Mortality & Death

"Nothing can be said to be certain," wrote Ben Franklin, "except death and taxes." And yet, death is often ignored, dismissed, or delayed as an experience worth contemplating—until we are forced to reckon with it head-on. The books in this collection do their own reckoning.

Human Acts

by Han Kang

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Justice, Politics & Government, Community, Memory

Tags Historical Fiction, Grief & Death, Social Justice, Korean Literature, Trauma & Abuse, Modern Classic Fiction, Asian Literature, World History

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Hum If You Don't Know the Words

by Bianca Marais

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Revenge, Race, Coming of Age, Death, Future, The Past, Friendship, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags World History, Arts & Culture, Historical Fiction, Race & Racism

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Hurt Locker

by Brian Turner

Publication year 2005

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Forgiveness, Memory, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Fear, Grief, Perseverance, Conflict, Safety & Danger, Good & Evil, Wins & Losses, Death

Tags Iraq War

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I Am Still Alive

by Kate Alice Marshall

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Revenge, Disability, Coming of Age, Death, Environment, Food, Fathers, Safety & Danger

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Survival Fiction, Action & Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction

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I Am Watching You

by Teresa Driscoll

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Fear, Grief, Femininity, Gender Identity, Mental Health, Death, Appearance & Reality, Fathers, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Modern Classic Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Mental Illness

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I Cheerfully Refuse

by Leif Enger

Publication year 2024

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Grief, Hate & Anger, Hope, Love, Memory, Revenge, Death, Future, Climate, Environment, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Nation, Politics & Government, Equality, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Music, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

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I Know Who You Are

by Alice Feeney

Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Hope, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Revenge, Mental Health, Childhood & Youth, Midlife, Death, Future, The Past, Animals, Nature Versus Nurture, Place, Family, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Social Class, Economics, Fame, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Literature, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction

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I'll Give You the Sun

by Jandy Nelson

Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Art, Family, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Shame & Pride, Aging, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Sexual Identity, The Past, Death, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Mothers, Siblings, Fate, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses

Tags Coming of Age, Magical Realism, Romance, Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ+, Grief & Death, Love & Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction

I’ll Give You the Sun (2015) is an award-winning novel penned by Jandy Nelson about relationships, art, and destiny. It follows the story of twins Noah and Jude Sweetwine who once shared a close relationship but find themselves barely speaking to each other two years after their mother’s death.Jandy Nelson is an American author who writes young adult fiction. I’ll Give You the Sun is her second novel, which won numerous awards and honors, including... Read I'll Give You the Sun Summary

Illness As Metaphor

by Susan Sontag

Publication year 1978

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Death, Language, Mental Health

Tags Health, Philosophy, Science & Nature, Psychology, Disability, World History, LGBTQ+, Philosophy

Susan Sontag’s 1978 book Illness as Metaphor is an 87-page work of critical theory exploring the language we use to describe disease and its victims. The work was originally published in the New York Review of Books as three long-form essays. Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor while undergoing treatment for breast cancer, though not mentioned in the text. This genre—critical theoretical examinations of social and cultural events or phenomena—was where Sontag established her reputation. Illness... Read Illness As Metaphor Summary

Indecent

by Paula Vogel

Publication year 2015

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hope, Love, Language, Race, Death, Teamwork, Immigration, War, Equality, Literature

Tags Drama, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Jewish Literature, Gender & Feminism, Education, Education, World History, Dramatic Literature

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Indian Camp

by Ernest Hemingway

Publication year 1924

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Daughters & Sons, Colonialism, Masculinity, Death

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Education, Education, World History

One of his several short stories set in Northern Michigan, “Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was first published in a 1924 issue of the Parisian literary magazine Transatlantic Review. The next year, “Indian Camp” was included in Hemingway’s first story collection, In Our Time. “Indian Camp” has since become one of Hemingway’s most heavily anthologized works. Based partly on Hemingway’s visits to Petoskey, Michigan, during childhood and young adulthood, “Indian Camp” follows young Nick... Read Indian Camp Summary

Inferno

by Dan Brown

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Globalization, Art, Literature, Science & Technology, Environment, Future, Power & Greed

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Arts & Culture, Science & Nature, European History, Renaissance, Italian Literature, Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure

Inferno by Dan Brown is the fourth installment in Brown’s Robert Langdon series of mystery/thriller novels, following (in order) Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol, and preceding Origin. Each edition covers a self-contained story, so readers need not follow the series in order, and often includes themes centered on European and Christian history and cultural traditions. The title character, Robert Langdon, is the only recurring character. Inferno won the Goodreads... Read Inferno Summary

In Love

by Amy Bloom

Publication year 2022

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Marriage, Love, Grief, Disability, Death

Tags Grief & Death, Health, Biography

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In Memoriam

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Publication year 1850

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Grief, Death, Conflict, Nostalgia, Perseverance

Tags Lyric Poem, Grief & Death, Victorian Period

Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s In Memoriam AHH explores the cosmic implications of the death of a college friend (his sister’s fiancé), poet Arthur Henry Hallam, who died quite unexpectedly in 1833 at the age of 22 most likely from a cerebral hemorrhage. The poem is among the most ambitiously conceived philosophical poems in the English language and a monument to the dynamics of how Christians themselves grapple with the thorny question of mortality. The work stands... Read In Memoriam Summary