I just finished reading Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal. It’s an unusual candidate for an unputdownable book. The medical details are sometimes not just a little unpalatable, yet they firmly belong into the wider story that is life. In the beginning I thought: „Ah well, he’s coming up with the same answers how to change things – idealising large family units, etc.“ How wrong I was. Atul Gawande masterfully reveals his own ambiguities as a doctor and ultimately, as a son who is confronted with the painful loss of his father. His inquisitive mind guides his explorations and he continuously stops in his tracks to check what he’s doing in his work. My own experience is that it must be very hard as a medical professional to flip the switch from being a life saver to somebody who has to admit that human power has its limits. Not to be afraid to confront this conflict is one of the great achievements of this book. And the ending, which made me roll my eyes once more – just to be proven wrong again. Now I would like to know what others think about this book ….