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Showing reviews 1-5 of 401
 Very Moving May 2, 2008
drebbles (Arlington, MA USA)
173 out of 177 found this review helpful
When Dr. Alice Howland first starts forgetting things like words when giving a speech, she thinks it might be because of menopause. But when she gets lost jogging near her house, on a route she has taken many times, she knows something is seriously wrong and seeks medical help. Not quite fifty, she is totally unprepared for the diagnosis - early onset Alzheimer's. As the disease progresses, Alice and her husband John learn everything they can about the disease and treatments, but Alzheimer's quickly takes its toll on both Alice and her family.
"Still Alice" is a beautifully written, heartbreaking novel about the devastating affect Alzheimer's has on its victims and their families. Author Lisa Genova's choice of Alice - young, in shape, and intelligent (she's a Psychiatry Professor at Harvard) - shows that Alzheimer's can strike anyone, not just the elderly. The book is written from Alice's viewpoint, but Genova does a good job of showing the affect of Alzheimer's not only on Alice, but how her family (John, and their children - Anna, Tom, and Lydia) struggle with the changes in Alice. Genova does an excellent job of describing what is going on in Alice's head as the dementia increases. In fact, Genova does such a good job that I sometimes forgot the book was fiction and not about a real person.
"Still Alice" takes place over a relatively short period of time (September 2002 to September 2005) and it is frightening how fast the Alzheimer's takes over Alice. Genova skillfully captures the bewilderment Alice feels and there are some moments in the book that are very moving - especially a moment involving a black rug and a moment involving a message a healthier Alice left for a sicker Alice. The reaction of Alice's family as they deal not only with her having Alzheimer's but the fact that her children may inherit the disease is very realistic. Inevitably, of course, life goes on and Genova expertly shows Alice's family as they move on with their lives, even if readers won't always agree with their actions. If I have any quibble with the book, it's that it is one chapter too long - the second to last chapter ended on a poignant note and I think Genova should have stopped the book there.
"Still Alice" is a moving tale about the devastating affect Alzheimer's can have on a family. (A portion of the sale of each novel will go to the Alzheimer's Association.)
EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK September 3, 2007
Don Moyer (Chicago, USA)
49 out of 51 found this review helpful
In "Still Alice" it is uncanny how Lisa Genova gets everything right. Reading it was like reliving the adventure Jenny Knauss and I have had with AD since her diagnosis the first of April 2002.
We have good friends who have written first person accounts of living with AD - Tracy Mobley, Charles Schnieder, and Richard Taylor - and those, and other, particular accounts are invaluable.
Lisa has followed the path of fiction to create a more universal picture of AD. Here many morsels of AD are distilled into the life of one person - Alice - which makes a very potent brew. In fiction Lisa can artfully connect the lurches and crashes of AD and carry the reader along smoothly, but with a powerful driving force. Many a signature morsel of AD is blended so artfully that one doesn't realize that it is there until the taste is almost over - as it is in reality.
And, there is a progressive point of view. Rather than treat people living with AD as victims who need help from the social workers dominating the AD establishment, we should treat Alice as still Alice still living her still real life.
The speech by Alice (pages 249 to 252) to a fictional plenary symposium of the annual Alzheimer's Association Dementia Care Conference of 2005 is a manifesto for the progressive view that our approach to AD should be to help people living with AD enrich their lives and have fun. (Jenny made the same points in a conversation for a plenary symposium at the actual Dementia Care Conference in July 2005.)
This book should be read not just by everyone embarking on an adventure with AD, but by everyone. It will give you the most potent and universal understanding of the AD experience, and it will motivate you to become a champion for the more progressive view of AD.
I predict that this wonderful book will become a best seller because of praise by readers.
An Amazing Read April 23, 2008
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
Genova, Lisa. "Still Alice", iUniverse, 2007.
An Amazing Read
Amos Lassen
Alzheimer's disease has been in the news a lot lately and most of us know little about it. Most of us know about the disease from what we have learned in the media. "Ask Alice" puts a human face on Alzheimer's and gives us both a scientific and an emotional look at this terrible phenomenon. It is easy to understand how Alice (our main character) suffers when her brain deteriorates but the book also moves the reader to struggle with her and to shed tears.
Lisa Genova gives us a look at a human who suffers and we suffer with her. The book draws you in and we explore Alice's life, mind and heart but her terrible as the story is, there is also hope and humor. Genova, herself, has a degree in neuroscience so she is well equipped to deal with the subject. She discusses the science of the disease and the medications but she also weaves a fine tale.
It took less than a paragraph to be hooked by this book and Genova takes us by the hand and we learn about the devastation of Alzheimer's. She gives a compelling story that will pierce the heart of even the most indifferent person. Dementia becomes very, very real and as we learn of the struggles of those affected, we can only hope that a cure will be found.
art imitates life.....life in my home imitates art June 3, 2008
Mary G. Longorio (Eagle Mountain, UT)
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
I read this book on a flight to Dallas, Texas to see my father. Through a series of small strokes he was showing the effects of progressive dementia. Family was trying to decide what we should do. I cried all the way through the book. I had seen my father twice beffore this trip and had observed enough to br concerned.
Alice Howland taught cognitive psychology courses at Harvard for over twenty-five years. Alice and her husband, John authored Molecules to Mind, she published papers, and lectured around the world. Her three children were grown and on their own paths (not that she was very happy about Lydia's choice of acting, but she hadn't given up trying to influence her to go back to real school). Her son Tom was doing well in school, daughter Annie and her husband, Charlie are attorneys trying to conceive a first grandchild.
Facing a busy schedule and travel and everyday stress, Alice isn't concerned when she begins to forget little things, where the keys are, names of acquaintances or a momentary sense of disorientation. After all she is fifty and that is part of menopause. .
A trip to her family doctor to get some suggestions for cognitive memory reinforcement and to see if medication is available does not help. Alice is stunned to learn that she has Early Onset Alzheimer's and that there is not very much available for treatment. Telling her husband and children is even harder to face. Eventually she has to face the loss of her teaching and life's work.
"Still Alice" is Alice's voice as she struggles with the advancement of Alzheimer's. As the disease advances, she is living more in the now, and often hurt by her interpretations of family member's words and actions. She reacts with anger and confusion as her world shifts and becomes more unfamiliar and frightening. Her family also has to deal with their emotions. The realization that their funny, loving accomplished mother and wife is slowly disappearing before their eyes are devastating, and they each react differently. Alice tries to stay aware of what is happening, but has the disease advances her voice becomes quieter and briefer. Lisa Genova has a Ph.D in Neuroscience from Harvard University and works with several Alzheimer's organizations as well as serving as the online columnist for the national Alzheimer's Association. Although "Still Alice" is a work of fiction, it is apparent there is much drawn from real life experiences and observations. Genova has given a voice to a population not usually listened to. The characters are facing uncertainty and struggling with Alice's decent into unknowing. There are moments of hilarity as well as heartbreak. This book will touch anyone who works with dementia patients, or who has a friend or loved one with Alzheimer's. (early 2008)
1/19/2009
Less than a year later finds me, the reviewer, caring for my own father in my home as he succumbs more and more to his organic dementia. We have had to uproot him from his home in Texas to move into our home in Utah where either my husband or I can be with him around the clock. We moved into a house and I have drastically cut back on my work load. I keep looking back to the pages where Alice tries to describe her confusion and tries to frame what she wants from those around her so I can somehow meet those same needs in my Father. I fear I am falling short.....there is so much anger directed at me and my husband for moving him away. No matter how hard I have tried I feel I am falling short. "It's nothing personal, Mary....I like your brothers more than you". It's not all gloom and doom. There are glimpses of his sly humor, Dad often says the blessing at dinner and is sure to add "Please bless this food especially since Mary has cooked tonight" that is if he can manage to say all that before we all get the giggles and just say "amen". I work with this type patient everyday at my job, yet it is different in my home caring for my own Father. I reread Still Alice as a roadmap. it is one of my best guides.....though the road is unknown and I feel completely unprepared to travel it. It reminds me that Dad is also traveling down a road that is unknown to him.
Compelling Read August 29, 2007
Donna C. Wied (Williamstown, MA USA)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
I started STILL ALICE last evening and could not put it down. Lisa Genova entices the reader into the Protean world of Alzheimer's. STILL ALICE is the story of a dreadful (and dreaded) disease which daily diminishes its victim, Alice, and continually challenges her circle of friends and family. Lisa Genova's silk soft words and gentle unfolding of characters spin a compelling tale. Her well-researched and superbly crafted novel offers scientific and philosophical perspective. But most of all, it offers comfort. It will make a positive difference in the lives of many people.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 401
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