--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death…" description: "\"“But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de Beauvoir’s mother dying of cancer – it’s just brilliant. It really helped me.’ She”\" — Helen ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/500/helen-garner-12280_death_but-i-ve-been-reading-a-very-easy-death_81253.jpg" --- # But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de… ![“But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de Beauvoir’s mother dying of cancer – it’s just brilliant. It really helped me.’ She” quote by Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/500/helen-garner-12280_death_but-i-ve-been-reading-a-very-easy-death_81253.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/500/helen-garner-12280_death_but-i-ve-been-reading-a-very-easy-death_81253.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/500/helen-garner-12280_death_but-i-ve-been-reading-a-very-easy-death_81253.jpg) > ““But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de Beauvoir’s mother dying of cancer – it’s just brilliant. It really helped me.’ She”” [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker finds solace and insight in a memoir about a mother's cancer, highlighting literature's therapeutic power. **In simple terms:** Literature can help process grief. Key Takeaway Reading personal narratives eases emotional pain. Themes grief healing literature personal narrative cancer empathy Mood reflective hopeful introspective Type testimonial personal anecdote When to use this quote - dealing with a loved one's illness - seeking emotional support - exploring mortality - finding meaning after loss Key Concepts catharsis identification comfort Practical Applications - bibliotherapy - support group discussions Questions to Reflect On - How can personal stories change our coping mechanisms? - What role does empathy play in reading about illness? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ## Related quotes > [“One is not born a woman, one becomes one. —Simone de Beauvoir, A WOMAN’S JOURNAL”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-anderson/one-is-not-born-a-woman-one-becomes-one-simone-de-beauvoir-a-woman-s/) [Joan Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-anderson/) > [There was a French activist and writer, Simone de Beauvoir, who said, 'You are not born woman. You become one' ... Words I live by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-jenner/there-was-a-french-activist-and-writer-simone-de-beauvoir-who-said/) [Bruce Jenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-jenner/) > [“Life is about more than just maintaining oneself, it is about extending oneself. Otherwise living is only not dying - SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR (1908-1986)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-pardey/life-is-about-more-than-just-maintaining-oneself-it-is-about/) [Lin Pardey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-pardey/) > [“For a woman to be taken as seriously as a man she must be three times as effective. Happily, this is not difficult.--Simone de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gale-martin/for-a-woman-to-be-taken-as-seriously-as-a-man-she-must-be-three-times/) Gale Martin > [I am not a great French woman. George Sand, Marguerite Duras and Simone de Beauvoir are great French women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-binoche/i-am-not-a-great-french-woman-george-sand-marguerite-duras-and-simone/) [Juliette Binoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-binoche/) > [“Simone de Beauvoir believed adolescence is when girls realize that men have the power and that their only power comes from consenting to become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pipher/simone-de-beauvoir-believed-adolescence-is-when-girls-realize-that/) [Mary Pipher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pipher/) > [ “\[ From a New York Times biography from May 27, 2010 entitled Introduction to Simone de Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex' \] Beauvoir herself was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/from-a-new-york-times-biography-from-may-27-2010-entitled/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“If we wanted to think about it,’ wrote Proust, ‘perhaps there is no really loving mother who could not, on her dying day, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/if-we-wanted-to-think-about-it-wrote-proust-perhaps-there-is-no/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [When I was 17 years old, I put out an album while my mother was dying of cancer. That right there alone is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-mama/when-i-was-17-years-old-i-put-out-an-album-while-my-mother-was-dying/) [Lil Mama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-mama/) > [“My mother’s dying and may not live through the week. So, yes, I’d rather die trying to save her than live with the guilt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/my-mother-s-dying-and-may-not-live-through-the-week-so-yes-i-d-rather/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“Good for you, Jason. It's perfectly natural to be angry with your mother for dying. Everybody who loses someone special goes through that. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/han-nolan/good-for-you-jason-it-s-perfectly-natural-to-be-angry-with-your/) [Han Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/han-nolan/) > [Life at home wasn't very good and I had really left by the time I was 16 and didn't go back until after Cambridge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-scruton/life-at-home-wasn-t-very-good-and-i-had-really-left-by-the-time-i-was/) [Roger Scruton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-scruton/) > [There was one point where my mother was dying of lung cancer, and a journalist dressed up as a nurse and got in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-burns/there-was-one-point-where-my-mother-was-dying-of-lung-cancer-and-a/) [Pete Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-burns/) > [The mother is not dying exactly, but has reached a point in life where death is a familiar on the staircase.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barnes/the-mother-is-not-dying-exactly-but-has-reached-a-point-in-life-where/) [Clive Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barnes/) > [The Boy You Made Fun Of For Crying, His Mother Is Dying. You Think You Know Them, Guess What? You Dont¦RE-POST & Like If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/the-boy-you-made-fun-of-for-crying-his-mother-is-dying-you-think-you/) Im Nothing ## More by Helen Garner > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [To slide into the domed reading room at ten each morning, specially in summer, off the hot street outside, was a sensation as delicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/to-slide-into-the-domed-reading-room-at-ten-each-morning-specially-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“The two big cities of Australia are tonally as distinct from each other as Boston is from L.A. or Lyon from Marseilles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/the-two-big-cities-of-australia-are-tonally-as-distinct-from-each/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [It's much more interesting for me to think that taking a chunk of experience and mushing it up together with other things that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-s-much-more-interesting-for-me-to-think-that-taking-a-chunk-of/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [On Melbourne summer mornings the green trams go rolling in stately progress down tunnels thick with leaves: the bright air carries along the avenue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/on-melbourne-summer-mornings-the-green-trams-go-rolling-in-stately/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [It's disturbing at my age to look at a young woman's destructive behaviour and hear the echoes of it, of one's own destructiveness in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-s-disturbing-at-my-age-to-look-at-a-young-woman-s-destructive/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I'm very disturbed by violence against women when it is violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-m-very-disturbed-by-violence-against-women-when-it-is-violence/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I just... my childhood seems, when I look back, to be largely composed of reading, lying on the bed. I mean, my mother was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-just-my-childhood-seems-when-i-look-back-to-be-largely-composed-of/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I'm full of restlessness. Not lonely, exactly - my head is racing with ideas. But it is that old treacherous feeling that real life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-m-full-of-restlessness-not-lonely-exactly-my-head-is-racing-with/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“I realised I had a stream of thoughts about him which ran for the most part below conscious level. I noticed jets spurting up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-realised-i-had-a-stream-of-thoughts-about-him-which-ran-for-the/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“It was early summer. And everything, as it always does, began to heave and change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-was-early-summer-and-everything-as-it-always-does-began-to-heave/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Maybe this is pathetic, but I still dread producing a book that doesn't earn back its advance. I hate obligations that are financially foggy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/maybe-this-is-pathetic-but-i-still-dread-producing-a-book-that-doesn/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [At the time it seemed like a natural development of my interest in what was going on around me in society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/at-the-time-it-seemed-like-a-natural-development-of-my-interest-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Courts are supposed to be places of reason. But this, of course, is a fantasy. I mean, there is reason being used as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/courts-are-supposed-to-be-places-of-reason-but-this-of-course-is-a/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [We were in a great, seething moment in the 1970s. There was a new Labour government and everything seemed full of hope... But, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/we-were-in-a-great-seething-moment-in-the-1970s-there-was-a-new/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) [Explore all 55 Helen Garner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de Beauvoir’s mother dying of cancer – it’s just brilliant. 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