Jacques Bréhant "Thanatos. The sick and the doctor in the face of death"

Author: Jacques Brehant Title: Thanatos: The Patient and the Doctor in the Face of Death Indeed, there are thousands of ways to die, for in dying we remain exactly as we have always been. Death is only a part of our life that is coming to an end, the last part, but it is still a part of life. The book "Thanatos," sitting on my aunt’s bookshelf, caught my attention even before I began my medical studies. Perhaps, to some extent, it directed my thoughts toward my future work... In it, death is discussed by one whose mission is to save lives—a doctor. The author is a French surgeon and oncologist born at the beginning of the 20th century, the founder of the Pierre and Marie Curie Center—an oncology institute in Algiers. He examines the issue of death from medical, psychological, and popular-science perspectives. How can it be perceived? What can be done to help a dying person? How has dying been treated over the centuries in various cultural circles?—these are just a few of the questions the author attempts to answer. "Thanatos" is a holistic and multifaceted exploration of a subject that is sometimes so difficult to contemplate, even though it irrevocably and directly concerns every human being. In the four parts of this monograph, the author addresses, among other things, topics such as the inevitability and mystery of death, the dying of a child, a lonely elderly person, and a person with cancer; the hastening and postponing of death—euthanasia and aggressive treatment; as well as mourning and the tribute paid to the deceased in the past and today. The book is written in a style that combines the characteristics of an academic treatise with personal reflection, as it is worth noting that the author, due to his specialized field, possesses extensive life experience in this regard. The text is rich in interesting, sometimes moving, and thought-provoking insights. It abounds in examples drawn from the author’s own experience, as well as stories he has heard or read, and is crowned by an extensive bibliography. A particularly interesting feature is the appendix, where Bréhant recounts, in short stories, the unusual (and sometimes—paradoxically—even amusing) circumstances surrounding the deaths of famous people, such as Voltaire, Mozart, and Victor Hugo.