📖 WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR

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💡 What I Want to Memorize

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1. (p.10) At that point, the fuzziness of the confusion dissipated, leaving only a hard edge.

2. (p.11) This pain was toward the more severe end of the spectrum.

3. (p.27) Books became my closest confidants, finely ground lenses providing new views of the world. 

4. (p.30) ..., an idea that struck me with force; ... 

5. (p.44) Everything teeters between pathos and bathos.

6. (p.52) what was most evident was the slow drawing away form life ...

7. (p.54) This struck me as the true image of a doctor.

8. (p.72) perhaps I, too, could join the ranks of these polymaths who strode into the densest ticket of emotional, scientific, and spiritual problems and found, carved, ways out. 

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⭐ What I Learned 

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1️⃣ (p.3) I'd examined scores of such scans, on the off chance that some procedure might benefit the patient.

    = in case = just in case = if by any chance 

        (ex) I broght an umbrella on the off chance it might rain. She bought an extra ticket on the off chance that a friend might want to come along.

        (Mine) I'm studying Chinese very hard on the off chance that I could study in China. 

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2️⃣ (p.4) Lucy, quietly, as if reading from a script: "Do you think there's a any possibility that it's something else?" 

    ① the way it would be if / as someone would do if

        (ex) The plane looked as if it was going to crash. He ran as if ghosts were chasing him.

    ② used in spoken phrases to say that something is not true, will not happen, etc.

        (ex) He asts as if he were rich. 

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3️⃣ (p.6) We chalked the symptoms up to hard work and an aging body.

    [idiom] to explain (something) by stating its cause; to say that (something) was caused by (something)

        (ex) Her early mistakes can be chalked up to inexperience. 

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4️⃣ (p.6) I was determined to persevere for the next fifteen months, until residency ended.

    [adj] having a strong feeling that you are going to do something and that you will not allow anyone or anything to stop you

        (ex) She will get the job she want- she's a very determined person. She is determined to make a success of this project.

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5️⃣ (p.8) "Can you please tell me why you aren't confiding in me?" she asked.

    [idiom] to tell personal and private things to (someone)

        (ex) It is important to have someone you can confide in. 

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6️⃣ (p.8) (It) would decompress the pressure cooker of our marriage.  

    [phrase] 1. a special pot that is used to cook food quickly by using the pressure of steam 2. a situation or place that causesyou to feel a lot of stress or pressure

        (ex) The new boss has turned the office into a pressure cooker. 

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7️⃣ (p.9) Neurosurgical training, ... , had surely put a strain on our marriage.

    [idiom] to create pressure or stress that challenges the limits of a person or situation.

        (ex) Tight budget puts a strain on my ambition.

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8️⃣ (p.13) Hugs ensued, and an ice-cold dark and stormy made its way to my hand.

    [idiom] to go or move towards a specific place or destination - a journey or process of getting there, sometimes involving effort or time

        (ex) She carefully made her way to the exit through the crowded room. He made his way to the bookstore, hoping to find a new novel. She made her way to the front of the stage to get a better view.

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9️⃣ (p.23) When I was sixteen, I was supposed to drive my younger brother, Jeevan, to school.

    "be supposed to" indicates an expectation or obligation regarding something that is expected to happen or should be done.

        (ex) The meeting was supposed to take place on Monday, but we've had to postpone it.

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1️⃣0️⃣ (p.25) The high school dropout rate was somewhere north of 30 percent.

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1️⃣1️⃣ (p.44) Everything teeters between pathos and bathos. 

    :  pathos aims to touch the heart, while bathos often weakens the emotional impact by descending into the trivial or ridiculous.

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1️⃣2️⃣ (p.52) I knew him only in my capacity as a reader. 

    · capacity: 4. a usually official position or job; role

 

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1️⃣3️⃣  (p.52) what was most evident was the slow drawing away form life ...

    : gradually move or distance oneself from something or someone, either physically or emotionally

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Forword by Abraham Verghese

Prologue

Part I: In Perfect health I Begin

Part II: Cease Not till Death

Epilogue by Lucy Kalanithi

Acknowledgments