Near the Exit Travels with the Not so Grim Reaper: interesting perspectives on death across cultures

Near the Exit: Travels with the Not so Grim Reaper by Lori Erickson is an exploration of death from cultures around the world, both ancient and current. Ms. Erickson is deacon with the Episcopal Church as well as a travel writer and she uses both to examine how different cultures view and handle death. She travels to Egypt and views the pyramids. She learns that death is just one step in this life, according to the Ancient Egyptians. The afterlife is a journey itself with confessions and a heart test with Ma’at, the goddess of truth, harmony and justice. Ms. Erickson then examines the Buddhist approach to death as well as common customs within the Middle Ages when intellectuals would remind themselves that death comes to everyone. She visits the Maori in New Zealand and their cultures of being connected to death as they seek connections with their ancestors. Ms. Erickson also examines the Aztecs and Mayans cultures who viewed death very differently. She also examines the modern approach to death with nursing homes, hospice, the current trends in burials, funerals and grieving.

Near the Exit is an honest and often blunt look at death through the ages and cultures. Egyptians with intensive rituals to prepare one’s body for the afterlife to the Aztecs who practiced human sacrifices to bless their gods. Her observations about modern practices of death are very opening. She realizes it is a modern obsession with immorality as peoples of the ancient world understood that life was limited, and death came to all. It is an interesting read. Although she often distresses at some points and you wonder how this connects to the topic of death. She achieves her goal as she learns to live with death and hopes that we can do the same. I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

Near the Exit

is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook