Pages

Friday, March 27, 2015

Still Alice by Lisa Genova 293 pages

The author of this book, Lisa Genova is a Dr. of Neuroscience from Harvard University.  This is her first novel.  The story may be familiar to some of you because it was made into a movie that has won several awards.  In fact Julianne Moore won an Academy Award for best actress.  The story may also be familiar to you because you know someone suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. 
 I do.  

Alice is a 51-year-old cognitive psychology professor at Harvard.  She is world renown for her knowledge in this field.  She is married and has 3 grown children.  She is a runner, She has everything going for her.  When she starts forgetting things, it is easy to attribute it to the fact that she is too stressed or too busy.  But one day, after a run, she is blocks from her home but cannot remember where she is or how to get home. She begins to search for words she should know.  They are on the tip of her tongue but she cannot remember them.   She cannot remember how to cook, and cannot hold a thought long enough to read, she wants to sleep all the time. But she is still Alice. And she knows all too well what is happening to her.  This novel is great for book clubs and has discussion questions in the back.  It also offers links to anyone wanting to know more about this disease with no cure.

No comments:

Post a Comment