Monday, January 4, 2010
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
I have a feeling this book will stay with me for a long time. Alice, a Harvard professor, is diagnosed with Altzheimer's Disease, and the book chronicles her decline. It's written through her eyes, and you feel the frustration, the sadness, and the confusion as she does. This is a book that everyone should read. I couldn't put it down. -June
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I don't remember (surprise!) whether you used the word "haunting" to describe it, but your saying she was still with you makes me think that you found it so, as well. Thought it was well written, poignant--all the well-worn adjectives--but what continues to "get me" are the number of times numerous and varied incidents in my everyday life make me think of her; e.g. holding the new baby, the obvious "misplacing" of a name or word for a moment or a day, consciously searching through the synapses only to find a blank, praying that it is temporary and will eventually (sooner than later) reconnect, wondering what the terror she must have felt in the earlier stages was like--how she pressed on despite knowledge of the inevitable, savoring moments, being angry that her husband wouldn't/couldn't value them equally--or was he? The confusion, the frustration and marveling at how she did not allow herself to become utterly and completely overwhelmed by it and end her life while she was certain of her clarity instead of concocting a "foolproof" plan that had way too many possibilities for being foiled--even though I believe she honestly thought she would be able to analyze her responses to the 5 questions and take action accordingly. I was mesmerized during the reading of it and find myself recommending to practically everyone I interact with. Find myself wondering whether I should recommend it to my friend whose mother died last year of Altzheimer's. Wonder if she's been tested for the gene. Wonder if I would want to know...thinking of the horror and grief of having transmitted it to your beloved children. Well, could go on and on, suffice it to say, it truly resonated with me as few books have done
Post a Comment