My last post was prompted by a reader’s comment where Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal were juxtaposed. Since receiving that message, I have had occasion to notice that others also associate these two books.
For example, both are mentioned positively in this moving article by Dr. Clare Luz about a friend’s suicide, and in these tweets from Dr. Paddy Barrett’s podcast program:
Must Reads: Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. Reread, then reread. Just brilliant! https://t.co/131G3KSYqU pic.twitter.com/zIbAtRsmgU
— TheDoctorParadox (@paradox_doctor) January 2, 2016
Must Reads: Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. Excellent!! https://t.co/ymiDLtqNQH pic.twitter.com/7YHKEr8GSS
— TheDoctorParadox (@paradox_doctor) January 7, 2016
Friends and patients of mine have likewise mentioned these two works to me, expressing praise and testifying to the deep impact the books have had on them.
I suspect that many readers of this blog will at least be familiar with these two books. If not, summaries are here (Frankl) and here (Gawande).
I read the books in succession and found the difference between the two striking. Frankl and Gawande seem to be at polar opposites on the question of life and death. In this post, I will explore this difference, starting with Gawande’s point of departure.Continue reading “Taking stock of our existence”
