Book Review: “One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter” by Scaachi Koul

THE BASICS

• Title: One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
• Author: Scaachi Koul
• Genre: Collection of Personal Essays
• Structure: First-person narration
• First Line: “Only idiots aren’t afraid of flying.”

THE GOOD

I, honestly, want to leave you with this: It’s really, really good and you should buy it immediately (It comes out May 2nd in the US). I’d rather leave you with that bit so you don’t waste time reading everything else below and can just enjoy the book. But, I know that’s not how this works. I’ll give me usual points, but if you skip them all and buy the book, I won’t hold it against you.

1. I want to be friends with Scaachi. Like in real life. I think it would be kind of creepy to be like, “Hey, I just read your book and we’re basically kind of the same person”, so I resist. There is something so raw, honest, and funny about each essay. I never wanted to set the book down!
2. Going off the previous point, easily one of the funniest books I’ve read. It’s not funny in the sense of the content being discussed, but funny in the way her personality and personal humor shines through. I think it’s hard to get humor down in a book (like texting, sometimes you mean something to be funny, but then they can’t hear your voice with the text so you end up looking like a prat instead). So, the fact that she nailed the humor so well is amazing! There were definitely multiple times I had to set the book down and just crack up!
3. So. Many. Truth. Bombs. I love the way she delves into each topic completely transparent. No holding back. These are things we have thought and she is the one who has been brave enough to say them. And, we truly need to hear every single one of them right now. This is going to be one of those books that I go back and re-read again and again and mail to friends and harass random strangers with.
4. I have to say, I really loved learning about the Indian culture. I found it interesting to discover bits and pieces of another culture. I got bits and pieces of many cultures growing up (San Diego is pretty diverse), but it was refreshing to experience it in this realm.
5. I know you “shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover”, but c’mon. The cover is great! I think it’s incredibly symbolic that part of the words are crossed out so it can also read “One Day This Will Matter”. Once you finish the book, the meaning behind both titles really stands out in a way that will blow your mind.

THE BAD

The only thing that stands out to me is the final essay. It didn’t seem conclusive of the book. It was conclusive as a separate entity, but it didn’t seem like a great choice to end the book with. I felt that there was still unfinished business and no true ending point. I recognize that this is someone’s life and there isn’t an ending point for them, but there should be for a book.

As per usual, I let you know about strong profanity and as per usual, I’ll give my schpeel that I don’t think profanity is a “bad” thing, but I’m putting out the warning in case anyone is sensitive.

THE SWEET SPOTS

In this section, I cover some of my deeper, personal thoughts. Books are meant to make you think. I always think the best books are the ones that help you discover pieces of yourself.

• Did this book remind you of anything that has happened to you?: It’s reminiscent of everything that is happening today. This book may be one of the most relevant pieces you’ll read all year. I am the daughter of an immigrant. Most people don’t know that I’m half Algerian and when I tell them, they don’t believe me. Low and behold, it’s because I’m so fair (and by that they mean ridiculously white looking for someone from the Middle East). Scaachi goes into this quite a bit in her book and I found it eerily relatable.
• Did this book give you any new ideas of yourself?: I think I have my work cut out for me. Never get comfortable with what you know. Never consider yourself satisfied with the knowledge you have and stop learning. My ego can get ahead of me at times where I feel like I can rest on my laurels. No, no, no. The world is evolving and to keep up, you have to constantly be expanding your horizons. I truly hope Scaachi writes more essays like these in the future because we have so much to learn from her.
• What lesson did you learn?: This is very privileged white girl of me, but I learned a lot of things of what is considered offensive. This will probably strike you as “duh, shouldn’t you know?” I’ve been actively trying to discover and educate myself on more cultures and identities over the last couple of years. It is by no means the responsibility of the oppressed to teach me “right vs. wrong”, so I’m trying to take as much action as I can. This book opened my eyes to even how much racism is taught in school (in our history books and by our teachers). I also learned a lot about shadism.

CONCLUSION

To summarize, get this book. Buy 5, 10, 15 copies. Keep one for yourself and give the others away. It’s released in about a week and I want to see it in everyone’s hand!! Scaachi Koul is relatable, funny, and teaching us all the lessons we need learn while telling us all the things we need to hear. It’s a quick read (~240 pages) and it will have you flipping through the pages in nothing flat! Easily one of the best books I’ve read all year.

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I received One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter from the Book of the Month Club for April 2017. It was so great to receive personalized book recommendations at my doorstep! Honestly, I’m not sure if I would’ve picked up and experienced One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter if it wasn’t for BOTM. You can join the club here for under $20 a month!

*Thank you Book of the Month Club for sponsoring this. All opinions are my own.