Book Review: Smoke gets in your eyes and other lessons from the crematory by Caitlin Doughty

I wasn’t planning on reading something relating to death, but now that I have, I’m left wanting more. Here’s what I thought about Smoke gets in your eyes and other questions from the crematory by Caitlin Doughty:

“A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves” I have to say, Caitlin Doughty takes the credit for the best opening line.

Caitlin has had a fascination with death ever since she saw a child fall to her death in a shopping mall. That scene haunted her for years, constantly forcing her to think about the demise of her loved ones. That was a crucial moment in her life, that took her to the mortuary industry. So at the age of 23, Caitlin Doughty decided to explore death in a more personal way. She got a job as a crematory operator at Westwind Cremation and Burial mortuary in Oakland, California. After one year at the crematory, Doughty attended Cypress College’s Mortuary Science program and graduated as a certified mortician. Her experiences there helped her understand her own mortality and influenced her to start this important discussion about death.

Smoke gets in your eyes and other lessons from the crematory is a memoir, describing her own experiences in the mortuary industry. She contemplates our attitude towards death, the fact that we’re uncomfortable talking about it and fear facing it. She emphasizes the importance of accepting death, not avoiding it. She also talks about the different funeral practices and their history like embalming, which gave rise to the million-dollar mortuary industry. Embalming made the corpses look pretty, more alive than dead, and it pleased the spectators. It was an instant hit. Mortuary practices are not for the faint-hearted. Ah, that reminds me, this book isn’t either! You’ll come across several gross(but fascinating)details of her work. To be surrounded by the constant smell of decay and ash is not easy work. However, working with death is something Caitlin has come to enjoy.

This book may seem like a boring read, but it’s not. Who knew reading about death could be so enjoyable? Certainly not me. I absolutely loved how Caitlin approached this topic, it’s very original and captivating, humorous but respectful.

Caitlin has written about her amusing experiences in this book but that’s not the point of it. The purpose of it was to highlight our attitude towards death and try and change it.

Read it and let me know how you liked it in the comments below! Also, suggest me some more books to review.