- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (July 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312264119
- ISBN-13: 978-0312264116
- Product Dimensions: 23.8 x 15.6 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,733,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Scared about dying? After reading this book, you won't be. I work in a mortuary and found this book fascinating, I think i may have learnt more when reading this than i did studying for my degree. It may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it tells you exactly what happens when you die, different religious customs, embalming, death and burial and the age old "Buried alive" debate. Ths book is fascinasting no matter what line of work you are in, it dispells the myths about death, dying and the grim reaper, and it also makes you think about living.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Death is the great taboo for our society, which is surprising, considering how fascinating so many people seem to find it. In his preface, Mims writes:
"we should take a more matter-of-fact view of death...we should accept it and talk about it more - as we have with the once taboo subject of sex."
His own work is wonderfully matter-of-fact, without any trace of the sensationalism that this topic seems to breed. Taking an encyclopaedic look at all aspects of death and dying, he considers death as a physical event at the cellular, individual and species levels, attitudes to and rituals of death in different cultures both historically and geographically, including mummification and cannibalism, and such intriguing questions as who owns a dead body and why humans might be sacrificed.
The book is organised into four sections, covering what causes death, the biological processes that occur after death, dealing with corpses, and the afterlife, each with thematic chapters, making it easy to dip into for those who can't quite cope with 350 pages of death all at one go.
Mims, as might perhaps be expected from a onetime Professor of Microbiology in a hospital, tends to concentrate more on the physical and social aspects of death; religious beliefs, for example, are largely dealt with via the rituals they inspire, and even the very short section on the afterlife is largely filled with long quotes from various poets surrounding a few synopses of the beliefs about death of the major religions. I felt very much that Mims himself believes that life ends with death (though he never explicitly says so) and is rather embarrassed by those who would disagree with him.
The more effective parts of the book are those dealing with the physical aspects of dying. Mims views this very much as a process over time, with perhaps no one instant when we cease to be living. His explanation of the process is fascinating, and in a strange way, comforting. Recommended reading for anyone who's going to die one day...
"we should take a more matter-of-fact view of death...we should accept it and talk about it more - as we have with the once taboo subject of sex."
His own work is wonderfully matter-of-fact, without any trace of the sensationalism that this topic seems to breed. Taking an encyclopaedic look at all aspects of death and dying, he considers death as a physical event at the cellular, individual and species levels, attitudes to and rituals of death in different cultures both historically and geographically, including mummification and cannibalism, and such intriguing questions as who owns a dead body and why humans might be sacrificed.
The book is organised into four sections, covering what causes death, the biological processes that occur after death, dealing with corpses, and the afterlife, each with thematic chapters, making it easy to dip into for those who can't quite cope with 350 pages of death all at one go.
Mims, as might perhaps be expected from a onetime Professor of Microbiology in a hospital, tends to concentrate more on the physical and social aspects of death; religious beliefs, for example, are largely dealt with via the rituals they inspire, and even the very short section on the afterlife is largely filled with long quotes from various poets surrounding a few synopses of the beliefs about death of the major religions. I felt very much that Mims himself believes that life ends with death (though he never explicitly says so) and is rather embarrassed by those who would disagree with him.
The more effective parts of the book are those dealing with the physical aspects of dying. Mims views this very much as a process over time, with perhaps no one instant when we cease to be living. His explanation of the process is fascinating, and in a strange way, comforting. Recommended reading for anyone who's going to die one day...
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Poorly written book on a fascinating subject
21 Aug 2004
Format:Paperback
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the subject is fascinating, and Mims delves into many aspects of it: religious, ethical, archaeological, medical, etc. On the other hand, it is extremely poorly written. It reads as if it has not yet gone through an editor. Actually, mistakes like "This treatment costs at least $120,000 dollars" make me think it may *not* have, at least not a competent one. And consider this passage on suicide:
"The very careful, practical suicide may use multiple methods. An extreme example would be blowing one's brains out as one drives a car (with the exhaust directed into the car) over a cliff, having taken an overdose beforehand."
A lame attempt at humor, and badly constructed at that. Makes you wonder how much care was given to the research conducted for the book. At any rate, it's bad for Mims' image, and hence for the book's.
"When We Die" might be worth picking up at a deep discount as a quick overview of the subject, but I can't recommend it at full price.
"The very careful, practical suicide may use multiple methods. An extreme example would be blowing one's brains out as one drives a car (with the exhaust directed into the car) over a cliff, having taken an overdose beforehand."
A lame attempt at humor, and badly constructed at that. Makes you wonder how much care was given to the research conducted for the book. At any rate, it's bad for Mims' image, and hence for the book's.
"When We Die" might be worth picking up at a deep discount as a quick overview of the subject, but I can't recommend it at full price.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
An interesting - yet imperfect - overview of death & dying
1 Jun 2005
Format:Paperback
In "When We Die," Biology Professor Cedric Mims provides a succinct overview of all things macabre. He touches upon standard death and dying subjects such as embalming, burial, cremation, organ donation, and bereavement, as well as more unusual topics, including cannibalism, cellular suicide, mummification, compostoriums, acid baths, and necrophilia. No stone is left unturned in his discussion of death, dying, and "the science, culture, and rituals of death."
As much as I enjoyed "When We Die," it was not without its flaws. For starters, it doesn't seem as though the book was properly edited. I wouldn't go as far to say that Mims is a BAD writer, but it could have been better. His misuse of commas, for instance, is atrocious. He also tends to have trouble transitioning between topics. Some of the awkwardness probably stems from the fact that Mims lives in England and spent some time in Australia and Africa. His phraseology can be clumsy and cumbersome, and I'm willing to bet that it's due to cultural differences. The book was initially released in the UK, and it doesn't appear to have been "cleaned up" for its US edition. Spelling and word usage differences remain intact, when his editor really should have changed them in the US version to reflect his new audience.
Additionally, I found some of his statements to be questionable, while other claims were just plain incorrect. For example, he says that $6 million, "spent over 10 years," is enough to clean all the water in third world countries and eliminate deaths due to diarrhea (that estimate seems awfully low, no?). He also refers to the 1978 Jonestown massacre as a "mass suicide" (despite overwhelming evidence that many members were murdered outright), and makes the dubious claim that, "in all cases [of sensational homicides] the murderer is mentally deranged." Taken together, these errors made me question the rest of the information Mims included in "When We Die." Though he does list 4+ pages of references, he does not use footnotes in his text - so it's usually impossible to tell what information he pulled from which sources.
Nonetheless, "When We Die" is a fascinating and largely enjoyable read. Serious scholars may want to pass this one by, but it's an interesting and manageable discussion for laypeople.
As much as I enjoyed "When We Die," it was not without its flaws. For starters, it doesn't seem as though the book was properly edited. I wouldn't go as far to say that Mims is a BAD writer, but it could have been better. His misuse of commas, for instance, is atrocious. He also tends to have trouble transitioning between topics. Some of the awkwardness probably stems from the fact that Mims lives in England and spent some time in Australia and Africa. His phraseology can be clumsy and cumbersome, and I'm willing to bet that it's due to cultural differences. The book was initially released in the UK, and it doesn't appear to have been "cleaned up" for its US edition. Spelling and word usage differences remain intact, when his editor really should have changed them in the US version to reflect his new audience.
Additionally, I found some of his statements to be questionable, while other claims were just plain incorrect. For example, he says that $6 million, "spent over 10 years," is enough to clean all the water in third world countries and eliminate deaths due to diarrhea (that estimate seems awfully low, no?). He also refers to the 1978 Jonestown massacre as a "mass suicide" (despite overwhelming evidence that many members were murdered outright), and makes the dubious claim that, "in all cases [of sensational homicides] the murderer is mentally deranged." Taken together, these errors made me question the rest of the information Mims included in "When We Die." Though he does list 4+ pages of references, he does not use footnotes in his text - so it's usually impossible to tell what information he pulled from which sources.
Nonetheless, "When We Die" is a fascinating and largely enjoyable read. Serious scholars may want to pass this one by, but it's an interesting and manageable discussion for laypeople.
Captivating!
6 Oct 2008
Format:Hardcover
This literary work is fascinating. It covers so many areas in a concise yet thorogh manner. Almost addictive reading. Mims takes an obscured subject and breathes into it a new retrospect.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
