Sunday, January 14, 2007
Something Else
Today I started reading a book called "Chasing Daylight" by Eugene O' Kelly and am now more than 1/3 finished. It's not a difficult read at all, though I'm sure it will lead to a lot of thinking afterward. The book is a 'death diary' which chronicled the last three and a half months of O' Kelly's life after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in May 2005. It also caught my attention that O' Kelly was the CEO of KPMG (US) and was at the peak of this career when the death sentence came (though it doesn't necessarily mean he was as much accomplished in other aspects of life, and he probably wasn't).
I'm always interested in reading a 'death diary' as it is not fiction but first hand account of a human being and his life, or the approaching end of it. There ain't many offerings in the market. Since a time unknown, death has become a forebidden subject in our society rarely discussed. I wonder if this book would get published if the author weren't a heavyweight.
This is not a book review and I'm not giving moral judgement on the author's life either. But I'd would like to share with you the opening of the book which began with a quote.
For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they know quite well that it was the greatest evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?
-Socrates
Note: I intend to write something non-stock every once in a while and the next episode will definitely be lighter in tone. Incidentally, "Something Else" is a great tune played by Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis, my two favorite jazz musicians.
I'm always interested in reading a 'death diary' as it is not fiction but first hand account of a human being and his life, or the approaching end of it. There ain't many offerings in the market. Since a time unknown, death has become a forebidden subject in our society rarely discussed. I wonder if this book would get published if the author weren't a heavyweight.
This is not a book review and I'm not giving moral judgement on the author's life either. But I'd would like to share with you the opening of the book which began with a quote.
For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they know quite well that it was the greatest evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not know?
-Socrates
Note: I intend to write something non-stock every once in a while and the next episode will definitely be lighter in tone. Incidentally, "Something Else" is a great tune played by Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis, my two favorite jazz musicians.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]