Customer Reviews

A Year to Live : How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Stephen Levine has worked with the Dying for several years, and wrote this book as an exercise to prepare to die by preparing to live. He relates his personal insights of the dynamic process of dying, and suggests an exercise to be undertaken by one who knows they have... only one year to live.

This is an exceptionally difficult book to review. On the five-star side, the author has some exceptional credentials and the work has been well-reviewed by people with a wide variety of perspectives. Some of his exercises (such as his "soft-belly" meditation, his advice to carefully observe our thoughts-as-they-arise, and his suggestions to recall and bid farewell to our most pleasant memories and to forgive our worst ones) are simply wonderful. They have aided my own practice immensely. I commend his gentle assurances that, despite our fears, All Should Be Well (most religious leaders have said the same thing). I think the author has made a noble effort to tackle a hugely difficult subject.

On the dark side, however, I wouldn't give this book to someone imminently facing the Great Gulp unless they were pretty comfortable with the New Age view of Death. Many good people feel preparing for death requires much regret, repentance, suffering, uncertainty, angst, fear, etcetera, and this book might provoke outrage from those people at a sensitive time without any corresponding redemptive value (I indeed respect a terminally-ill reviewer who trashed this book). The author seems to feel death should be kind of a peaceable, emotionally blissy, blend-with-the-infinite, far-out sort of experience. I wouldn't exactly say he views death as the spiritual equivalent of a trip to Disneyland but ... you get the picture. I'm sorry to again be so totally crass, but you have several financial and material responsibilities in preparing your loved ones for your after-death experience, and this book glossed over them pretty darn quickly. The book is New Age Ambiguous -- I looked over one section and put negatives in place of the positives, and it read pretty much the same either way. I'm skeptical the author's theology or ontology improve on the Buddha, who was silent regarding The Ultimate Question. I also agree with other reviewers who pointed out the twelve-month exercise is ultimately artificial and can degenerate into shallowness. Finally, no bibliography, no index, and no backup data for some Pretty Big Assertions-As-Facts.

I finally suggest four stars as a compromise. I also gave a respectable rating because of the sheer value of some of his meditational exercises, and suggest the book for those reasons alone.

We're all going to die. Levine's book helps us to view life and death from a broader perspective. Levine has spent considerable time working with terminally ill clients. According to him, people on their death bed commonly mourn their unfinished business. Be it unfufilled dreams, broken promises, or unresolved conflicts, life regrets are one of the most troublesome aspects of dying.

Levine's book gave me motivation to begin living each day as if it's my last. It made me consciously aware of the importance of not putting life on hold.

This book also encouraged me to be more accepting and conscious in daily life. Many of us do all we can to avoid pain. Levine believes that accepting and moving through discomfort is actually less painful than tensing up with fear. I believe this applies not only to physical pain, but also mental and emotional discomfort. Many times the events I've resisted and resented the most are the ones that offered the greatest satisfation and personal growth once I got to the other side.

Levine's book made me feel more comfortable with the ideas such as acceptance and humilty. In general, life is simpler and more peaceful when I live in line with these virtues.

"Meditating on death in order to fully live " could be the sub-title of this book. In dealing with illness and approaching death in our family, I've read almost all of Kubler-Ross's books and while they have been inspirational and her work certainly groundbreaking, I found this book more helpful in terms of describing the experience of dying in a way that allows me to be more able to be at the bedside of our family memeber. Simply in reading it gives one a profound yet extremly practical perspective on dying and of one's own eventual death.

This book has changed my whole outlook on the world. Because of S. Levine & his insightful thinking, I went out on my birthday and wrote down my goals for the year based on what his book discussed. I am truly thankful for reading this book as it helped me to realized that NOW is the time to make changes if you are not happy with anything in your life. Don't wait for someday. I want to thank Stephen for this beautiful book and hope that it is as special and life-changing for others as it was for me.

I'm not a Buddhist or anything else, and I don't often find "spiritual" reading very accessible, as it often strikes me as vague, abstract, and jargon-y. I didn't think this was the best-written book I've ever read--Mr. Levine, please, please, please look up the definition of "enormity" before you write another word--but I nevertheless found the insights unusually moving and helpful in a practical sense.

Yes, in this book the author Stephen Levine shows us how to live each moment like our last-- and no it's not depressing...Stephen really lived like this for a year so it's fascinating to see his take on this philosophy. I often use this in making a major decision-- if this was my last year would I? And even in minor decisions that are bothering me -- should I do this today? I love the titles of his chapters including "ALTARING YOUR LIFE"...plus he offers meditations and a year-long plan... I did not get into that stuff-- which some people may feel is too new age...but I did enjoy the philosophy of this book...I keep it on my bookshelf in a special place for days that are really tough or nights that seem like they will never end :))

Levine is a Buddhist and his book 'A Year To Live' reflects that. It's not a book that will appeal to those who bask smugly in their own self-sufficient world and think not of others. It is a book that can provide deep insight into the true nature of the human condition -- that all life is suffering with occasional happy moments. I'd recommend 'A Year To Live' to anyone suffering from a bereavement, or expecting one; to those struggling with elderly parents or relatives; to those trying to find some meaning in the life process and interested in 'what comes after' and above all, to all who are frightened of death.

I just wanted to add to the various voices reviewing this book that it is NOT intended as a guide book for the terminally ill, but rather as a "What If?" exercise that can be used by people who want to expand their minds, lives, spiritual practices, etc. We can argue about whether or not this is disrespectful to people who are actually facing death -- it's certainly not intended to be, as Levine works with the terminally ill professionally -- but I think it's important to make this distinction. It's very intense, and I think it's usefulness depends largely on whether you think it might be helpful to undergo this experience!

I am currently almost halfway through my "Year to Live." My mother, her best friend, and her best friend's oldest daughter are among a larger group of people all over the nation who are actually trying to do exactly what this book discusses: Treat this year as if it were your last. It is easier said than done.

I will say that it has brought my mother and I closer together, which I did not think was possible, and it has forced me to examine one of my deepest fears: losing her. This work is deep, intense, and harder than you might think... but the rewards are great.

A perspective on life as a gift to be enjoyed, shared and appreciated before we proceed to our next phase of existance, "A Year To Live" offers loving companionship and strength to living our experience here in grateful joy.