Description
Now and at the hour of our death
Book summary
A deeply human piece of literary reportage that follows a palliative care team in northern Portugal. Susana Moreira Marques rescues the final voices of those fading away, combining intimate personal reflection with direct testimony from patients. The result is a work of extraordinary beauty that confronts the grandeur of anonymous biographies with the crushing sense of finitude in our final hours. A book that elevates journalism to an uncommon height.
What is it about?
The author embarks on a journey through northern Portugal, accompanying a palliative care team. Throughout this journey, Moreira Marques interviews people in their final days of life, gathering their stories, fears, memories, and the wisdom that emerges at the edge of the end. The book does not just document these encounters; it weaves them together with a personal reflection on death, identity, and a landscape that is vanishing. Through a brilliant interplay between a life and a landscape that are both fading away, the work offers a moving and unsentimental portrait of the human condition in the face of the inevitable.
Main themes
- Death and the dying process from a human and intimate perspective.
- The value of palliative care and end-of-life accompaniment.
- Memory, identity, and the hidden grandeur in anonymous lives.
- The relationship between the territory (northern Portugal) and the experience of the end.
- Personal reflection and journalistic testimony as ways of understanding finitude.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in narrative journalism and high-quality literary reportage. It is also for those seeking an honest, sensitive, and taboo-free approach to the subjects of death and grief, as well as for health, social, or humanities professionals who work with terminal patients. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to reflect on the meaning of life through the final words of those saying goodbye.
What this book offers
- A deeply human and respectful perspective on the end of life, far from sensationalism.
- Real and moving testimonies that show the dignity and greatness of anonymous people.
- A unique combination of immersive journalism and personal literary reflection.
- An invitation to reflect on one's own finitude and the value of small stories.
Technical specifications
- Author: Moreira Marques, Susana
- Publisher: LIBROS DEL KO, SLL
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Literary essays, reportage and collections of journalistic articles, ethical issues: death penalty, sociology of death and dying, palliative medicine, coping with death and grief
- Collection: NARRATIVE
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: June 2018
- Number of pages: 120
- Weight: 145 g
Editorial review
A work that transcends the genre of reportage to become a first-rate literary text. The author achieves a difficult balance between the harshness of the subject and the beauty of the writing, offering the reader an intense and revealing reading experience. Her approach, which combines journalistic observation with personal introspection, makes it a recommended read for those seeking to understand death not as a taboo, but as an essential part of life. A brief book, yet one with an emotional and intellectual density that lingers long after closing it.