Stiff – The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Posted on July 2, 2009 
Filed under Books, Humor, Non-Fiction, Special Interest and tagged , , , , , ,

stiff cover Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Have you ever wondered what happens to bodies that are donated to science? The lovely Mary Roach, who is not a scientist but takes a scientific approach to her books, has written a wonderfully informative, hilariously funny and at times utterly gross-out book. The subtitle of the book is “The curious life of human cadavers” and it really is a very curious book and one of the best things I’ve ever read on the subject of death, something which I readily admit to being fascinated with; from the forensic point of view, from a curiosity point of view, from the point of view of science and the unknown. Morbid I admit but how many of you out there watch shows like CSI or read books by people like Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs? Death is fascinating. Really.

In Ms Roach’s own words “For 2,000 years, cadavers – some willingly, some unwittingly – have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings”. Stiff is an interesting and often incredibly funny look at the lives our bodies can take on after death.

If it wasn’t for the research and sometimes very strange experiments of these donors we wouldn’t have many of the things we take for granted every day. From surgeons practicing procedures to save lives or even giving you a facelift, airbags in cars, learning about ballistics and human decay helping to snare perpetrators of crime, you can thank a dead donor.

This book is not for the faint hearted as it goes into incredible and sometimes disgusting detail but somehow the author manages to convey all of these details with laugh out loud, very irreverent humour. Don’t get me wrong, she in no way belittles or makes fun of the dead, quite the opposite in fact. You get an amazing insight and gain a great deal of respect for those who have given the ultimate gift of their bodies to forward the science of living.

Think about surgery. From life-saving transplants to gender-reassignments to facial reconstruction and amputations, none of these would be possible if it wasn’t for the dead. Some surgeries can, of course, be practiced on living people under the close instruction of teachers but others would never have been possible if these procedures weren’t first completed on cadavers.

With wars raging around the world, cadavers have helped surgeons come up with techniques that can save limbs and lives. Every time you drive a car with an airbag you can say a little prayer of thanks to the human crash-test dummies that are helping you to be as safe as possible. Yes of course they use dummies in testing but every so often a real body needs to be used as no matter how life-like they make them, no dummy can actually realistically show what can happen to real flesh and bone. It sounds awful but think about how many lives are saved from this one experiment alone.

Cadaver donors are cut up, shot up, blown up, stitched together and taken apart all in the name of science and making the world a better place. Of course that hasn’t always been the case, this book also covers everything from the grotesque experiments of a weirdly Frankenstein nature – and I mean that in the truest sense – people trying to reanimate corpses, body-snatching, trying to measure the weight of a human soul, plastination and even composting!

Although you can easily sit back and read about the body-snatching and surgical practices of bygone eras it can be very confronting to read about a head on a tray about to get a nose job, so be prepared. It’s gore galore but extremely interesting and surprisingly entertaining. There’s also a bit about becoming a human dumpling but I won’t spoil the surprise.

The book was written because of Mary Roach’s own desire to donate her body after death so she decided to throw herself into the research and write about it. My reasons for becoming a donor aren’t very good at all. My reasons boil down to a Harvard Brain Bank donor wallet card, which enables me to say “I’m going to Harvard” and not be lying. You do not need brains to go to the Harvard Brain Bank, only a brain.

I know that many will think the subject matter is very distasteful and disrespectful, I totally understand that. Death is not something we as humans take lightly. Many will feel that the only respectful way to deal with death is by burial or cremation. After all, we are all going to die some day and most people don’t want to think about their own, or a loved one’s, body being used and abused but I’m a firm believer in “you can’t take it with you when you’re gone” so I have a great respect for those who give the greatest gift of all, their bodies – either as an organ donor or a body donor – all are are helping the living by this unselfish act.

Whether this book makes you decide to become a cadaver donor or turns you completely off the idea, Stiff is a wonderful, funny, gruesome and honest account of what may become of your body after you leave it. It’s a ripping read and completely convinced me that I wanted in. I applied to the University of Sydney to become a brain donor. The donor brains are used to study, and hopefully find a cure for, diseases like Alzheimer’s. It’s not like I’ll need my brain after I’m dead, I get by without using it much at all while I’m alive!

And if you are wondering what happens to your soul after you die Mary Roach has also written a book covering this called Spook which I’ll be reviewing very soon.

PS: You may get all sorts of guys chatting you up when they see you reading a book called Stiff on the train. strange but true ;)

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Comments



5 Responses to “Stiff – The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers”

  1.  Jo on July 3rd, 2009 12:11 am

    Sounds weirdly fun. Is it lose your lunch gory?

  2.  Natalina on July 3rd, 2009 3:39 am

    Coooooool!

  3.  cheryl on July 3rd, 2009 6:02 am

    Hey Jo, it’s gory but unless you have a weak stomach the humour will stop you from gagging ;)

    Natalina, it really is SO cool!

  4.  Bruno Dante on July 3rd, 2009 9:48 pm

    Intriguing … There’s a brilliant novel (cum whistle blow) called Bodies by Jed Mercurio, about the (sex) lives of interns. It’s also about life and death in the surrounds of a hospital.

  5.  cheryl on July 3rd, 2009 11:10 pm

    Well that sounds interesting Bruno. You should give this book a whirl, it really is highly entertaining and incredibly informative :)

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