Hat in den vergangenen Jahren eine Wandlung im Umgang mit dem Tod stattgefunden? In den eindrucksvoll bebilderten Reportagen stehen Eindrücke und Erfahrungen von Menschen im Mittelpunkt, die in ihrem Beruf häufig mit ihm in Berührung kommen. Wie meistern sie die Herausforderung, sich täglich der Vergänglichkeit zu stellen? So berichten in »Der ewige Kollege« Kriminalpolizisten von ihrem Berufsalltag in der Mordkommission, eine Kinderhospiz-Mitarbeiterin erzählt über ihre oft traurig stimmende, aber auch erfüllende Arbeit mit schwerkranken Kindern. Eine Onkologin redet über die Schwierigkeit, Diagnosen feinfühlig zu vermitteln, ein Altenheimleiter bezieht in der Diskussion um die Sterbehilfe Position. Ein Bestatter beschreibt unter anderem, welche Techniken zur Präparation eines Verstorbenen angewendet werden, ein Pathologe die Kunst, in einer Leiche zu lesen wie in einem offenen Buch.

Autorentext

Alice Bodnár, Diplom-Kommunikationsdesignerin, ist freiberuflich in Berlin tätig.

Klappentext

Have recent years revealed any changes in the way we approach death? This book seeks the answer to that question by collecting the impressions and experiences of persons who professionally have to deal often with death. The focus lies on the subjective perception of the various partners and how they cope with the challenge of dealing daily with the transient nature of life. The book also documents in photographs this daily struggle, which affects everyone and yet is still a taboo. The dialogs reproduced serve to demystify death and portray death as a natural part of human life. For example, a police detective describes his more than 50-hour interrogation of a person suspected of cannibalism; a woman who works in a children hospice relates why her work with terminally sick children is still a source of pleasure for her and whether the children have a sense of their impending death; a doctor explains why it can be the right thing not to fully inform a cancer patient of his/her state; the head of a nursing home explains his position on the subject of assisted suicide; an undertaker describes the techniques used in preparing the dead for burial and how some things still get to him even after 20 years of experience.

Zusammenfassung
An unusual perspective on a difficult matter.

Leseprobe
<Has there been a change in how to deal with death in the recent years? In the focus of these impressive illustrated reports are impressions and experiences of people who are often in touch with death due to their work. How do they cope with the challenge to be confronted by transience every day?In the book 'Der ewige Kollege' ('The Eternal Colleague') a CID officer talks about working in the murder squad, an employee of a children hospice talks about her very often sad but very fulfilling work with seriously ill children. An oncologist describes the difficulties of passing on diagnosis in a sensitive way, a head of an old people's home takes a position on euthanasia. A funeral director describes among other things which techniques are used for the embalming of a deceased person, a pathologist talks about the art of reading a corpse like an open book