Death Be Not Proud
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
"If courage is the antidote to pain and grief, the disease and the cure are both in this book. . . . A story of great unselfishness and great heroism." —New York Times
Johnny Gunther was only seventeen years old when he died of a brain tumor. During the months of his illness, everyone near him was unforgettably impressed by his level-headed courage, his wit and quiet friendliness, and, above all, his unfaltering patience through times of despair. This deeply moving book is a father's memoir of a brave, intelligent, and spirited boy.
John J. Gunther
John Gunther (1901-1970) was one of the best known and most admired journalists of his day. The author of the immensely popular Inside books—a series of profiles of major world powers, beginning with Inside Europe, published in 1936—he was born on the north side of Chicago and died on May 29, 1970.
Related to Death Be Not Proud
Related ebooks
Growing Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Be Not Proud Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Second Half Book: Surviving Loss and Finding Magic in the Missing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Harder They Fall: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Half the Way Home: A Memoir of Father and Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Pocketful of Happiness: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woodrow on the Bench: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autobiography Of A Face Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ridiculous Race: 26,000 Miles, 2 Guides, 1 Globe, No Airplanes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No One Is a Stranger: Finding Love, Connection, and a Brilliant Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLetters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Lovely Wife, Edith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMarrow: A Love Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alexander, Child of Love: A True Story of Life, Lies, Secrets, and Above All Else, Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Glory Was I Had Such Friends: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man I Never Met: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man in Full: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Meditations Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in the Trash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pat Conroy's The Water is Wide A Memoir Summary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt Home in the World: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Someone Will Be with You Shortly: Notes from a Perfectly Imperfect Life Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My Exaggerated Life: Pat Conroy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Harvest of Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Literary Biographies For You
Molly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Very Best of Maya Angelou: The Voice of Inspiration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glass Castle: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lincoln Lawyer: A Mysterious Profile Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Devil and Harper Lee Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Teacher Man: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman Who Could Not Forget Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Real Lolita: A Lost Girl, an Unthinkable Crime, and a Scandalous Masterpiece Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Party Monster: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1931–1934 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Incest: From "A Journal of Love": The Unexpurgated Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1932–1934 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writing into the Wound: Understanding trauma, truth, and language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Writers and Their Notebooks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Panic: Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Distance Between Us: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry and June: From "A Journal of Love," The Unexpurgated Diary (1931–1932) of Anaïs Nin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5People, Places, Things: My Human Landmarks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letters from Max: A Poet, a Teacher, a Friendship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shakespeare: The World as Stage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Oscar Wilde: The Unrepentant Years Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Death Be Not Proud
369 ratings17 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Gunther, a journalist, wrote this book about his teenaged son Johnny's battle with a brain tumor and his ultimate death. Gunther writes without sentimentality about his son's intelligence and kindness, and how throughout his 15-month battle with cancer he maintained a determination to continue his studies, pursued the path toward healing set down by his doctors, and impressed all those in whom in came in contact with his determination and remarkable attitude. The genuine goodness of this very young man makes his ultimate death the more heartbreaking. Gunther also presents a wonderful picture of the relationship Johnny has with his mother, Gunther's ex-wife. The conversations between mother and son are remarkable and it seems clear he learned much of his equanimity from her. I recommend this book to anyone.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I originally read this book as a high school junior and it made a significant impact on my life. I experienced a family member's death dearly in my childhood, and while it was not a pediatric death, I felt everything that Johnny Gunther felt. As a future nurse, I also paid attention to how he described the care he received. I have never forgotten this book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inspiring book of author's son who dies from cancer yet graduates from high school and completes other goals while suffering.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Deeply moving, true story relates a father's recollection of his son's courageous and spirited battle against the brain tumor that would take his life at the age of seventeen.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A well-written tear- jerker. I read this as a teen and at that time really liked it. I wonder if I would now.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cancer and the death of a child are never easy topics. However, I found John Gunther and his son to be pretentious. Just because you have everything in life doesn't mean you won't suffer.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5John Gunther's memoir of pain surrounding his son, Johnny's cancer, treatment, struggle, life pursuits, and eventually death. The book itself is basically the Foreword expanded from 19 pages to 198 and for the most part fairly shallow. The subject is a painful one as it's a parents nightmare for their child to die before them and John does an OK job describing the events leading up to it, but it wasn't until the final eleven pages that are written by Frances, John's ex-wife and mother to Johnny, that one realizes the depth John could have taken it. The book itself is known for Johnny's prayer he wrote called An Unbeliever's Prayer. If the book were edited down to John's Foreword and Frances' final pages I would have rated it a 4-5 stars, as it is I can only give it a 2.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As did most people, I read this in High School. I would re-read it whenever I was certain that my parents hated me or vice versa, get weepy, then carry on. Gunther had an honest quality in this book that brings you to reality.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I vaguely remembered reading Gunther's tribute to his son early in my high school years. Decades later, shortly after my best friend died at age 37 of a brain tumor, I stumbled upon a yellowed copy of "Death Be Not Proud" at a roadside sale. I didn't even quite remember what it was about, but I bought it. After reading about Johnny's valiant struggle with a brain tumor, I was struck by the familiarity of it all. The author skillfully captured so many of the emotions, including the cruel roller coaster of hope and hopelessness. Most of all, the book vividly illustrates how courage, friendship and even humor can help to make even a "hopeless" situation memorable and meaningful.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I first read this book in 1964. Back then it was about a boy my age who died. I read it again in 2000 when my fifteen-year-old daughter read it for school. And the book had changed -- now it was about a parent my age who lost a child my child's age. John Gunther was trained as a journalist in the first half of the twentieth century. Very personal memoirs about an emotional experience were not the style at all then. This book is an early example of the genre, and I can see Gunther's training on every page. Even with the restraint, it is a powerful testament by a parent who has suffered the ultimate tragedy.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonderfully written true account by a father losing his son. The story encapsulates the battle between life and death. Johnny is only 17 when he dies of a brain tumor; he never loses hope and puts the interests of others ahead of himself always. Bittersweet.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5John Gunther obviously poured his heart and soul into this heartbreaking yet inspiring account of his teenage son's fatal battle with a brain tumor -- but in a restrained, thoughtful way. He is a true wordsmith and his literary skill in combination with his emotional investment make for a truly moving, memorable read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death Be Not Proud, is a very melancholic and mournful book about Gunther a teenage boy who has a brain tumor at the age of only 17. This book really touched me since my godfather, has the same condition of glioblastoma. Gunther was a young smart boy with many aspirations of becoming successful in his life and really how much enthusiasm to others. He is a courageous young spirit who you will see on throughout the book and he even tries to get the girl of his dreams. This book really shows you how life's important and you should always treasure every last breath you take. The memoir has many snippets from Gunther's journal and his mom and dad's sort of point of view. It's a really good read, and I'm hardly emotional yet it made me cry. When Johnny gets more sick, you still see the light shine through his soul. Johnny's father wanted Johnny's courage and hope to live so he published the book. It's a very whole-hearted story and you really absorb everything what Johnny is feeling. It's just something about adolescene dying young that just really washes a whole gloomy expression on my face. No child should ever go through what Johnny did. It just made me unconfortable about how raw it was during his illness.Let Johnny's spirit be free.- Paulina
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Read this when it first came out, 1965, recommended by my childhood friend, Janice Wendy; it was horrifying to read as a young girl; to think that such a thing could happen to one.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A brilliant author chronicles the battle fought by his equally brilliant son against a brain tumor. The treatments back then were much different that today's, but the courage and heart Johnny showed know no time period.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5this book is really depressing, i kept getting freaked out after reading it, looking for any sign that i might have cancer
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A touching story, but lacking emotion.