When Breath Becomes Air Book Summary (PDF) by Paul Kalanithi

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Ready to learn the most important takeaways from When Breath Becomes Air in less than two minutes? Keep reading!

Why This Book Matters:

When Breath Becomes Air describes the life of Paul Kalanithi, neurosurgeon, who often found himself in situations of life or death.

The Big Takeaways:

  1. Paul Kalanithi was infatuated by both literary works and the brain.
    1. If Kalanathi used fictional stories to help piece together the larger complexities in life, including the brain.
  2. The meaning of life for Kalanithi was uncovered as he learned from a school of medicine.
    1. Kalanithi spent many days learning from the bodies of the dead, which he could not help but humanize and empathize with.
  3. Death followed Kalanithi.
    1. As Kalanithi’s career in medicine developed, the more he realized just how surrounded he was by death.
  4. The more death Kalanithi experienced, the less human his interactions became.
    1. Kalanithi was often put in positions where he had to choose life or death for others, eventually taking away a human element from his own life.
  5. Cancer evaded Kalanithi’s body and life.
    1. During his final time on earth, Kalanithi had to make drastic calls about his own life, ranging from treatments to whether to have children immediately.

Want To Keep Reading?

  1. Read A Longer Form Summary on Blinkist
  2. Buy The Book on Amazon
  3. Listen To The Audiobook

Additional Video From The Author:

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