When King Writes

I’ve been thinking of publishing a book discussion on this blog for a while now, but I wasn’t sure which book to choose. So I looked at my bookshelves and Paul Kalanithi’s “When Breath Becomes Air” is the one that kept calling to me.

This feels like the perfect book to share with you because… lately, I’ve been thinking about death more often. Not in a suicidal way—nothing like that. It’s more about the awareness that death could come sooner than expected.

You have to agree: Death always seems so far away until it stares you in the face.

Yet death, ever-present yet often ignored, has a way of sharpening our focus on the present.

That’s why this book is worth sharing with you. It’s a powerful reminder that we still have time to appreciate life for what it is—no romanticizing, just living it as it comes and dealing with the cards we’re dealt.

About the Book

Paul Kalanithi didn’t finish this book. We don’t get an ending from him because he passed away while working on it. The last chapter is a heartfelt note from his wife.

Even though he didn’t get to complete the work he was so determined to share with us, I found every word deeply moving. It’s one of those books that make you feel like you’re right there with the author, experiencing life alongside him.

And his life was nothing short of remarkable. He accomplished so much and lived fully, even as he knew death was approaching.

I found peace and clarity in reading Paul’s journey from being a neurosurgeon to a terminal cancer patient. It felt like I was right there with him, while his life shifted from saving lives to confronting his own mortality. I love how he offers up his reflections on what truly matters when facing the reality of death. And how to find purpose in the time we have left.

What does the title
“When Breath Becomes Air” symbolize?

That was the question I had when I first picked up this book years ago at my local bookstore.

I got my answer right after reading the opening quote:

“You that seek what life is in death,
Now find it air that once was breath.
New names unknown, old names gone:
Till time end bodies, but souls none.
Reader! then make time, while you be,
But steps to your eternity.”

Baron Brooke Fulke Greville, “Caelica 83”

The title speaks about the fragile nature of life and the certainty of death. It refers to that moment when breathing, something we take for granted, stops and becomes something as elusive as air. It symbolizes the end of life, and reminds us how precious and delicate our existence truly is.

Final Thoughts

I don’t want to be the kind of person who thinks she can keep running from death, or who treats it as taboo, never wanting to discuss it. Because eventually, that’s where we’re all headed.

We live. We die. And in between, we exist.