Still Alice

Have you ever really wanted to read a book, but at the same time dreaded it? That's how I feel about Still Alice, written by Lisa Genova. Leslie recommended this book to me earlier this year and I've been on the library's waiting list for it ever since (it's a long waiting list). Still Alice is my S pick for the A-Z Wednesday reading challenge.

This is a novel about early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, told from the point of view of Alice Howland, a Harvard professer in her early 50s who begins to notice an unusual forgetfulness in her day-to-day life. As her memory worsens, she receives the horrible diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's. Reviewers have called this book "a work of pure genius" and "heartbreakingly real". The Alzheimer's Daily News wrote, "A masterpiece that will touch lives in ways none of us can even imagine....the best portrayal of the Alzheimer's journey that I have read." The book even has its own web site.

This, from Amazon: Still Alice is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by first-time author Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph. D in neuroscience from Harvard University.
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what's it's like to literally lose your mind...
Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.

When I was a teenager, one of my father's friends, an extremely intelligent, sophisticated man in his mid-40s, began to lose his memory. Within a short time, he went from being a vibrant, outgoing individual to a confused recluse. It was so hard on his family. For me, only 15 at the time, it was terribly confusing. Alzheimer's again touched my life, about 20 years ago, when the mother of my boss at the time was stricken with it. She too suffered a rapid deterioration. It's a horrible disease and I do hope this book will make me better informed about it.