In the adult world, death is a fact that will inevitably face. Faced with the growing aging of elders and the increasing age of oneself, the fear of death is becoming clearer. This difficult-to-disappearing emotion reminds us in various ways that parting is not the preface to goodbye, but death is the end of everyone's life.
We try to cherish every day when the person we love exists, but we are afraid of the appearance of that day...
Several years ago, a friend's grandmother passed away. She had never seen her father crying. On the funeral day, she found that her father cried like a child. She said that when her grandmother was alive, she would drink a drink at every meal, and on her death day every year, her father would toast a glass of wine to the moon.
We know that death is the end point for everyone, but we have never truly understood the meaning of death. When it comes to death, it is more about fear.
Recently, the topic of "death education" continues to ferment. We recommend these 9 books to those who bravely face the truth of life. Starting from "death", think about the direction and meaning of life.
Schmitt's "Life Reading" series
"Oscars and Grandma Rose"
[France] Eric Emmanuel Schmitt | Written by
Xu Xiaoyan | Translated by
CITIC Publishing Group 2018.8
Books together with " Bible " and " Little Prince " were selected as the French magazine "Reading" "Books That Change Life" book list.
The story tells the story of the 10-year-old stubborn boy Oscar's anti-cancer journey. Oscar was originally flexible and naughty, but after the failure of the operation, he became irritable and depressed. Until one day, the weird Grandma Rose came to him and told him the legend of "Magic 12 Days". With the encouragement of Grandma Rose, he began to write letters to God every day and speak his heart; he carefully observed every day and regarded each day as a decade. Through these letters, Oscar was able to imagine all stages of his life: love, friendship, trust, crisis, aging...
When the 12-day "condensed life" is about to end, Oscar re-understood the meaning of life. He said: "Life is a strange gift, we should try to deserve its nobility."
"Noah's Children"
[France] Eric Emmanuel Schmitt |
Xu Xiaoyan | Translation
CITIC Publishing Group 2019.1
This book is ranked among the top 10 classic French education classics along with works such as Moliè , Voltaire , and Hugo .
"Noah's Child" is adapted from a true story from World War II. In 1942, the little boy Joseph Bernstein, who was in the midst of war, was changed his name and age and became the child of "Noah".
This "Noah" is Father Pons, who built the ark of World War II in a yellow villa that looks like a cat. Under the impact of artillery fire and racial hatred, he hid Jewish children in the yellow villa to protect Jewish culture.
Faced with the fear of being arrested, Joseph Jr. keeps asking questions: What does Jewish mean? Why can't I be like others? He had a great expectation to become someone else and get rid of his Jewish descent.
But in the yellow villa of "Noah", he learned Hebrew and accepted his innate identity. When Joseph, when he grew up, he pushed himself to others and picked up the Palestinian round hat, he finally became the new "Noah". He also understood that everyone deserves respect, everyone has the right to survive, and our lives are not only meaningful to ourselves.
"Twilight is coming: The Last Moment of the Great Writer"
[USA] Katie Love |
Diao Junchun | Translation
CITIC Publishing Group 2018.5
"You must know that you die and then live, and you must know that the pace of life is approaching the end of your life is rapid and close."
"Twilight is coming: The Last Moment of the Great Writer" is a long, non-fiction work of the famous American cultural critic Katie Love. She wrote death into the book. By checking the scenes of the lives of six great writers, Love gradually understood her own fear of death.
Since her father's death, sadness has been lingering with her. She decided to explore life by studying death. The truth of the last moment. In the preface, she said she wanted to check death, so she found this book.
When selecting the research subject, several names jumped into her mind: Susan Sontag , Sigmund Freud, John Updike , Dylan Thomas, Morris Sundak , and James Sort. These writers describe them in their own works When writing about death, it seems to have the wisdom to recognize death. Love believes that if it is impossible to capture death with words, then these writers are the most likely people to do it.
Everyone's life begins with death and slowly unfolds. Love recreates the last moments of the writers by talking to the artist's relatives and friends during his lifetime, sorting out the textual materials. "The Twilight is Coming: The Last Moment of the Great Writer" is such a death Biography of Death.
James Sort, who appears in the end, said that life has become a page. So, checking death finally goes to reading life. The coming twilight is never dull, but always shines with magnificent light.
"Year of Wonderful Imagination"
[US] Joan Didion |
Tao Zehui | Translated by
New Star Publishing House 2017.1
As a "classic work of sad literature", this book has won the National Book Award .
"The Year of Wonder" is the true confession of contemporary American writer Joan Didian in his twilight years. When Didian was 70 years old, her husband who had lived with him for forty years suddenly passed away due to illness and her daughter was seriously ill. She did not cry loudly, nor was she lost her soul, and was so calm that her relatives and friends thought she didn't need much comfort. In fact, she was as fragile as all those who had lost their loved ones and would experience mental breakdown at any time.
Didian read I read a large number of medical books and papers related to death, and constantly overturned my original understanding of death, disease, and sadness. She realized that sorrow is also a serious disease, and we should take positive action to resolve it, rather than wait for time to soothe...
This powerful documentary work records the difficult year in Didion's life, telling the story of her inner pain and rebirth after peace and pain.
[US] Sherwin B. Nulan | 文
Lin Wenbin/Liao Yuejuan/Du Tingting | Translation
CITIC Publishing Group 2019.3
"A modern death occurs in a hospital, where death can hide, natural corruption can be cleansed, and then wrapped in modern funerals. ”
The original English version of the book How We Die won the National Book Award in the United States. The
book focuses on describing diseases, covering most diseases that are prone to taking away human life. As a professor at Yale University School of Medicine, the author published his true experience of treating each disease to the public. Combined with the knowledge of biology and clinical medicine, he truly presents the whole picture of death, allowing people to accept that death is a natural law that cannot be violated.
author tries to express that each of us can die with dignity. Only by understanding the truth of death and the disease can we transcend the fear of the unknown world of death.
"Sighting the scorching sun: Conquer the Fear of Death"
[US] Irving Yalong | Written by
Zhang Ya | Translation
China Light Industry Press 2009.1
Like the previous work, the author of this book, Irving Yalong, is also a doctor. As an honorary retired professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States, said that "Looking at the Sun: Conquering the Fear of Death" is completely personal, and comes from his own experience of facing death.In addition to 23 actual cases and many literary classics and film works in the book
, the author, as a 75-year-old man, explores the fear of death that is common in people's hearts but has been denied and suppressed for a long time.
Although facing death is like looking directly at the scorching sun - it is an extremely painful and difficult thing. But if you want to live, you must truly understand the situation of human existence, the finiteness of life, and the short-lived light of life.
"Although death is the end, the meaning of life will not be annihilated because of this; although death is fate, the perspective of death can save people."
"When breathing turns into air"
[USA] Paul Kalanish | by
He Yujia | Translation
Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House 2016.12
Only 0.0012% of people in the world will suffer from lung cancer before the age of 36, and the author of this book, Paul Kalanish, is one of them. When you read this book, he is no longer alive. The author's identity has suddenly changed from a doctor to a patient, and he is using personal experience to tell readers how to do meaningful things in a short life.
The author has obtained a double degree in English literature and human biology from Stanford University in the United States, and obtained a master's degree in history and philosophy studies from University of Cambridge, UK, and obtained a doctorate in medicine from Yale University in the United States with excellent results. He is about to receive a professor of surgery at Stanford Medical School and preside over his own laboratory.
In 2013, Paul, who is about to reach the peak of his life, was suddenly diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Since then, he began to record the rest of his life as a doctor and a patient, reflecting on medical care, human nature and life and death.
Some readers sighed after reading it: "Reading this book is like reading a long last words, which contains love for life, honesty towards death, persistence in science and thinking about life. Life and death are entangled in symbiosis, and if you lose any one, the rest is meaningless. Thanks to Paul and his wife, I think I will bring a bottle of whiskey one day and go to the hill where he settled."
"Suicide as a China issue"
Wu Fei | Written by
Life·Reading·New Knowledge Sanlian Bookstore 2007.11
"China's suicide problem is a reflection of China's modernity problem."
In 2002, China's high suicide rate was disclosed to the world, and suicide has since become a social issue that has attracted widespread attention.
The author Wu Fei is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University. He looks at the problem of suicide in the book and reflects on the outlook on life in Chinese culture and the cultural situation of contemporary China. By sorting out the tradition of Western suicide thought, the author understands the cultural assumptions behind contemporary suicide. He believes that to understand China's suicide problem, we cannot rely on the theory of suicide, but to find corresponding concepts in Chinese culture; to solve the suicide problem, we cannot just focus on the phenomenon of suicide, but to reflect on more important ideological and cultural issues through it.
"Life and Death Class in the Image"
Lu Xiaoya | Author
Beijing Normal University Press 2016.8
"Life and Death Class in the Image" Lu Xiaoya is a famous psychology expert. This book is a record of the lecture notes of her public elective course of the same name held at Beijing Normal University since 2012. The book uses documentary techniques to present the teaching content of each unit one by one, showing the classroom teaching process, and while analyzing related life and death issues, it shares the author's educational philosophy and teaching methods.
The whole book takes "What kind of life is worth living" as its core concern, selects excellent Chinese and foreign films, builds a thinking platform for issues related to "life and death", and spans multiple disciplines such as psychology, sociology, medicine, anthropology, ethics, philosophy, aesthetics, etc., and assists students in exploring the meaning and value of life in multiple dialogues of movie viewing, reading and discussion, and constructs their own life consciousness and life values.
The author’s motivation for giving life and death classes is to make death a reference system for life and interrogate individuals’ self-worth in dilemma.
"Telling the child who commits suicide 'you should cherish life', I don't really believe it is useful, so I prefer to adopt a dialogue method to explore the meaning of death and life with them."
