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From Here to Eternity

Travelling the World to Find the Good Death

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From Here to Eternity

By: Caitlin Doughty, Landis Blair
Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
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About this listen

 As a practising mortician, Caitlin Doughty has long been fascinated by our pervasive terror of dead bodies. In From Here to Eternity she sets out in search of cultures unburdened by such fears. In rural Indonesia, she observes a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body. She meets Bolivian ñatitas (cigarette-smoking, wish-granting human skulls), and introduces us to the Japanese ritual of kotsuage, in which relatives use chopsticks to pluck their loved-ones' bones from cremation ashes.

With curiosity and morbid humour, Doughty introduces us to inspiring death-care innovators, participates in powerful death practices almost entirely unknown in the West and explores new spaces for mourning - including a futuristic glowing-Buddha columbarium in Japan, a candlelit Mexican cemetery, and America's only open-air pyre. In doing so she expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with 'dignity' and reveals unexpected possibilities for our own death rituals.

Read by Caitlin Doughty
(p) 2017 Recorded Books LLC©2018 Caitlin Doughty Death & Dying Physical Illness & Disease Sociology Tobacco Smoking Scary Thought-Provoking Indonesia

Critic reviews

Each chapter covers a culture with a highly distinctive and apparently ghastly approach to their dearly departed . . . Think Bill Bryson doing an underworld special. This humane book gently provokes you to wonder: what exactly is your ideal funeral?
Caitlin Doughty, joyful member of the death-positive movement, describes what happens to our mortal remains with relish . . . Jaunty, boisterous and unsentimental, Doughty believes that we in the West have made death and its aftermath into a corporate, perfunctory affair, in which the meaning of an ending is denied. Her mission is to 'reclaim public understanding of dying' and to bring individuality and joy back into our dealings with the dead (Nicci Gerard)
Compelling . . . Doughty's writing will give you the giggles as well as send a chill down your spine
From Here To Eternity is fascinating, thought-provoking and - who would have guessed? - sometimes funny. Put it on your bucket list (Neil Armstrong)
Doughty's lively (and charmingly illustrated) cascade of anecdotes about how various cultures handle death spells out how contemporary Western fastidiousness about dead bodies is by no means universally shared. We are introduced to a variety of startling practices . . . and pervading the book is Doughty's ferocious critique of the industrialisation of death and burial that is standard in the United States and spreading rapidly elsewhere. Doughty invites us to look at and contemplate alternatives . . . we have choices beyond the conventional; we can think about how we want our dead bodies to be treated as part of a natural physical cycle (Rowan Williams)
Doughty is fun, with an eye for the bizarre and the absurd. She hits the road in quest of cultures untroubled by the western taboos surrounding mortality (Robert McCrum)
Doughty is a relentlessly curious and chipper tour guide to the underworld . . . a likable, witty companion. It is a difficult high-wire act: to make death interesting and funny enough that we'll drop our fears and read, without losing sight of the gravity of the topic. I couldn't help thinking that her dispatches from the dark side were doing us all a kindness
From Here to Eternity is Doughty's tour of the death ways of other peoples, from Bolivia to Barcelona . . . [she] chronicles each of these practices with tenderheartedness, a technician's fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief
Doughty finds the humanity in other cultures' relationship with death that seems to be lacking in ours
From Indonesia to Mexico and all points in between, Doughty talks to a wide array of professionals, handling the topic with curiosity, frankness and no small amount of humour (Doug Johnstone)
Both sensitive and light, and thoroughly researched, written by an author who genuinely wanted to learn from, not fetishise, other customs
Really fascinating (Alice Waters)
All stars
Most relevant
absolutely awesome inspiring. we need to change the way we look at death in the West. Caitlyn is a fantastic pioneer for this movement.

fabulous

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It's very interesting to see the different ways in which death has been, and in many cases still is approached in countries across the globe. As before, the author's narration is pitch perfect. My only quibble is that there aren't clear distinction or transitional moves between the segments in different cultures - at least not that I picked up on - and this was confusing for me. Overall, though, I enjoyed this.

Interesting and very, very good!

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you will not be disappointed with this buy. Caitlin has such a way with her words. she captivates you with her bold descriptions and given the nature of the content she gets to the point while opening your eyes, we could all learn alot from her example

fabulous

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captivating story about the culture on death from all over the world. great pacing. wonderful listen.

Good Book

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Caitlin is completely right, in the West we hide or ignore death when we should be death positive and want to be involved with the remains of our loved ones. This book has really challenged my thinking and attitudes towards death an incredible book!

a book you will never forget!

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