Still Alice is a book that was actually recommended to me by a colleague several years ago. I truthfully thought I was reading it when I read What Alice Forgot (a fabulous book!) and didn't realize my mistake until recently when Still Alice starting getting airtime after the Golden Globes. Still Alice is, in fact, a must-read and I am anxiously awaiting the movie. I can't even imagine how touching this movie will be.
Still Alice is the story of Dr. Alice Howland. She is a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and she learns not long after her 50th birthday that she has early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. Still Alice is the story of her life and her struggles as she tries to cope with losing her memory, her language, and her life.
This was a very difficult book to read for many reasons, most of which you can imagine just by knowing what the book is about. It was hard to read about a woman, who was once so brilliant and knowledgeable, forgetting her life, her way home, her life's work. It was hard to read about her and her husband making decisions about their lives once she forgot. It was more than hard to read, it was heart-breaking. As a reader, what was the hardest for me was the ending of the book because it provided me with no closure. I am sure that the author did this intentionally, but I want to know what happened to Alice--Did she die? Did she live for years? Did she forget her children and her husband? Did she have to live in an assisted-living facility? I guess I just have to have faith that her family took care of her as she required and that her life was as good as it could be under the circumstances. I am also now very curious to know if the movie will end in the same manner as the book, or if the director take a bit of artistic license and change things up. I guess I will have to wait and see.
This is a beautiful book. A truly touching story.
Happy reading, everyone!
-Dodie
I found this book both fascinating and heartbreaking. As the granddaughter of an Alzheimer's victim, it made me ponder whether I want to know if I carry the gene. Unless that information enables me to get preventative treatment, it's hard to see the point.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the saddest parts of the book was when Alice wished that she had gotten cancer instead -- because her family and colleagues would rally around her in that brave fight. Instead she was facing this terrifying disease alone, with no hope, and with the stigma of having a mental illness.
I have to disagree with your view of the ending. I did feel that it was satisfying -- that somehow in forgetting her life and her family, her despair was eased. The hardest part was KNOWING that she was forgetting and losing function. But as her memories were lost to her, so was the humiliation and fear. Even though her brain had failed her, her heart had not. She still felt the love of her daughters and grandbabies; and somehow, even though she did not know who they were, she knew she loved them too. The suicide pact that she had made with herself was no longer needed because the despair had subsided. Her mind had been destroyed, but her heart -- her soul -- was still intact. I choose to see her living out her remaining days at peace.