Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying [Import] [Paperback]

Christine Longaker (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New Ed edition (April 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099176920
• ISBN-13: 978-0099176923
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,576,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guidebook to the Process of Dying, October 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide To The Emotional and Spiritual Care Of The Dying (Paperback)

My sister just died of cancer and spent her last 2 months in hospice care. This book served as my guidebook through the process, taught me how to let my sister go with peace and love and left me in a better state of mind afterwards. It seemed that each time I picked it up, I was at the exact chapter I needed at the time. The chapter where she writes from the viewpoint of the dying person is worth the cost of the book alone! It gave me so much insight into what my sister must be going through and helped to frame all of the rest of my time with her. Longaker's Tibetan Buddhist writing can be heavy going, but she makes her concepts applicable to many different faiths and uses many examples from these faiths throughout the book. The chapter on bereavement is also excellent, offering practical suggestsions based on her own experience (interesting that she uses that term, based on its genesis from the word "bereft," instead of "mourning"). For anyone who has to deal with someone who has faced a long-term disease which erodes the body, her touching poem "You Can Grow Less Beautiful" is so meaningful. In addition to helping readers to deal with the practical aspects of dealing with a loved one's death, she also focuses on how each of us can prepare every day for our own deaths (through meditation and letting go); it will probably take another reading for me to be able to focus on this area, but I look forward to doing so.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent vision of life's final transition, November 3, 2004

By 

Rinchen Choesang "Empty Seeker" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide To The Emotional and Spiritual Care Of The Dying (Paperback)

This book both inspired me and annoyed me. Some of its contents brought tears to my eyes, partly due to realising that my input into a dear friend's final year was more valuable than I had believed at the time.

The best thing about this book is Christine Longaker's ability to tell her own and others' stories about the highs and lows of the journey toward death. It is very honest about the pitfalls of having unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others when faced with mortality. The book is a useful guide for people of any cultural or religious background, despite the author's Buddhist beliefs.

The aspect of the book that frustrated me was the too-frequent repetition of some of the concepts set out in the book. This may be a reflection of the author's Buddhist background, as repetition is often used in Buddhist teachings to reinforce important points. This is only a minor gripe, as I too have Buddhist beliefs and have bought the book anyway, after having read a library copy.

Overall this is a compassionate and realistic overview of a spiritual approach to death and dying that is well worth the outlay. May we all have the determination to live well so that we can create the conditions to die well, which is so important both for us and for those who love us!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a practical, inspiring view of dying and witnessing death, June 16, 1998

By 

Janice M Stensrude (Houston, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Facing Death and Finding Hope: A Guide to the Emotional and Spiritual Care of the Dying (Hardcover)

Twenty years ago, Longaker lost her husband to an incurable disease at the age of 25. In the ensuing years she has become internationally known for her pioneering work in the hospice movement. Though she writes from a Buddhist perspective, the advice offered can be adapted to any spiritual tradition. Facing Death and Finding Hope is an excellent guide for hospice volunteers and professionals, yet is well suited for anyone who has questions about how to deal with a dying loved one -- or even how to face one's own death.