• My Gift List
  • My Wish List
  • Shopping Cart

  • #29 and #30 - My Final Two Books for July

    Posted by Wendy Middleton, 4 years ago

    #29 Still Alice by Lisa Genova

    I finished reading The Shadow of the Wind one afternoon and started Still Alice that same evening. The superior style of The Shadow of the Wind was obvious to me immediately, and I found the opening of Still Alice rather stilted and stereotypical. Lisa Genova holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard University and is associated with various groups working with Alzheimer's patients. The novel covers two years in the life of a 50-year-old Harvard cognitive psychology professor, who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. At first I was feeling rather smug thinking that this was a treatise on the disease thinly disguised as a novel. I also thought that the author made too much of the fact that Alice Howland was a professor at Harvard.

    However, as I read further I became caught up emotionally in the events that Alice experiences as her disease progresses, and Alice's memories and abilities regress. I read the novel very quickly as a result. At times it reminded me of Flowers for Algernon, the short story and novel, which was the basis for the film Charlie. Although Alice didn’t require the fictional operation that Charlie did to become a genius, her loss of ability seemed quite similar to his. As the novel progressed, I often found myself in tears (once in a Tim Horton’s), even in scenes that were not particularly tragic.

    As soon as I finished reading the novel, I passed it on to my older sister to read. I have been concerned about changes in her memory and behaviour for the past couple of years, but she constantly has excuses or denial about my worries. Alice in the early sections of this novel hit too close to home for my liking, and it will be very interesting to see whether my sister sees any resemblance.


    #30 What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn

    I am finally getting to my pile of Christmas gifts that I have not yet read. Frankie reviewed this novel a few weeks ago, and her enthusiasm caused me to move this book higher on my TBR pile. I too enjoyed this well written first novel, which has been nominated for several awards. It takes place in two time periods – 1984 and 2003 – and is set mostly in a huge shopping centre in Birmingham, England. Most of the characters are rather odd, and many seem stuck in jobs and relationships that they do not enjoy, but the mall seems to have the effect of preventing them from moving forward to a life that they really want.

    The disappearance of a lonely 10-year-old girl, who had loved to pretend to be a private detective in the mall when it was first opened, is the link that connects all of the main characters, yet it takes the entire novel for them to discover how their lives have been intertwined.

    Kate Meaney, the girl who disappears, is a particularly quirky, but appealing, character with her elaborate plans for her detective agency with her partner, Mickey, a toy monkey. She takes her surveillance work so seriously that it leads her to a tragic end.

Comments on this post:

  • Unknown User

    • Top Contributor
    • Most Interesting

    4 years ago

    -Message Deleted-

    report this

  • Cancel   

> Read more posts from: July 2009

Loading...

Close

< close and return to chapters.indigo.ca
kobo
  • Take your library with you wherever you go
  • Use the device you want to use… smartphone, desktop and many of today’s most popular eReaders
  • Coming soon… use Indigo gift cards to buy eBooks and subscriptions!

WHY KOBO?

We love the Kobo eReading service… and we know you will too. We’ve partnered with them to bring you the most flexible, enjoyable eReading experience in Canada.

SHOPPING ON KOBO

You’ll be asked to sign in or create a new account with Kobo. Once you do, you’ll immediately get access to millions of titles and be ready to start eReading. Anytime. Anyplace.

continue to kobo