Still Alice
I struggled with this book. It was interesting, and I think it's important. But it also felt a little shallow and contrived. Things were a bit too perfect, whole passages felt like they'd been lifted from a textbook. So while this book was certainly affecting (and yes I cried) it also left me feeling manipulated and distrustful. Which is a shame, because I think there's important information here. But the presentation has me questioning everything.
The book follows Alice, a fifty-year old professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. My only other reference point for this disease is that one of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett, had it. So I can't claim to be an expert in any way. But after watching Pratchett struggle for many years, and continue to work and fight and speak out, this book felt rushed.
The titular character, Alice, goes from a lecturing professor to unable to recognize her own children in less than a year. She starts off wanting to die before the disease takes too much of her brain, but quickly becomes unable to act on that desire or even recognize it. She has a few episodes of anger and frustration, but for the most part she is surprisingly content with her fate. By the end of the book she seems happy to simply make faces at a baby while people around her talk about her, which is the most depressing ending I can think of.
All in all I think this book is a decent jumping off point for discussion of early onset Alzheimer's. But it all feels a bit rushed and unrealistic.
The book follows Alice, a fifty-year old professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. My only other reference point for this disease is that one of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett, had it. So I can't claim to be an expert in any way. But after watching Pratchett struggle for many years, and continue to work and fight and speak out, this book felt rushed.
The titular character, Alice, goes from a lecturing professor to unable to recognize her own children in less than a year. She starts off wanting to die before the disease takes too much of her brain, but quickly becomes unable to act on that desire or even recognize it. She has a few episodes of anger and frustration, but for the most part she is surprisingly content with her fate. By the end of the book she seems happy to simply make faces at a baby while people around her talk about her, which is the most depressing ending I can think of.
All in all I think this book is a decent jumping off point for discussion of early onset Alzheimer's. But it all feels a bit rushed and unrealistic.
Comments
Post a Comment