Wordy, repetitive and wrong
This has got to be one of the worst books ever written about assisted dying or euthanasia. In fact, it is so slanted that it is hard to believe this was written by an intelligent person. She is very wordy, and perhaps just sheer volume of words is supposed to accomplish something or to impress. The book itself is a collection of essays in no particular order. It is, as a consequence extremely repetitive, and would have been better for a bit of orgnaization and rewriting. The author needs to learn how to say things with a bit more brevity and wit. However, Ms. Somerville, for all the attraction she seems to have gathered around herself amongst certain groups in Canada, is really quite witless, and has very little new to say, and almost nothing of it right. She is good at negation but not very good at giving reasons. She worships something she thinks of as the sanctity of life, and yet does not respect the wishes of those who find themselves in unbearable suffering at the end of life. Indeed, she seems to imagine that there is no pain or physical suffering that cannot be dealt with by some form of palliative care. I found this book oppressive and offensive, and I would not recommend it to my enemy let alone to a friend.
