by Mary Roach - Micro-history
I think I'd like to be compost. The idea of going back to the earth, nourishing a life in death, sounds pretty poetic. It also makes for a hell of a better place for loved ones to visit than a plot and stone. It comes full circle; it's commemorative; it creates new life. So, if my family can stomach it and technology and laws have caught up, I'd like to be compost when I die (after, of course, donating all my usable organs).
It sounds a little out there, OK, way out there. But if you put aside the socially constructed norms and our squeamish predisposition, it actually makes a lot of sense. Composting is cheaper, it's better for the environment, and it can be used to cultivate a beautiful memorial tree (or any plant of your choosing) to visit, instead of a cemetery.
While the process by which someone becomes compost is somewhat unpleasant, so is the process of cremation or embalming. The end results for those, financial and ecological, are much more costly. But what about God, you ask? Religious rites and ceremonies wouldn't have to change. And, in this way, we'd return to the earth, albeit in a more scientific manner, as it was intended.
I know, I am supposed to be discussing a book. Why am I going on about becoming compost? As you may be able to guess from the title of this book, Stiff discusses all imaginable ways a body may spend its afterlife. It journeys through the medical progress and safety measures gained through cadaver study to all possible choices we can make for ourselves once we go. Composting struck my fancy.
Going into reading this book I was thinking I'd donate my body to science, that some good could come for others from my defective anatomy and subsequent medical adventures. But Roach warns that we don't get to choose. Once we donate our bodies, science decides what to do with it. And I'm not totally sold on that. On one hand, some good could still come from it; on the other, cosmetic surgeons could be practicing face lifts on my severed head. Not okay.
So the choice became easy. When my time comes, I will donate any usable organs to the living, so life can go on, and, hopefully, the rest of me will do the same by going back to the earth.
Sorry, sorry. Enough with the morbid. I will stop grossing you out- for now.
Stiff doesn't fit into my Road Trip Challenge, but it does cover a space on my Bingo Card. Micro-history. I found this particular book on the Rory Gilmore Reading List. I figured, if it was good enough for Rory Gilmore, it was good enough for me. I don't usually stray far from fiction. In fact, I don't ever, unless of course it's required by my instructor. (I'm currently working on my English/Creative Writing MA) Which is why I accepted this challenge to begin with.
Well, you should have seen some of the faces people made when I'd tell them I was reading this book. They were probably not unlike the faces you made when you read the first few paragraphs of this entry. Grossed out only begins to cover it, and looking at their expressions, I could see concern for my sanity. But I maintain that my sanity is perfectly in tact, and so is that of Mary Roach.
Each chapter was more fascinating than the last; I never knew there were so many different things to do with dead bodies. Roach's humor was appropriate and timely, and while some of the details were more than cringe worthy, they are facts of life that someone needs to think about. As they say, it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.
In actuality, these things we purposely avoid, or that never cross our minds, are extremely relevant to our daily lives. Crash tests, forensics, surgical study and practice, even organ donation - they all play a role in keeping us safe and, in many cases, ALIVE. They contribute to the advancement of medical treatment, crime investigation, and the development of safety features in the cars we drive. Even the disposal of bodies plays a part in maintaining a healthy environment, reducing emissions and contamination.
Religion, from the start, influenced the handling of the dead. In the western world it had a big hand in preventing the study of cadavers. Go figure, right? People were disgusted by the idea of donating their body to science and thought that if their body was desecrated in such a way it may affect their chances of reaching heaven. Anatomists resorted to grave robbing, some even turned a blind eye to murder in the name of procuring bodies for dissection. Conversely, in some cultures tradition held, and may still, that parts of the body had healing capabilities if eaten. This, too, is rumored to have lead to crimes against humanity.
But as things do, people's opinions changed. Their ideas about sacrilege and tradition evolved with the needs of people, outside cultural influences, and new information (well, in some places). As a result of some brave souls, people willing to be just a little bit weird, much progress has been made, without which I would not stand here - or sit at my computer - today.
I was not expecting to enjoy this book so much. It truly sparked my love of learning and invoked my critical thinking. I was not expecting to come away with such relevant knowledge. I suppose all I expected was to be extremely disgusted, to test the steel of my stomach. But the science, the history, the significance of the topic, so inextricably bound to us, utterly engaged me. So, if you can suspend your squeamishness momentarily, this one is definitely worth the read.
Next up: Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
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