I Forget…

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’m not sure what made me choose this one as an end-of-year read, especially when considering the year it’s been. But for all that, I’m glad I did.

Still Alice is a sombre read. I think what struck me most were the feelings of shame and humiliation on behalf of Alice. The idea of standing before a class or audience and lose words, concepts, awareness… it’s one of those ‘worst nightmare’ scenarios. This obviously speaks to my own comfort and discomfort, but the simple injustice in my emotional response drove home the injustice of the situation. So many of us rely on our minds to guide and protect us, and it seems unbearable for that reliance to be so deeply betrayed. I think the author did a phenomenal job in taking the reader on a journey of self-loss and other-loss, and I think a deeper understanding can come from this journey.

“Be creative, be useful, be practical, be generous and finish big”

― Lisa Genova, Still Alice

In terms of experiential reads containing the impossible choices within a day-to-day existence, Still Alice reminded me a lot of Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer. Five Days Left takes on Huntington’s Disease rather than Alzheimer’s, and is well worth a read.

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