In the Face of Death

Peter Noll; Adolph Hofmann

ISBN 10: 0670807036 / ISBN 13: 9780670807031

Published by Viking Adult, 1989

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0670807036I4N00

Synopsis:

The story of a 55 year-old legal surveyor with literary aspirations who chooses not to be operated on when he learns he has cancer of the kidney. In a matter-of-fact and calm fashion he explores the process of his own decline.

Reviews: When the author, a Swiss jurist and professor of criminal law, learned he had terminal cancer, he rejected surgery and other treatment, refusing, as was noted in his funeral oration, "to die as a disabled object of medicine." A pastor's son schooled in Protestant thought, Noll began a logbook in which he noted not only his physical decline, but his thoughts about personal relationships and reflections on the mystery of death and immortality. In the clear straightforward translation, the author's cerebral approach to questions about the meaning of life and death and his effort "to imagine eternity as eternity," are presented in the language of a vigorous, sophisticated man who articulates the process of dying for his own solace and, perhaps, that of others. Noll died in 1983.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

When Swiss jurist and law professor Noll was diagnosed as having cancer, he made a quick and, some would say, radical decision. He did not consent to treatment, which would entail the loss of autonomy at the hands of the impersonal corporate-medical system. Instead, he chose to die on his own terms, with his will and freedom mostly intact. He found this decision liberating; after all, "aside from birth, death is life's most important event." And so he wrote down his thoughts, noting, almost as an aside, the progress of the disease and reflecting more on the ironies and pleasures of life. The theme of justice looms large. Law becomes his "critique of power," and questions about the Judaeo-Christian faith are inescapable. This is a moving example of "what ought to change in our lives if we think of death." Would that his rage at the destructive policies of our time might help the living to think more clearly and act more wisely. A courageous work, very much recommended.
- Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bibliographic Details

Title: In the Face of Death
Publisher: Viking Adult
Publication Date: 1989
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket