I had a sour taste after reading Victoria & Abdul. As I mentioned in previous posts, I did not read much towards the end of this year. The holidays were approaching and my Christmas book giveaway was shaping up to be weak. I decided to wander Barnes and Noble for some inspiration. I saw Being Mortal on the first table of books I walked by.
The word "mortal" caught my attention because of my day job. I read the back cover and it sounded interesting. The subtitle of the book sums it up perfectly: what matters in the end. Atul Gawande is a doctor at one of the hospitals in Boston. He writes about how Americans care for people as they age. He looks at this from a doctor's perspective, but also from a patient perspective as his father his aging.
In the old days, as parents aged, they would move in with their kids and grandkids. The families stayed together to care for the elderly, who were seen as wise and knowledgeable. The premise is we have shifted to a place where we want our elders to be safe, even if it means taking away their cars, putting them in nursing homes, giving them countless meds. Besides the financial cost, it takes a toll mentally and physically, to the point where one asks what is the point of living? What matters in the end?
The author does not have an answer, as it will vary from person to person. He suggests it is more about having that conversation than what the answer is. Some will want to take care of themselves; others will be happy as long as they can still eat ice cream. Hospice seems like a reasonable happy-medium for many at the end of the road (something I did not know much about).
It is a very insightful book and I think it is spot on. I had my dad read the book and then shared it with an old college professor. They used words like "sobering" and "dark" but at the same time they agreed the author was spot on and it was good to think about.
My rating for Being Mortal: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!
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