In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger

In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife Reviews

• 
  Krista

  Everything alive has some kind of flux and ebb, and when that stops, life stops. When people say life is precious, they are saying that the rhythmic force that runs through all things — your wrist, your children’s wrists, God’s entire green earth — is precious. For my whole life, my pulse ran through me with such quiet power that I never had to think about it. And now they were having trouble finding it.

  
  In 2020, at fifty-eight years old, best-selling author Sebastian Junger had a near-fatal health emergency (a ruptured aneurysm on a pancreatic artery; his odds of surviving, even with timely medical intervention, were around 10%), and while doctors at the Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis worked frantically to save his life, Junger had a profound near death experience that forced him to consider the possibility of an afterlife for the first time.
  In My Time of Dying is a perfectly balanced account of Junger’s experience: part memoir (including previous brushes with death, as a surfer and as an embedded war journalist in Afghanistan), part investigation into the nature of reality (from others’ accounts of NDEs to the latest revelations from quantum physics), and part personalised processing of his experience and consequent research, this is rich storytelling that nicely blends awe and reason. I must admit that this is exactly my kind of thing (it’s the 28th title on my “death and dying” shelf) but I think it is an objectively excellent read; highly recommended. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
  
  

  Wilson was still working on my neck, and I was feeling myself getting pulled more and more sternly into the darkness. And just when it seemed unavoidable, I became aware of something else: My father. He’d been dead eight years, but there he was, not so much floating as simply existing above me and slightly to my left. Everything that had to do with life was on the right side of my body and everything that had to do with this scary new place was on my left. My father exuded reassurance and seemed to be inviting me to go with him. “It’s okay, there’s nothing to be scared of,” he seemed to be saying. “Don’t fight it. I’ll take care of you.”

  
  I enjoyed all of the biographical information (Junger was writing
  The Perfect Storm when he had his surfing accident; his great aunt Ithi had an affair with her algebra tutor, Erwin Schrödinger; Junger’s wife insisted he go to the hospital for his stomach pain, reminding the author of “the renowned statistic that married men live longer than unmarried men”), and we learn enough about Junger’s family and upbringing to understand that an encounter with the afterlife would be a shock in this group of atheists and scientists. Junger goes on to share all sides of the debate: stories from those who encountered the afterlife during near death experiences; perfectly rational explanations from scientists regarding brain activity at the time of death; and stories from others, like Junger himself, who understand and believe in the science but who nonetheless had profound NDEs that seemed to promise a continuation of the consciousness after death. And when Junger gets to the latest in quantum physics — explaining how unlikely the existence of the universe, and our place within it as sentient beings, really is — it’s easy to be persuaded to believe in something more.
  
  Some interesting bits:
  
  

  • “It doesn’t surprise me that you saw the dead. Not because I have strong beliefs about it, but because I have zero disbelief.”
  
  • My worst fear — other than dying — was that because I’d come so close to death, it would now accompany me everywhere like some ghastly pet. Or, more accurately, that I was now the pet, and my new master was standing mutely with the lead watching me run out the clock.
  
  • Finding yourself alive after almost dying is not, as it turns out, the kind of party one might expect. You realize that you weren’t returned to life, you were just introduced to death.
  
  • Scientists are so far from explaining consciousness that they can’t even agree on a definition, yet it is the crowning achievement of the physical world and seems to be the reason that anything exists in the form that it does. The circularity is audacious: a mix of minerals organized as a human brain summon the world into existence by collapsing its wave function, giving physical reality to the very minerals the brain is made of.
  
  • Our universe was created by unknowable forces, has no implicit reason to exist, and seems to violate its own basic laws. In such a world, what couldn’t happen? My dead father appearing above me in a trauma bay is the least of it. When I tried to find the ICU nurse who had suggested I try thinking of my experience as something sacred rather than something scary, no one at the hospital knew who she was; no one even knew what I was talking about. It crossed my mind that she did not exist. My experience was sacred, I finally decided, because I couldn’t really know life until I knew death, and I couldn’t really know death until it came for me.

  
  Really well written and interesting throughout, full stars from me.
  
• 
  Diane S ☔

  Medical emergencies can sneak up on one. This is what happens to Junger, though he did have clues that he dismissed, which too many of us do. Life threatening internal bleeding, he only had a ten percent chance of survival.
  
  Without going into detail, I’ll just say that I more in common with this scenario, than I would like. So, he details his experience in hospital, his recovery, and expresses the gratitude he feels in those who saved his life. He also shares the times previously that he came close to death, he was in Afghanistan, and those who didn’t make it. What he saw when he was dying and he also tells of others who have had near death experiences.
  
  Interesting book and a deeper dive into what happens as we are dying.
• 
  Emma Scott

  Oh that ending snuck up on me. I wish there’d been a more conclusive theory as put forth by the author but I guess his theory is the same as most people: we just don’t know. But this book offers scientific comfort where others offer spiritual relief and I appreciate both.
• 
  Michael Clancy

  The author had a medical emergency in 2020 which brought him very close to death during which he had visions of his dead father. After recovering he dived into an investigation of what happens to a person when and after they die including those that have had NDE incidents. The book relates all of this - his own emergency, his past experiences where he could have died, stories about his family, war stories, overly detailed medical information, his research into death and dying, physics. scientific information way beyond me, etc. What started out as a very interesting book goes back and forth and all over so much you don't know when or where you are half the time. Worth the read but I wouldn't have gone out and bought it. Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the Advanced Uncorrected Proof of the book.
• 
  Carol

  I have followed Sebastian Junger for years and am always up for anything new that he writes.
  This one is not exactly what I'd expect from the man who wrote The Perfect Storm as this time it's he that is in danger of not surviving.
  
  In addition to just liking Junger's style, this topic grabbed my interest right away. I come from of family of believers. Though most of these believers are now deceased, they always held true that family will be there at death, will come and help you to transfer to what ever is next. I saw this happen as my father knew death was imminent. Mother, too.
  
  I really wondered how Junger would handle this, the visitation and advice from his dead physicist father. Junger, seemingly was not that close to his father, but he was there to guide him as his death was approaching. But he didn't die and when he knew he would live he had a lot to think about. His answers were very interesting and his conclusions seemed sound.
  
  The scientific jargon was a bit too much for me but the death, dying and living was enough for me to give this book a high rating.
  
  My sincere gratitude to Libro.fm for providing the Audio edition, narration by Junger. This made the telling superior, as who better to know the nuances, the emotions, the bewilderment he felt in those words he put on paper.
• 
  JR

  As I get older I find myself thinking about death a lot more and what’s waiting for us after, so I picked this up immediately when I saw it. I thought it would be some very deep insight into staring death in the face and a possible afterlife theories but instead I found this to be kind of a jumbled mess.
  
  First half was about the authors near death scare and what was wrong with him with some huge medical lingo and jargon that went way over my head, and the second half was not really what I was hoping for, and had some different things that just left me wondering.
  
  It’s a short read at 160 pages but I’m down the middle with this. 3 stars
  
  
• 
  Ray Palen

  Some readers may recognize the title of this book from the classic Led Zeppelin song based on a Blind Willie Johnson blues classic. Others will note that the author Sebastian Junger is the writer of such unforgettable classics like THE PERFECT STORM. Neither of these facts will prepare you for the deeply emotional journey Junger is about to take you on with his latest memoir, IN MY TIME OF DYING.
  
  There have been countless books dedicated to the subject of death or near death experiences. John Gunther’s classic DEATH BE NOT PROUD comes immediately to mind. However, you rarely get to experience the subject of one’s own mortality through the eyes of a famous author who previously had no faith and was raised to handle such things in an extremely scientific, forensic manner.
  
  IN MY TIME OF DYING opens with one such experience where the near death depiction while surfing amongst monstrous waves is detailed in a manner only someone like Junger can manage. For Sebastian Junger, who had survived many life-threatening experiences throughout his career both personally and as a writer, nothing will prepare him for the unexpected blow that is dealt to him during the summer of 2020.
  
  While enjoying some time with his wife and two children, Junger is overcome with severe abdominal pain while walking in the woods with his wife. He attempts to walk it out on his own but quickly requires the assistance of his wife as he loses control of his legs and his eyesight. She gets him home, phones for an ambulance and all are horrified at how active the EMT’s are with Junger. This sends the message to everyone, including Junger himself, that this is no minor medical issue.
  
  Junger takes the time while recounting this ordeal to philosophize about the nature of life and death. He states that dying is the most ordinary thing you will ever do but also the most radical. The most unnerving and chilling thing I took away from Junger’s brilliant prose was when, during his near-death experience, he comes upon the fisherman of the ill fated Andrea Gail from THE PERFECT STORM. They are sitting in a circle on a beach when he approaches them and they announce to him: “We’ve been expecting you.”
  
  He shares how he was raised, particularly by his brilliant engineer father, in a manner that included no religious belief of any sort and was far too rational. With that being passed on to Junger, it was not easy for him to admit to thoughts of an after-life until he was faced with his own mortality. The stomach issue was indeed major and several surgeries were required to save him after he lost nearly forty percent of his own blood. Having this happen during the Pandemic really brought the spectacular job the medical staff did in saving his life to light. It also has turned Junger into a regular blood donor.
  
  The medical staff at Cape Cod Hospital all get their just due from the eternally grateful Junger and their methods in saving his life read like a television medical drama. The best way he describes what the staff did for him was when he compared their efforts as the civilian equivalent of combat surgery. Much like an episode of M*A*S*H, these doctors pulled out all stops and utilized everything at their disposal to save this man’s life
  
  The after-life portion of the book is special and is surprisingly introduced via a deathbed visitation Junger receives from his father. Junger cites many works that dealt with this subject, including an examination of Schrodinger’s Cat --- part of that famous experiment that concluded that there was a point where the cat existed in a state somewhere between or simultaneously alive and dead. By surviving, Junger became that much more existential. He speaks about how humans live by patterns, meaning if something lives something else must die. That thought brought him to tears with the mere power of this depth of understanding.
  
  IN MY TIME OF DYING is so well put together and both uplifting and eye-opening. While I am sorry Junger, or anyone for that matter, would have to suffer like this I am glad that it happened to someone with the ability to share and examine the entire process from start to finish and give us all something to be thankful for about life and to deeply ponder.
  
  Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
• 
  Jaclyn Melander

  I really thought I was going to like this book. However, it wasn’t what I expected. Only a small portion talks about the author’s actual near death experience. The rest is the science of dying or war stories that I struggled to relate to the main text. If you like reading about medicine and the science of the human body, you’ll probably enjoy this book. It just wasn’t for me.
• 
  David Mills

  Favorite Quote = “We assume that life is the most real thing we will ever experience. But it might turn out to be the least real, the least meaningful. The idea that you will appreciate life more after almost dying is a cheap bit of wisdom easily assumed by people who have never been near death. When you drill down into it, which you must, we are really talking of an appreciation of death rather than of life. Eventually you will be all alone with doctors shrugging because they have run out of things to do and the person you really are, thumping frantically in your chest; the successes and catastrophes, and affairs and hangovers, and genuine loves, and small betrayals, and flashes of courage and the river of fear running beneath it all of it, and of course the vast stretches of wasted time, that are part of even the most amazing life. You will know yourself best at that moment. You will be at your most real, your most honest, your most uncalculated.”
• 
  Kelly Hancock

  This book chewed me up and spit my back out. A fascinating exploration of near death experiences and afterlife encounters. The way that Junger interwove personal experience with medical, psychological, and physics perspectives/facts was brilliant and fun to read. This book had me wanting to learn more about death and dying, to embrace living, and had me questioning my own existence throughout. Loved it even if it scared me a little.
• 
  Troy Tradup

  "On some level I knew something was seriously wrong, but my brain wasn't working well enough to understand that I was dying. I didn't have any grand thoughts about mortality or life; I didn't even think about my family. I had all the introspection of a gut-shot coyote."
• 
  Ava Courtney Sylvester

  The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything
  
  I came to this book after watching Junger's charming and compelling interview on "The Daily Show" and promptly bought, and devoured, his book. Having read Junger's work before, I knew it would be great. I just didn't have any idea how great.
  
  In this man's search for meaning, we start with a harrowing tale of survival that reads like a thriller with segues explaining how the author was saved with details so exacting that it would require a medical doctorate and years of surgical training to fully grasp.
  
  But what readers are likely to be deeply moved by are Junger's near-death experiences--staggering in both number and variety--and the near-death encounters that brought him a vision of his father. Jumger analyzed why a skeptical atheist father and son would be reunited years after the father's death. Along the way, he shares the encounters of others and the scholarly research involving whether there's anything to near-death visions. He even asks his fathers' physicist colleagues, who, after some thought, place the odds of Junger's near-death encounter being anything more than the last gasp of a dying brain at Avogadro's number, a clever yet cutting way of saying "no chance in hell."
  
  Junger concludes with a thicket of physics concepts to untangle--for author and reader alike--but he comes to a sort of universal constant of consciousness that would indeed explain life, the universe, and everything.
  
  Read Douglas Adams if you're looking for the punchline, Viktor Frankl if you're searching for a psychological take, but read this if you'd like to appreciate the miracle of life or if, like me, you'd really like to think your parent is out there waiting for you beyond the veil.
• 
  Corlie

  “Everyone has a relationship with death whether they want to or not; refusing to think about death is its own kind of relationship.” Sebastian Junger has a way of making nature a central character to each story he has crafted — in a very triumvirate man.vs.nature.vs.self battle — and In My Time of Dying is no exception.
  
  Junger’s latest book affords an intimate look into an esteemed writer’s thought and research processes of making sense of an unfathomable experience. In My Time of Dying is like taking a peek into a journalist’s personal journal in which he explores faith, fact, feeling of Near Death Experiences with empirical and mystical data.
  
  Junger grapples with what it means to almost die — and how to live life following such an experience. Junger writes: “But I didn't die, and it made me wonder what this new part of my life was supposed to be called. The extra years that had been returned to me were too terrifying to be beautiful and too precious to be ordinary.”
  
  I’m a huge fan of Junger’s works and appreciate this intimate undertaking by the author. Thank you to Goodreads and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy reading opportunity.
• 
  Chris

  Full disclosure, I won a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway in April or May. The copy I won says on the cover, "Advance Proof, Uncorrected - Not for Resale or Quotation, Publication Date 05/21/24."
  
  I have read War and watched Restrepo by Sebastian Junger and find his writing to be very good. I had not idea the topic or content of this book, other than dying (from the word in the title) and thought it was going to be Junger reflecting about death from his war report, and I was wrong and thrown a serious curve ball when I read the back of the book and then dove in.
  
  While I won't spoil the story line for those who have not read it, Junger has his own near-death experience and tells about it along with his reflections about his experience and how he had to come to or came to grips with this.
  
  I had no idea Junger's father was a Physicist and at MIT of all places.
  
  Junger bares his soul and his inner thinkings about the afterlife and delves pretty deeply into quantum mechanics and physics as well as the metaphysical and seems as if he is on a journey to understand if there is an afterlife or not and whether he should or now does believe in the afterlife after his own experience yet he never does come out and tell the reader one way or the other.
  
  The experience certainly seems to have changed him and also seems to have brought him closer to his father. My own father died a few times from a heart attack, and at a very young age, and later told me he saw himself from above his hospital bed and was aware that the doctors who saved him were working on him and this or something similar to this is described by Junger and many others via stories Junger tells from his research throughout the latter half of this book.
  
  Junger then goes on to make sense of the electrical activity of the brain upon dying and numerous stories of others just like or similar to his. He then dives into the science citing Avogadro's number and Planck's constant to explain to the reader things that are happening and to help understand the science vs the non-science part of the experiences.
  
  As I scientist who knows both Avogadro's number and Planck's constant and having heard first hand the story of my father's near-death experience I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I hope you will too.
  
  I highly recommend this book.
• 
  Sherry

  This is a short book by Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm among others, about his near-death experience, and his search to make sense of it.
  
  I heard him interviewed on NPR about this book release, and since I am curious about death, dying, and near-death experiences (NDE), I placed the book on hold at my library.
  
  The author is an atheist, and he tackles his questions from a scientific standpoint. The book is peppered with adventurous stories throughout his life, including dangerous surfing, solo international travel to remote places, and experiences as an embedded war journalist. When he describes how his NDE came about, he then goes into detailed descriptions of the medical procedures, how bodies and minds typically respond to massive blood loss and active dying, and how his reactions were sometimes different. In his search for answers, he turns to science, explaining particle physics and what we know about the universe today, covering “Schrodinger’s cat” (how particles can be in multiple places at once until someone observes them), and how entangled particles affect each other across any distance. This discussion culminates in something called delayed-choice quantum erasure, a scientific paradox, which means that what has been done can be undone – revised later -- at least at the quantum level.
  
  I enjoyed reading the book, and while Sebastian draws no conclusions about the meaning of his NDE, he points out the importance of being with people we love. There is a lot to wrap your head around in this book, and I recommend it, if you are so inclined.
  
• 
  MKF

  I'm supposed to believe that a man suffering from a life-threatening medical emergency could remember so much. The author says he was slipping in and out of consciousness so you would think that there would be chunks missing. To convince you he's telling the truth he includes statements from his wife and some of the doctors and nurses. Then he includes scientific information to help explain in detail what was happening to him. I think the information is the author's scientific evidence that what happened was real. It backfires though when the information included information about hallucinations or being delusional. So it's very likely that the author was experiencing hallucinations he didn't need to include the section about NDE's. At least he tried to write a more secular and scientific look at the phenomenon which is lacking in many books on the subject.
• 
  Jeanne

  The author had a near death experience and wanted to tell his story. There wasn’t enough material for a book so he filled it with flash backs and medical stories and medical histories that did not enhance his story. I think that this book would’t have been published at all if the author wasn’t already an established best selling writer.
• 
  Michelle Fitzgerald

  One of the most powerful and thought-provoking books I have ever read. I have been a fan of Sebastian Junger’s previous books but this is a different, deeply personal and emotional story of his journey back from death. It explores the science of death and what happens after as well as personal anecdotes and near death experiences of others. It’s different in all the best ways from any other book I have read.
• 
  Melissa

  This book was won from a Goodreads giveaway.
  
  I was a little disappointed in this book. The majority of the book was about the author's NDE. The rest of the book was about his thoughts on it. It was okay. Sources included at the end.
• 
  Nick

  Quick, poignant, and heartfelt. Junger grapples with our inevitable demise with sensitivity and breathtaking sentences.
• 
  Samantha

  This book was a life changer for me. Junger, after a near death experience, struggles to make sense of what he experienced - a large empty space to his left, and his father telling him it was OK to come with him because he'd take care of everything. In this book, he looks at common threads in experiences of dying and near death, and puzzles out the scientific or unknown reasoning behind where it happens.
  
  In short, he lands on something I've always thought too: that it's not fanciful to acknowledge that there's stuff we just don't know about death and the universe, and it's not necessarily unlikely that death is a beginning in ways that we just don't know yet.
• 
  Kyle Pollock

  In My Time of Dying opens with an account of his near-drowning experience while surfing, setting the stage for an exploration of mortality and survival. The book juxtaposes this life-threatening event with Junger's early career as a tree climber where safety protocols provided a semblance of control, highlighting the contrast between predictable occupational hazards and the arbitrary dangers of everyday life.
  
  Junger recounts meeting his future wife Barbara, leading to marriage and children, underscoring the unpredictability of life's enriching moments. He reflects on the death of British photographer Tim Hetherington in the Libyan civil war, illustrating life's fragility through juxtaposition with his own survival. The randomness of existence is further explored through the story of Ruth Hamilton, who narrowly escaped death when a meteorite crashed through her roof, and Junger’s own near-death experience from a ruptured aneurysm, underscoring the advances and lifesaving power of modern medicine.
  
  The book delves into fundamental scientific concepts like entropy, and draws parallels between cosmic events and human existence. Junger discusses Dr. Werner Forssmann’s pioneering cardiac care research and presents Dr. Bruce Greyson’s studies on near-death experiences (NDEs), which challenge conventional understandings of consciousness and the afterlife. Personal anecdotes and philosophical inquiries intertwine to explore the essence of existence.
  
  Junger also examines historical periods of religious oppression that stifled scientific progress, contrasting them with more enlightened eras that protected intellectual advancements. He reflects on the common human illusion of invulnerability, noting that people often believe tragedies won’t happen to them. Survival is depicted as an immediate, visceral struggle rather than a conscious contemplation of death.
  
  The book also explores the origins of the universe through the lens of modern cosmology. In an excerpt, Junger and his father discuss cosmological theories derived from studying big bang radiation, tracing the universe's inception to approximately 13.787 billion years ago. Concepts like Planck length, singularity, and Heisenberg's uncertainty principle are used to explain the rapid expansion of the universe post-singularity.
  
  In My Time of Dying is a deeply contemplative and intellectually stimulating exploration of mortality, survival, and the mysteries of the universe. Junger weaves personal experiences with broader philosophical and scientific inquiries, offering a nuanced perspective on the precariousness and randomness of life. This theme is consistently reinforced through various stories and reflections, making the book's central message both clear and compelling.
  
  The mix of scientific exploration, particularly cosmology and quantum physics, with human experiences of near-death and survival, adds a rich layer of depth to the narrative. Junger's skill in making these complex topics accessible and relevant to the average reader is commendable. He effectively bridges the gap between advanced scientific theories and everyday life, drawing thought-provoking connections.
  
  However, the detailed scientific explanations, while fascinating, can be dense and may challenge some readers without a background in medicine or physics. The inclusion of technical descriptions, like the delayed-choice quantum erasure experiment, while intriguing, might overwhelm those less inclined toward scientific minutiae.
  
  Junger’s reflections on historical periods of religious oppression and scientific advancements provide valuable context and highlight the ongoing struggle between knowledge and dogma. These sections are insightful and underscore the importance of intellectual freedom.
  
  In My Time of Dying is a powerful and thought-provoking book that successfully blends memoir, science, and philosophy. It challenges readers to reflect on their own lives, the nature of existence, and the profound randomness that defines our reality. Junger's eloquent writing and deep introspection make this a worthwhile read for anyone intrigued by the mysteries of life and death.