City News

            Without facing some sort of hardships, nothing meaningful in life can be achieved. A similar theme was portrayed in the biography When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi. After reading this biography, I can highly recommend it for any teenager looking to read a meaningful book. In the book, Paul Kalanithi, a hard-working and ambitious neurosurgeon, describes his entire life in two sections: how he got to where he was and how he dealt with the obstacle that took his life: lung cancer. For one, Paul never smoked or did anything that would bring harm to his body. His cancer was unexpected and reading about his life in When Breath Becomes Air really makes you look at life in a new way; one that forces you to appreciate everything you have.

            When Breath Becomes Air starts by Paul Kalanithi describing his early life. In this section, Paul explains how his family, consisting of his mother, father, and two brothers, had to move into the desert, for his father believed that this was the place where his family could be happy. A little later on in this section, Paul describes his family as very intelligent; both his father and brothers became successful neurosurgeons as well. Following his passion for studying the brain and operating on it, Paul went on to attend Stanford University. At Stanford, Kalanithi majored in neurosurgery and also got a BA in literature. Following his road to becoming a neurosurgeon, Kalanithi explains how he believed that the brain was not just “the leader of the body”, but also a key to unlocking your full potential. While following his passion in Stanford, Kalanithi also met another woman with the same interests; Lucy, his girlfriend and soon-to-be wife. After graduating from Stanford, Kalanithi went on to attend the University of Cambridge, where he earned an M.Phil in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, before attending medical school. In 2007, Kalanithi graduated from Yale School of Medicine, achieving one of the highest award and recognition possible, the “Lewis H. Nahum Prize for outstanding research.” After graduating from Yale, Kalanithi returned to Stanford, where he was to complete his seven year residency training in Neurological Surgery, where he received the “American Academy of Neurological Surgery’s highest award for research.” During his residency, Kalanithi describes how he learned the pain patient’s experienced such as aggressive brain tumors and damaged hippocampi. After being able to comprehend how to perform surgery on such patients, Paul Kalanithi was able to complete his residency and become a certified neurosurgeon. At this point, Kalanithi wrote about conducting several surgeries a week and only getting 40 hours of sleep a week most of the time. This part of the memoir really lets the readers understand how much work and effort Kalanithi inputted into becoming a neurosurgeon.

            Unfortunately, once he became a neurosurgeon, Kalanithi’s endurance was once again tested. He writes about helping a mother in labor give birth to two thirty-two week premature babies. After a successful surgery, Kalanithi writes about going home and instantly falling asleep. Soon enough, though, Kalanithi is awakened from his slumber by a dismal phone call; both of the babies were not strong enough and died a couple hours after the surgery. Soon enough, Kalanithi was able to persist and conduct many successful surgeries from which he was able to attract lots of recognition. This was the height of his career and all was going well until the second part of the book is introduced. This section of the book starts by Paul Kalanithi telling his wife, Lucy, to remarry. At this point, the reader comes to learn that Kalanithi has been diagnosed with Stage IV Lung Cancer. He sought many options such as taking pills to relieve the pain and chemotherapy, which he was strongly against before his condition started to deteriorate. Before he died though, Kalanithi and Lucy went to a sperm bank to freeze his sperm, before the cancer cells could do any more damage to his sperm. He wanted to leave Lucy with one last memory of him in the form of a child they would both have. They were successful and Paul and Lucy were able to have a daughter, Elizabeth Acadia, two weeks before he died. Paul Kalanithi described his final months as very melancholy and full of anger, which he felt because he knew he would not able to be there for his wife and very young daughter. After lots of suffering, Kalanithi was forced to be placed on life-support, which he was not able to endure enough of before he told his family and the doctors to “pull the plug.” He said his final goodbyes to his family and told them that he loved them very much before he died on March 9. 2015.

            In my opinion, When Breath Becomes Air is undeniably one of the best books to read for a teenager and truly, for anyone of any age willing to realize and understand how beautiful life really is. After reading this book, I am able to appreciate everything I have in life because I now know it can all be gone in an instant. When you know death is approaching, one is expected to complete their “bucket list”, but Paul Kalanithi was able to put his life on paper instead, so that others can understand what he experienced, which I applaud and commend his for. I can only imagine how hard it would have been for Kalanithi to do this, knowing that he could’ve spent his final months with his family, including his newborn daughter, Elizabeth. I, without a doubt, rate When Breath Becomes Air a 10/10. When Breath Becomes Air is definitely a book I highly recommend for others, especially for teenagers who want to learn how to persevere by a doctor who was forced to do so by his circumstances.

Check out When Breath Becomes Air at the Newport Beach Public Library.