Death Be Not Proud

Yesterday I finished reading "Death Be Not Proud" by John Gunther. I'm not exactly sure what drew me to this book; it was on a table in B&N this past summer, along with some other classics, so I picked it up. It's no surprise that it wasn't the most 'uplifting' or happy story, given the title of the book. The author writes about his 17 year old son's battle with brain cancer in the 1940's. The book contains a lot of details about the various treatments Johnny was undergoing, but much of the book focuses on Johnny's perseverance and positive attitude. I guess I was a little bit surprised by how much they knew about brain cancer in the 40's. Granted, some of the treatments are probably no longer used, but I was still impressed that they knew as much as they did about the brain and cancer.

From reading the book, you definitely get the impression that Johnny was extremely intelligent. At one point of the book, the author includes correspondence between Johnny and Albert Einstein! So Johnny was definitely extremely intellectual and you can tell how proud the author is of his son. The question I have after reading it is: did the son know how proud his father was of him? I wonder if the author wrote this book to say the things he didn't say to his son. I don't think parents were are demonstrative and vocal about their feelings for their children back then - at least that's the feeling I get about that generation....

Next up, I'll be reading something much more light hearted!