Customer Reviews

The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying

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I first saw and heard Elisabeth Kubler-Ross on public tv in the mid 70's; I was fascinated with her and with her work from that first introduction. This writing of her life was a must read for me personally and I was engrossed from cover to cover. Though I was a little surprised to read about her involvement with channelers (something I personally can't accept), her writing about it as part of her own life was not a turnoff to me. She has a very good point, as she says many times in her book, that we should be open to all things and not rule out happenings as being within the realm of possibility. When EKR speaks or writes about death and dying the listener/reader does not feel great sadness. She was granted the gift of passing on to others an understanding of death as a natural and very important part of living, to be dealt with with dignity and compassion. With this book, as with everything I've ever read or heard by her, EKR has helped me to understand just a little more about how to live life to the fullest. This world is better by far for having been influenced by her wisdom.

This is a wonderful book. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has done the world a tremendous service by helping to humanize death and the process of dying, and in this autobiography she tells of all the surprises and inevitabilities that marked her own growth, and the growth of her work. Somewhere along the line, however, a few years back, Kubler-Ross adopted the role of an amateur prophet, and some of her later works deliver a confusing, inconsistent, and often strident set of contradictory neo-Jungian messages about matters spiritual. Those who think she lost her marbles will find plenty of evidence here as elsewhere to support their views. But this book is actually a whole lot more accessible, and far less preachy, than some of her other books have been. I think one would be unwise to ignore the complications entailed by Kubler-Ross's many spiritual injunctions, but one would be uncharitable to also dismiss the tremendous good that has come out of her life's work. I don't find in this book the accepting, non-ideological compassion of Stephen Levine, nor the unassuming experimental spirit of Raymond Moody, but Kubler-Ross remains incomparable as the initiating spokesperson for a humane death. Her tale is extraordinary, and this book is an exceptional, welcome, and one-of-a-kind read.

Those who grouse & are dismayed at the second half of the book perhaps have not traveled far enough on their own spiritual journeys yet to understand. I found the book, like all her works, thoughtful, insightful & honest. Having worked in hospice nearly 30 yrs, in part due to Dr. Kubler-Ross, I can honestly say that in hospice you see many things that are beyond the scope of everyday life. The more I see of human Spirituality in hospice paitents & their families the less judgmental I tend to be.

I believe that anything Dr. Kubler-Ross has written is worthy of our attention, and this autobiographical book is no exception. I just finished it today... found it very thought-provoking overall. However, this particular one needs to be read more CRITICALLY than her others, and I don't mean "skeptically" in a negative sense so much as simply "requiring careful judgment"... especially the last third of the book. In this latter section, the author really gets specific about her experiences with "channeling the other side" and outlines her concept of her own "cosmic consciousness." I tried to be as enlightened and open as possible, and yet found that I could just not buy into everything she had experienced and was teaching others to experience. I am referring mainly to her ongoing relationships with disembodied spirits, her ability to conjure them up at will, and (maybe most remarkably) their apparent ability to physically manifest themselves (as in, writing things down on a piece of paper in response to her questions). She refers to these spirit-friends as her "spooks" and by her own admission at one point she even attributes the collapse of her otherwise successful marriage to her profound belief in these entities. Many people felt she had lost her marbles. She admits that a few of the experiences were proved to be the hoax of her Californian spiritual instructor, whom she calls "B". Also, throughout the last half of the book is an underlying allusion to her belief in re-incarnation.

For the first half of the book I could think of so many people I would have recommended it to, but then it suddenly arrived at a place where I think a reader has to be very selective, or adept at SIFTING through to their own concept of truth. Very critical. Be aware of that if you intend to give this book as a gift to someone.

I agree thoroughly with the core principles of what can rightfully be called Kubler-Ross's thanatology. I agree with her that death does not exist in the traditional sense, and that life in a physical body represents a very short span of one's total existence. That at the moment of death human beings maintain an awareness and can still make observations, have thoughts, be free of pain, and that all of this has nothing to do with psychopathology. That those who pass from life into death are simply passing into "a different wavelength than the rest of us." I agree that our body "imprisons our soul the way a cocoon encloses the future butterfly, and when the time is right we can let go of it." She says that the butterfly is then free to return "home to God... which is a place where we are never alone, where we continue to grow and to sing and to dance, where we are with those we loved, and where we are surrounded with more love than we can ever imagine." I wish that this last sentiment was more emphasized in the book, rather than appearing in the next to last page. Because it seems inconsistent to me that if the spirits return home to God (which I firmly believe), then what are we to make of the ones that were roaming around in the elevators, appearing in the author's bed, and in the flower-garden etc.? Maybe we should just leave those sort of spirits alone instead of trying to make them our pals? Hey, our lives ARE definitely going someplace! Life is indeed a sort of "wheel". But God, and God alone, is at the wheel.

Death is not a cognizable feeling, it is an esoteric truth and can only be understood by those who have had such an experience, otherwise it is abstrusely difficult to know the feeling. The novel is the most sincere, honest, and revelatory psychological treatment of the epoch to come out after a long time.

There are catechisms handed to all students but there are never a single statement mentioning of life after death in a positive way and when there is a positive way of after life there are conditions attached to it. Pray, and please the God, speak truth and God will be pleased, do this, do that and in certain prescribed manners - only then will you be able to head towards the heaven, which is the only positive representation of after death experience. The frescoes on the ceilings of any church are designed keeping these facts in mind. It has even become preterlegal to speak in such manner in some countries. There are countries where you are forced to pray. People do not pray for God, but merely for the government to lead a clean life.

These were the thoughts, which encircled me after reading this perennial document. Dr. Ross is definitely a very learned lady and the way she has described the four stages of human life is amazing. The way she divided her book into four segments is absolutely tremendous. Her real life experiences and the day-to-day dealings with patients are so self inductive that they leads us to the situations, which we were never aware of. Honestly I never looked at the patients like that before after I read her book. She is such a gentle human.

I would definitely recommend you all to read this book and get enlightened. This is a book on her life experience but through her there is so much for us to learn.

This is one of the greatest books I have ever gone through.

And I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy Reading!

Those of us who gained immensely from Kubler-Ross' first book "On death and dying" will be interested to read her final book. And what a dichotomy from the first! Instead of a carefully reasoned, almost scientific treatise on the subject of life and death, Kubler-Ross throws us onto the roller coaster that has been her life. Unsatisfactory relationships, a definite superiority complex (Kubler-Ross is always right) and a profound belief that her life has eveolved the way it has in order for her to learn the lessons she needs to - and yet mysterious and thought-provoking. The way in which she refers to her "spooks" (her term), the spirit guides which live with her each day, and her encounters with out of body experiences leave us more grounded souls with a high degree of scepticism. And yet ... Read this book and make up your mind for yourself.

IF you want to be touched and moved by love and tears...this is it. one of the great books that I've ever read. It touches your heart and brings down your tears as well. I want to recommand this great book to everyone who want to live a meaningful life.

P161 *Naturally I shared these kinds of rewarding moments with my family and hoped they learned not to take anything for granted. There were no guarantees in life, except that everyone faces struggles. It is how we learn. Some face struggle from the moment they are born. They are the most special of all people, requiring the most care of compassion and reminding us that love is the sole purpose of life.

P. 163 * Later someone would ask what all those dying patients had taught me about death. First I thought about giving them a very clinical explanation, but then I would have misrepresented myself. My dying patients taught so much more than what it was like to be dying. They shared lessons about what they could have done, and what they should have done, and what they didn't do until it was too late, until they were too sick or too weak, until they were widowers or widows. They looked back at their lives and taught me all of the things that were really meaningful, not about dying....but about living

Kubler-Ross had a massive impact on our society and the way we approach death. Her collection of 20,000 interviews with people who died and came back to life showed common threads in almost every way, a spiritual goldmine of positive and loving experiences. This autobiography details how she came to be the person who let us know for sure that "heaven" isn't some hokey religious shell-game available only to those who tithe, but rather a guaranteed return for all of us to a more loving place.

The first half of this book is tear-inducingly sad and beautiful, and it's hard to not love the young Kubler-Ross as she lets her heart lead her through very tough times. There are some exceptionally moving passages that make this book a real must for those who want to feel better about letting go of life and living it more fully here and now.

Unfortunately, the latter part of this book and her life found her enamored of charlatans and spiritual quackery, but in no way does that lessen her accomplishments. Not a one of us is perfect, and very few of us change the way the world sees life. Elizabeth was one such soul, so it's easy to accept her foibles.

I read this book while preparing for an interview with Kubler-Ross, which sadly turned out to be the last she gave before her passing. She was as gracious and wise and funny as this book indicates, and was very much ready to die. She spoke lovingly of her life and happily of letting it go to move on homeward, and she clearly embodied the many positive attributes of this truly moving autobiography.

Highly recommended for those who like to both feel and think.
Knowing that death will be joyous sure takes the load off.

Kubler-Ross is a role model to be looked upon for faith, courage and love, and the greatest of her gifts is love. In the footsteps of her mentor Dr. Albert Schweitzer she vowed to live and give her life for those less fortunate then herself. In her memoirs she give us an account of her life from her years has living her childhood as a triplet and not having an identity to her years as a young woman finding her identity and her golden years lived out with the same force, determination and courage as in her youth. She never deterred from her goals and focused herself beyond what life and circumstances were sent her way. She could have stopped in mid-stream, saying that she had done enough for humanity but at the age of 63, after many disasters, went to Virginia to set up a home for children dying of AIDS. She met with much disapproval but managed to get beyond the dissent of the people and found foster homes for these children. Since 1972, I have been interested in the issues of death and dying and Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has confirmed many of my ideas and beliefs. Thank you Elisabeth for taking a stand and making this world a better place.

After I read this book,I know more about death and dying.But what really attract me?I think it's the writer-Elisabeth Kubler Ross-herself.This book is just like a autobiography of herself.Tell us all about her family and her school life.Let us not only know more about what is death and dying but why and how she would like to devote herself to study thanatology.Everyone should read it,because it is really a book about life itself.