by Erika Hayasaki
Simon and Schuster
HardcoverI would guess that most of us have a teacher we call our favorite. In my case, it was the first adult that didn't treat me like a kid, even though I still was one. In Erika Hayasaki's fantastic book The Death Class, Norma Bowe joins my list of teachers I wish I'd had.
Norma teaches a class called Death in Perspective at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. In addition to being a teacher, Bowe is a registered nurse. Through her skillful narrative, Hayasaki highlights the personal stories of several students in the class -- and their stories are emotional and powerful. They each have their own reasons for taking this unusual class on death, but they are stories to which most of us can relate. We have all, by the time we are adults, dealt with death on some level. Some students that take the class may be morbidly curious but surely others need closure.
A more passionate and competent companion on that path to closure would be hard to find. Norma Bowe is an amazing woman. Her own story as to why she teaches the class is as nuanced and raw as the reasons the students attend.
This book was a quick read. I couldn't wait to use every available moment to pick it up and rejoin the people inside. It made me think as a good book should, and if you want to think a little differently about the end of life, I can suggest The Death Class as a gentle introduction.
It sounds like a very unusual book. Have all the students in the class experienced death in one way or another, or are they simply hoping to learn something about it? I can imagine that a subject like this would have to be very carefully handled, otherwise it could very quickly descend into melodrama, farce or even chaos.
ReplyDeleteDiane, that's the beauty of what Norma does. She keeps control with the lightest touch. And, yes, most of the students have been touched by death in some fashion…at least the ones we learn about in the book. I highly recommend it.
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