Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematorium by Caitlin Doughty is a non-fiction, autobiographical work that reflects upon the author’s experience working in the death industry, specifically the crematorium.
Caitlin Doughty, based in the US, wrote the book with an intent to demystify the death industry and remove some of the stigma around working in crematoriums. She uses humour as a medium to convey important lessons on death, cremation, embalming, burial, and other such themes.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is autobiographical in nature, where Doughty explains how she came to join a crematorium at the young age of 21. She then elaborates through several anecdotes of the various people, bodies, deaths, and journeys that she met and embarked upon in the process. Over the years, Doughty has become somewhat of a “death industry influencer”, putting out relatable content on death and the many processes that follow death. You can find her on various social media channels (with a massive following) such as Instagram and Youtube.
The book on its own is highly readable, often quirky and funny. It approaches such a deep and serious concept with irony and wit. The author is clearly passionate about her message, that is to help readers reimagine how we approach death and dying. She also is invested in the area of body disposal after death and wants researchers and readers to think about more novel and eco-friendly, natural ways in which we can leave this planet. What this means is she is actively thinking about and advocating means outside of burial and cremation.
But the book is not preachy in the least bit. Doughty often focuses on various examples to drive home her message in subtle ways. For instance, when she talks about a young woman who is inconsolable after her aged mother’s death alone in her apartment, she reflects not on feeling sympathy, but on the factors that possibly led the daughter to feel such sorrow and guilt over the natural death of her mother. Her colleague chimes in that the ones who were there for their loved ones the least, are often the most disconsolate after they pass. In this anecdote is a hidden message – of not waiting until it’s too late to spend time with the ones you love. Ofcourse, this is not to generalise grief, but to offer little nuggets of wisdom about dealing with the death of a loved one, or dealing with its aftermath.
The book is also filled with unique and quirky characters; all the people she worked with at her time in West Wind Crematorium, and later, at the mortuary school she goes to, to get an advanced degree on mortuary studies. Doughty’s narration is engaging and amusing, while also offering moments of reflection on death and cremation. She also goes into great detail about the process of cremation itself, explicitly describing various forms of death and the effects it has on the body as the person starts to decompose. This brings me to my next point, that this book is definitely not for everyone. It is often graphic in descriptions of how dead bodies look, smell, and feel. It goes into details of suicide, murder, accidents, and other forms of brutal death. There are avid descriptions of grief of relatives and loved ones. It’s a tough read, but she puts these details across through kindness, humour, and complete honesty.
For those interested in the morbid, or those simply looking to reflect upon mortality, this makes for a compelling read.
I have to add, I listened to the version narrated on Audible by the author herself, and sometimes her quirky narration gets annoying, but otherwise it’s very coherent. I also have to admit, there’s a certain speciality in listening to a book narrated exactly the way the author intended.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematorium by Caitlin Doughty
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