Foo Yee Ching

When Breath Becomes Air By Paul Kalanithi Winner for Best Memoir & Autobiography (2016) Paul Kalanithi, M.D., was at the prime of his life and had a bright future ahead of him as a neurosurgeon. But his cancer diagnosis shattered his dreams of a future he shared with his wife. Paul had excellent credentials; B.A. and M.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University in 2000, M.Phil in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine from the University of Cambridge, cum-laude from the Yale School of Medicine. He returned to Stanford for residency training in Neurological Surgery and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience. He shares his triumphs and despair of his career as a neurosurgeon; the people he managed to save, and those he could not. Being young, he never imagined that one day he would be a patient himself. He stared at a CT scan; lungs with innumerable tumours, deformed spine, full lobe of liver obliterated. Cancer, widely disseminated. Except, this was not his patient's scan, it was his. Paul was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer in 2013. He questioned many things; what makes life worth living in the imminent prospect of death, what makes a virtuous and meaningful life, what do you do when there is no future to plan for but only the present to live in. When he heard he contracted cancer, he and his wife Lucy went through IVF to conceive a baby. He pondered about what it meant to have a child when his life was fading away. To extend his legacy, Paul also started writing his book 'When Breath Becomes Air' which exemplifies his initial passion for literature and highlights the ups and downs of his career as a neurosurgeon. Paul completed neurosurgery residency in 2014. Paul died in March, 2015, while working on When Breath Becomes Air. It is a profoundly touching, poignant and heartfelt memoir that discusses the fragility of life, the sensitive topic of death, its unpredictability and its impact on his family, colleagues, and community. He leaves behind his beloved wife Lucy, and their daughter Cady.

Here's my review after reading 'The Art of Hearing Heartbeats'. Julia Win’s father, a prominent New York lawyer, suddenly disappears. Neither Julia nor her mother knows where he is. But a love letter her father, Tin Win, wrote years ago to a Burmese woman they never knew about set Julia on a journey to the village where the woman lived in Burma. There, Julia met U Ba, someone who was waiting to tell her her father’s story. A few years after Tin Win was born, his father died in an accident where a golf ball hit his temple and he died on the spot. His mother abandoned Tin Win, and he was looked after by a neighbour’s sister, Su Kyi. Later, Tin Win lost his sight. Su Kyi brought Tin Win to a monastery where he got to know U May, an abbott. While he was at the monastery, Tin Win, came across a girl, Mi Mi who was physically disabled. She crawled about as her legs were weak and she could not walk. Tin Win and Mi Mi relied on each other. Tin Win carried Mi Mi wherever they went. Mi Mi was Tin Win’s eyes. They spent much time together over the four years, fell in love with each other and were inseparable. Subsequently, Tin Win’s wealthy uncle, U Saw sent for Tin Win to study in Rangoon. The lovers were compelled to separate. Tin Win’s eyesight was restored after a cataract operation. U Saw intercepted the love letters between Tin Win and Mi Mi, and wrote a letter to Mi Mi signed off as Tin Win, for Mi Mi not to contact Tin Win again. Tin Win went to New York to further his studies. Tin Win did not return to Rangoon because his uncle wanted him to marry someone in Rangoon. Julia’s mother fell in love with Tin Win the first time she saw him, and wanted to marry him. However, Tin Win cautioned Julia’s mother in advance that he could not love her the way she wanted. When Tin Win heard that Mi Mi was dying, he went to visit her. They laid on the bed together. After she died, Tin Win died of heart failure. The columns of smoke from Tin Win’s funeral and Mi Mi’s funeral toward each other. Then Julia realised that U Ba, who had been telling her story about her father, was actually her half brother. It was a story of great hardship, resilience, fortitude, and deep, unconditional and eternal love with the power to move mountains.