Call number
393 JOK
Collection
Publication
Da Capo Press (2010), 279 pages
Description
Tom Jokinen began to seriously question the secular funeral rites that are taking over the industry. The question had such a hard grip on his Finnish soul that he decided to become an apprentice undertaker. This book is about what he found, from the mundane to the macabre. For anyone who's secretly wondered why they paid $2000 for a 5-lb bag of dust--or questioned whether that dust was really the person they loved--Curtains lifts the veil on the funeral industry in the 21st century.--From publisher description.
User reviews
LibraryThing member jo2son
An interesting look at what happens between the time a person dies and their funeral or memorial service from a Canadian perspective. An interesting overview of the funeral home and associated industries, this book also considers how people in various cultures view death. This book seemed to jump
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from one subject or story to another so it was sometimes hard to follow the author's intent. Show Less
LibraryThing member Carolee888
'Curtains' by Tom Jokinen is a very engrossing book. I had read Jessica Mitford's 'American Way of Death' in 1987 and wondered what more could he say. He covered some subjects that were not in Jessica Mitford's book and I felt that learned a lot.
Tom Jokinen quit his job as a radio producer to find
1. Make sure that you are picking up the right body at the "silver doors". They were silver; the doors to the morgue were just called that.
2. Don't stop for food on the way back.
This book is filled with humor, some of it was gallows humor, but at the same time recognizing that it may be too much for the reader. He was very courteous to the reader. I enjoyed his conversational tone and the telling of the trepidations that the author faced some of the situation, like embalming. Now I know why some people look better embalmed than when they were alive. The embalming process did give me chills and I know that I do not want that for myself when I die.
He dug in deep in the culture of the funeral home, the traditional and the quick cremations centers and some very nontraditional ceremonies. With the revealing information in the American Way of Death, there have been fewer traditional funerals, resulting in less need for undertakers, embalmers, florists and casket makers.
The jargon of undertaking is a lesson in itself and it is deeply influenced by the type of funeral.
He explored the different kinds of funerals from those done in Las Vegas, Mennonite and Jewish. I was very interested in the Mennonite funeral since my mother's father's family was largely Mennonites. Funerals are not alike; there is an enormous amount of differences in body preparation, ceremony, remembrances and the way that death is perceived.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about what kind of funeral they want and the culture of burial.
Tom Jokinen quit his job as a radio producer to find
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out what it is like to be an undertaker in training. The two first things that he learned were:1. Make sure that you are picking up the right body at the "silver doors". They were silver; the doors to the morgue were just called that.
2. Don't stop for food on the way back.
This book is filled with humor, some of it was gallows humor, but at the same time recognizing that it may be too much for the reader. He was very courteous to the reader. I enjoyed his conversational tone and the telling of the trepidations that the author faced some of the situation, like embalming. Now I know why some people look better embalmed than when they were alive. The embalming process did give me chills and I know that I do not want that for myself when I die.
He dug in deep in the culture of the funeral home, the traditional and the quick cremations centers and some very nontraditional ceremonies. With the revealing information in the American Way of Death, there have been fewer traditional funerals, resulting in less need for undertakers, embalmers, florists and casket makers.
The jargon of undertaking is a lesson in itself and it is deeply influenced by the type of funeral.
He explored the different kinds of funerals from those done in Las Vegas, Mennonite and Jewish. I was very interested in the Mennonite funeral since my mother's father's family was largely Mennonites. Funerals are not alike; there is an enormous amount of differences in body preparation, ceremony, remembrances and the way that death is perceived.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about what kind of funeral they want and the culture of burial.
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LibraryThing member bnbooklady
hough Curtains wasn’t quite what I was expecting—it is more Mary Roach than Bill Bryson, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing—I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, it’s pretty dark, but how can a book about death and funerals not be? And yes, there are nitty-gritty details that might be a bit
Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog.
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too much for the faint of heart. But this is an interesting, engaging read that lifts the veil on an industry and the attendant social and cultural phenomena that few of us think about. Curtains is insightful, informative, occasionally philosophical, and a solid step in the right direction of changing “how people understand death. Like religion used to do.”Read my full review at The Book Lady's Blog.
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LibraryThing member PhoenixTerran
When Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training by Tom Jokinen was offered to me for review by the publisher, I knew this was one request I couldn't pass up. I've pretty much always been interested in death and death rituals, and one of my sisters seriously considered becoming a mortician at
In 1963, Jessica Mitford published her groundbreaking work The American Way of Death, which changed the funeral industry forever. In 1998, the highly influential book was updated, revised, and republished as The American Way of Death, Revisited. But the industry and people's attitudes surrounding death continued to change and that's where Jokinen's book Curtains, published in 2010, comes in. Putting his job as a producer for CBC Radio on hold, he became an apprentice at a family owned funeral home in Winnipeg to learn just what all goes into preparing a person's body and family for its final rest, especially now that more and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burials. From embalming techniques and cremation, to working with families and suppliers, to trucking around bodies for pickups and deliveries, to intense workplace politics, he has a lot to learn. In addition to describing what it exactly means to be an undertaker these days, Jokinen also provides brief glimpses into a wide variety of services and traditions. He explains how funeral homes are responsible for helping to create an appropriate and often highly individualized ceremony and accompanying rituals. And as the industry continues to evolve, there are more options than ever.
The subtitle, Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training, is somewhat misleading. I mean, I expected the book to be about Jokinen's training as an undertaker. In a way it is, but more so it is a lighthearted examination of how those in Canada and the United States deal with their dead. Curtains is less about Jokinen's own experiences--although those are an important part of the book--and more about his observation of others'. Occasionally the book seems confused as to what its focus should be, but it is certainly fascinating material either way. Jokinen also has a tendency to meander from subject to subject, giving the tone of the book a conversational feel, only to return to an earlier topic to expand upon it further. One, albeit fairly minor, problem with this is that frequently people and specific details are not thoroughly introduced but are simply explained or reexplained as they come up in a particular context.
I suppose Curtains can be loosely described as investigative journalism; the back cover labels it as a memoir, but that doesn't seem quite right, either. However you choose to define it, the book is an interesting, and yes, even entertaining read. Jokinen's tone is friendly and amiable; he is able to easily find the humor in the many situations he faced or witnessed, but at the same time he is able to remain respectful. Despite his brief explanation, I never completely understood why he decided to work on this project. But even given that, I didn't find it strange that he would pursue it; I mean, death and the events surrounding it certainly interest me. However, I would like to know what Jokinen went on to do after his internship ended beyond writing Curtains. His book may not have been particularly academic, but ultimately it really was quite informative and was indeed fascinating.
Experiments in Reading
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one point. (Who knows? She still might.) Some people probably find me and my family a bit morbid--my mother also exhibits some of the same proclivities--but hey, whether their own or someone else's, death is an important part of anyone's life and we're all going to have to deal with it. So why not take some interest in it? That being said, I was very much looking forward to reading Curtains, which sounded like it would be both an intriguing and amusing exploration of modern funerary practices.In 1963, Jessica Mitford published her groundbreaking work The American Way of Death, which changed the funeral industry forever. In 1998, the highly influential book was updated, revised, and republished as The American Way of Death, Revisited. But the industry and people's attitudes surrounding death continued to change and that's where Jokinen's book Curtains, published in 2010, comes in. Putting his job as a producer for CBC Radio on hold, he became an apprentice at a family owned funeral home in Winnipeg to learn just what all goes into preparing a person's body and family for its final rest, especially now that more and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burials. From embalming techniques and cremation, to working with families and suppliers, to trucking around bodies for pickups and deliveries, to intense workplace politics, he has a lot to learn. In addition to describing what it exactly means to be an undertaker these days, Jokinen also provides brief glimpses into a wide variety of services and traditions. He explains how funeral homes are responsible for helping to create an appropriate and often highly individualized ceremony and accompanying rituals. And as the industry continues to evolve, there are more options than ever.
The subtitle, Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training, is somewhat misleading. I mean, I expected the book to be about Jokinen's training as an undertaker. In a way it is, but more so it is a lighthearted examination of how those in Canada and the United States deal with their dead. Curtains is less about Jokinen's own experiences--although those are an important part of the book--and more about his observation of others'. Occasionally the book seems confused as to what its focus should be, but it is certainly fascinating material either way. Jokinen also has a tendency to meander from subject to subject, giving the tone of the book a conversational feel, only to return to an earlier topic to expand upon it further. One, albeit fairly minor, problem with this is that frequently people and specific details are not thoroughly introduced but are simply explained or reexplained as they come up in a particular context.
I suppose Curtains can be loosely described as investigative journalism; the back cover labels it as a memoir, but that doesn't seem quite right, either. However you choose to define it, the book is an interesting, and yes, even entertaining read. Jokinen's tone is friendly and amiable; he is able to easily find the humor in the many situations he faced or witnessed, but at the same time he is able to remain respectful. Despite his brief explanation, I never completely understood why he decided to work on this project. But even given that, I didn't find it strange that he would pursue it; I mean, death and the events surrounding it certainly interest me. However, I would like to know what Jokinen went on to do after his internship ended beyond writing Curtains. His book may not have been particularly academic, but ultimately it really was quite informative and was indeed fascinating.
Experiments in Reading
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LibraryThing member LemonLover
I liked the mortuary aspect of this book, but the business and life philosophy was boring.
LibraryThing member Jenners26
If you interested in the ins and outs of the funeral industry, this would be a great read. It has a lot of “insider” information and insights on the industry that I found fascinating. What kept the book from being really good is that Jokinen doesn’t have the sense of humor that would have
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elevated this book from “interesting read” to “kept me glued to the book from page one.” (In other words, he’s no Mary Roach.) Still, it is worth reading if you enjoy books of this type. Show Less
LibraryThing member phredfrancis
The ratings on Goodreads always give me some trouble, because I think books often fall between one category and another. Was the book "amazing" in the way that some of my all-time favorites are? Not quite. But it gave me so many wonderfully rendered scenes and so much food for thought that it ranks
The subject matter is is extremely interesting. This is an obvious read if you're a fan of Six Feet Under. I enjoyed getting background on the death-care industry and the particulars of its day-to-day activities. The details dovetail well with those from the HBO series, and I was pleased to learn that many of the fictional conflicts from it were playing out in the industry, especially the aggressive conglomeration that bought up many of the family-run funeral homes. Interesting, this book is being published in an era when more recent economic downturns have forced contractions of some of this growth, so the snapshot Jokinen provides feels very fresh.
Having recently taken a crack at Thomas Lynch's The Undertaking, I was pleased to find that Jokinen is an amiable narrator who can editorialize without pontificating. I couldn't make it through Lynch's book for his numerous intrusions into the text. Jokinen also manages to relate his year as an undertaker-in-training without succumbing to the temptation to place himself at the center of the action. Many other contemporary authors could take a few lessons on that score. He also manages to mine some meaning from what he experiences, and draws conclusions that feel natural rather than retrofitted to make his reflections appear more booklike.
The only time I felt the book sagging a bit was in the last 70 pages or so, when the action shifts from the funeral home in Winnipeg to follow Jokinen as he travels to California and Las Vegas to investigate some developing trends in the industry. The information here is all very interesting, but we lose the continuity and familiarity that the previous setting had. The rapid introduction of people and places (especially cemeteries, an astonishing number of which have "Lawn" in their names) makes the narrative choppier, so the information sticks, but the journey does not. We do, however, come full circle back to Winnipeg, and the book ends on an appropriately graceful note.
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just above the "really like it" rating. So I'm rounding up, and may we all be so lucky to have generosity provide us more than rigid definitions saddle us with less.The subject matter is is extremely interesting. This is an obvious read if you're a fan of Six Feet Under. I enjoyed getting background on the death-care industry and the particulars of its day-to-day activities. The details dovetail well with those from the HBO series, and I was pleased to learn that many of the fictional conflicts from it were playing out in the industry, especially the aggressive conglomeration that bought up many of the family-run funeral homes. Interesting, this book is being published in an era when more recent economic downturns have forced contractions of some of this growth, so the snapshot Jokinen provides feels very fresh.
Having recently taken a crack at Thomas Lynch's The Undertaking, I was pleased to find that Jokinen is an amiable narrator who can editorialize without pontificating. I couldn't make it through Lynch's book for his numerous intrusions into the text. Jokinen also manages to relate his year as an undertaker-in-training without succumbing to the temptation to place himself at the center of the action. Many other contemporary authors could take a few lessons on that score. He also manages to mine some meaning from what he experiences, and draws conclusions that feel natural rather than retrofitted to make his reflections appear more booklike.
The only time I felt the book sagging a bit was in the last 70 pages or so, when the action shifts from the funeral home in Winnipeg to follow Jokinen as he travels to California and Las Vegas to investigate some developing trends in the industry. The information here is all very interesting, but we lose the continuity and familiarity that the previous setting had. The rapid introduction of people and places (especially cemeteries, an astonishing number of which have "Lawn" in their names) makes the narrative choppier, so the information sticks, but the journey does not. We do, however, come full circle back to Winnipeg, and the book ends on an appropriately graceful note.
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LibraryThing member LibraryCin
What happens behind the scenes when someone dies until they “appear” at the funeral? The author looks at this, in addition to the business of being an undertaker, in all the historical changes – from burial to cremation… and still to come, green burials. He works with a family funeral home
I found this really interesting. Of course, there was a bit of humour thrown in here and there. In such a business, I think there needs to be!
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in Winnipeg where he learns all the different aspects of the business. He also heads to California, where he learns more about green burials (at the time of writing – this was published in 2010 – in Canada, the only place you could have a green burial was in Guelph, Ontario, and somewhere in BC was building someplace for it), then to Las Vegas for an undertaker trade show – see all the new and best in funerial apparel!! I found this really interesting. Of course, there was a bit of humour thrown in here and there. In such a business, I think there needs to be!
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LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
It was a very interesting read, almost an updated version of "The American Way of Death".
One learns about the ins & outs of the funeral/mortuary/crematorium trade and the very many options one has when dealing with the death & remains of a family member.
Towards the last chapters the author writes
One learns about the ins & outs of the funeral/mortuary/crematorium trade and the very many options one has when dealing with the death & remains of a family member.
Towards the last chapters the author writes
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about Grandview Cemetery in Glendale and the nightmare it became for those previously interred and dug-up, those whose ashes were dumped inside a closet, the lack of perpetual-care upkeep, the closure, & the lawsuit.... I am very familiar w/ all that as a friend buried her son there & was unable to visit him (except by climbing over a wall), but later when reopened also buried her husband there. Show Less
LibraryThing member brittaniethekid
This was a really interesting, often funny look at the modern North American funeral industry from someone who didn't grow up around the business. Jokinen has a raw, dry humour that works well with the subject and I found myself laughing more than once, which really made this book all the more
While the writer does visit the west coast of the US and looks at some of the cemeteries there, the majority of the book takes place in Canada so some of the terms and the culture varies from what I'm familiar with. If you're looking for an in-detail look at the American funeral industry, this isn't for you, though I'd recommend you read it anyway. This book is definitely for anyone even remotely interested in the trade of death and the dying.
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enjoyable. I also learned a lot about the ins and outs of the business side of death and it made me think about what I would want for my own (hopefully not in the near future) funeral and burial.While the writer does visit the west coast of the US and looks at some of the cemeteries there, the majority of the book takes place in Canada so some of the terms and the culture varies from what I'm familiar with. If you're looking for an in-detail look at the American funeral industry, this isn't for you, though I'd recommend you read it anyway. This book is definitely for anyone even remotely interested in the trade of death and the dying.
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LibraryThing member kwskultety
Awesome and funny book! Well written, gives a great look inside a funeral home, the crematorium, and grief. I'd like my book to be written this way.
Awards
British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction (Longlist — 2011)
Pages
279
ISBN
0306818914 / 9780306818912