All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell is a book about the various industries the deal with death.

Thoughts while reading:

-It seems like a good idea for people to be introduced to the dead before their loved ones die. I had never considered that it would be a terrible shock to encounter a dead body for the first time when your loved ones die, while dealing with grief at the same time
-considering that I had thought about donating my body after death, it is interesting to hear about the process
-The idea of death masks is quite interesting (like how ancients believed they carried some essence of the person). It never occurred to me that people still make them today
-I never considered that there would be an industry that deals with deaths after major disasters, such as identifying bodies, getting possessions back where they belong, modifying websites and contact info.
-I’ve read about the job of cleaning up after murders, suicides, and other messy deaths, but I had never considered how that also involves seeing the worse aspects of humanity and how it can leave you numb
-the section on executioners in the US and how they handle it was quite interesting. I suppose it makes sense that someone would want to believe that it’s in the hands of God
-it was interesting to learn about the embalming process, and how different bodies look before after being embalmed. The environmental damage is disturbing though
-it’s interesting to learn about the type of people that are drawn to the profession of doing autopsies, and what they are faced with. It sounds like it’d be quite the fascinating job, except I’d hate to be cold all the time. I had never considered how when doing autopsies, you often have to do very unnatural things with the human body (beyond the obvious), such as putting them in strange positions, or other things that our instincts would ordinarily warn us not to do
-The section about the bereavement ward in the hospital for babies made me choked up
-I didn’t consider how the supposedly eco-friendly cardboard coffins (for cremation) often burn up too fast, requiring extra gas burners, so they aren’t as eco-friendly as they seem

 

I liked how the book focused on individuals within the various industries. It gave the book a more personal touch. It highlighted how in our culture, death is something we rarely face until it becomes personal, which can actually make it harder to deal with when someone we love dies. And it encourages compassion for those who work in the difficult industries where they help others deal with the various aspects of grief. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5