's death, I understood the human cost. After my mother's death, I saw that there could be another path.”
The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom
NH Options ally Eric Brungot writes: Author Lydia Dugdale is both an internist and medical ethicist. She is associate professor of medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University. In this book, she explores the ancient Ars Moriendi, which in its day, was a prescription on how to die well. She further writes that dying well requires us to, in turn, live well. But how does one do that? A very enjoyable and enlightening read.