Book Review: Still Alice

This is the first time I’ve posted about a book.  Still Alice by Lisa Genova, is worth a direct recommendation.

If you want to understand Alzheimer’s from the point of view of the person who has it, this is the book to read.  I’d consider it a must read for anyone with a family member who has the disease, or who may be facing it themselves.

My dad has Alzheimer’s, and he knows it.  With tremendous realism and insight, Still Alice helped me understand many of his behaviors that (at the time) seemed random and disconnected from reality.

Lisa Genova’s sharp understanding of what it’s like to have Alzheimer’s, and her compassion in presenting what that really means is phenomenal.

Over and over again I thought: 

I would respond just like that, in that circumstance.  Is this how Dad feels?

That behavior has nothing to do with the Alzheimer’s per se, and everything to do with loss.  Wow.  I would look so random to another person, but that reaction is completely appropriate to the situation.

Because of Lisa Genova’s ability to intertwine both the scientific facts and emotionally complex context, we have the chance to become the other Alice, and step through the looking glass, to live the world of Alzheimer’s from the inside out.

A must read from my bookshelf.