Being Mortal (Books of 2025 #1)

I mostly read fiction in 2024 and by the end of it I was looking for a change. While going through Crossword in Indiranagar, Satya saw and suggested this book - Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. I am a big fan of Atul Gawande’s writing. Through stories and anecdotes, he makes complicated matters simple and interesting to read. Long back I had read The Checklist Manifesto and Better. They are one of my favorites in non-fiction genre. I had read the Checklist Manifesto at the start of my professional journey and it had immensely helped me in becoming more organised and methodical in my work. 

Coming back to Being Mortal, I picked it up around 18th December and was hoping to complete it in 2024, but with school holidays, year end travel and just laziness of reading, I couldn’t finish it in 2024. So this has become the perfect start of my reading journey of 2025. 

The book touches on a very sensitive topic - the role of medicine and care at the end of one’s life journey. It made me think about a lot of things critically which I had never paid attention to. The book  mainly analyses healthcare and elder care systems in the USA. What actually matters to someone who is either terminally ill or is nearing the end of their life journey. Is medicine always the answer or what are the external factors that could benefit. Like his other books, this also has experiences and stories of multiple people that the writer has spoken to. Every chapter has a core thought that the writer is exploring with the help of multiple stories. Throughout the book he has intertwining of technicality and the stories or data that goes with it. The book also has stories of his own family members like his grandfather who lived in India, grand mother-in-law and his father. It was really touching to read his father’s story. I also really loved the chapter that explored how small changes in elder homes immensely improved the quality of life of its residence.

Overall it was a very thought provoking and moving book.