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Title: Suicide and Attempted Suicide: Methods and Consequences by Geo Stone ISBN: 0-7867-0940-5 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers Pub. Date: 09 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.14 (29 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: If you want information about suicide methods, this is it.
Comment: This is an odd, idiosyncratic, fascinating, uneven, irritating, and important book: there's nothing out there like it. "Suicide and Attempted Suicide" is primarily a study of suicide methods---how people try to kill themselves (or, more often, try to get attention or help). It reads as if it were written by more than one author, or over an extended period of time: the tone bounces unpredictably from didactic to ironic to funny (be sure to read the chapter endnotes!).
The first half of the book touches on a wide range of suicide topics: history of suicide, the legal situation, treatment options, terminal illness, philosophical issues, euthanasia and assisted suicide. The information is interesting and well enough presented, but tries to cover too much ground in too few pages. A reader unfamiliar with this material will find it a reasonable, though patchy, introduction that can be followed up from the author's well-chosen "suggested reading" list.
The heart of the book is the second half, where it discusses suicide methods and their consequences in clinical detail. This treatment will surely be controversial, since the author provides "how to" (and "how not to") information that can be used either to commit suicide or to carry out a suicidal gesture.
I've seen only one other book that takes a similar approach, Derek Humphry's "Final Exit" to which this book will inevitably be compared. "Suicide and Attempted Suicide" is the far more comprehensive and detailed work, which is both its strength and its weakness. There is no better---in fact no other---book that discusses the variety of suicide methods in any significant depth. However the large amount of information comes at a cost: a suicidal reader may have a hard time extracting the data he wants from the mass of data he doesn't need. Similarly, the casual reader will probably find the quantity and details of evidence overwhelming.
The writing style is rather pedestrian, which doesn't detract much from a book of this sort, but occasionally slips into "medicalese" which does. On the other hand there are quite a few interesting and informative asides and digressions. These range from early Christian theological disputes, to minimizing heat loss in marine mammals, to the words of Jim Jones (remember Jonestown?) at an anti-suicide rally in San Francisco.
Given the sometimes-gory descriptions, the absence of photos and drawings is a bit surprising. However the author says in a "note to the reader" that these will be available on his website.
Overall, flaws and all, I highly recommend this book for anyone who has seriously considered suicide, or is presently contemplating it. With more reservations---the first half has too little detail, the second half too much---I would recommend it for general readers as well.
Rating: 5
Summary: Stays with you
Comment: This is clearly the work of a man deeply steeped in his own moral compass which is nothing but laudable. I would say it is worth reading this book simply for it's strength of character; as an example of what happens when someone looks deeply into a social phenomenon, then deeply into their soul, then expresses the result in a clear, concise way.
Yes this book is challenging to the reader: if you have ANY fear of some means of death or injury (who doesn't?) then there will be some part of the book that defies you to keep staring at the clinical reality of the situation.
Yet Stone makes his case with emotion, feeling and yes, humor -- but never without the utmost respect for those considering suicide or those reaching for help in a desperate act. Never once did I feel Stone was judging the subject or the reader. He saved all that for the system and those that perpetuate it.
I read this book a year ago and it's principles have stayed with me and inspired me to me more open, generous and thoughtful.
Thanks.
Rating: 5
Summary: YOUR BROTHER, HANGING?
Comment: Below, a reviewer states he found the internet instructions of strangulation on his brother's computer a couple hours after finding his brother's dead body, in what I assume is "suspension hanging".
C'mon, we all know that's a bunch of bunk. I mean, the horror of finding a dead body, hanging by the neck...much less your brother's dead body hanging by the neck...and you're surfing his hard drive soon after such a gruesome discovery? Wouldn't the police be looking for a note on it? Seized in a search?
PLEASE....I'm laughing now. This book was available at Borders and anywhere else. Just like FINAL EXIT. Simply because someone found it on the internet doesn't mean the author is responsible in any way. If I made the suggestion to "go jump off a bridge," and someone did, in fact, I really don't think I would be held accountable. The information has always been available. Guns are easy to acquire, and with the right caliber, they are quite fatal. Because someone uses one to destroy his or her head, the gun manufacturer shouldn't be liable. Amazon sold the book new and allows the resale of it used. Are they part of the conspiracy?
Duh....
I'm tired of people posting the most idiotic notes concerning this book.
YOU DON'T GO TO HELL FOR KILLING YOURSELF. Suicide is a product of mental illness and / or biological predisposition. How can an Infinite "God" condemn someone who acted when outside of his or her mind? Look at Judas and his suicide. NOT A WORD is said in condemnation. Look it up in the Bible, if you feel the need and don't believe me.
On CNN recently, I saw a lawyer representing a family who had a daughter who killed herself via the manner described in FINAL EXIT (third edition). She was instructed, directly from the book, to use Helium. It's fatal in concentrate. Since she did it, the lawyer now wants to prosecute the person who made her privy to the information. THIS IS IDIOTIC. WHEN are people fully responsible for the choices they make? WHY do we look to blame anyone else but ourselves for these things? Her family should be looking at their behavior and how they failed in helping her...not seeking to condemn someone who simply educated the woman.
GROW UP AND REALIZE YOU CREATE AND LIVE IN THE SOCIETY YOU WANT.
Mike
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Title: Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying by Derek Humphry ISBN: 0385336535 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 26 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Drug Use in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (Monograph Published Simultaneously As the Journal of Pharmaceutical Care in Pain & Symptom Control , Vol 3&4, No 1-4) by Margaret P. Battin, Arthur G. Lipman ISBN: 1560248432 Publisher: Haworth Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1996 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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Title: Let Me Die Before I Wake & Supplement to Final Exit by Derek Humphry ISBN: 1401102867 Publisher: Norris Lane Pr Pub. Date: 02 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: Suicide: The Forever Decision...for Those Thinking About Suicide, and for Those Who Know, Love, or Counsel Them by Paul G. Quinnett ISBN: 0824513525 Publisher: Crossroad Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title:Final Exit ASIN: 0963728024 Pub. Date: 08 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $20.00 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $20.00 |
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