Book Review -- From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi
November 5, 2021
Keeping with the ghoulish nature of the past week, Halloween and Day of the Dead, I picked up Caitlin Doughty's book, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. Published in 2018 the book chronicles her travels around the globe to experience death rituals different from those commonly practiced here in the US and Western Europe. The reader travels with the author to Mexico, Japan, Bolivia, Indonesia, Spain and other destinations.
Without question this book is a macabre read. Some of the practices explored, such as decomposition of the human body in a literal compost heap are intriguing to those interest in a low carbon end to their earthly time. However, other experiences may be more challenging to read about. For example, the "ma'nene' " in Tana Toraja, Indonesia where relatives have an annual visit with a mummified loved one, was unsettling for me as a reader.
Overall I would rate this book a 3 out of 5. Lack of practicality for many of these ancient practices stuck out to me. Also, it is a sad but true fact that many families contain a rate of dysfunction or unhealthy relationships where the intimacy of washing a corpse would be impractical if not traumatic for the survivors. Doughty's prose are easy to read and vivid. For anyone interested in an anthropological exploration of death and funerals, this book would be an excellent investment of time.
