"Still Alice" by Lisa Genova Gives Great Insight Into Alzheimer's

We both liked Still Alice!

Karen's review:

Ever know someone with Alzheimer’s and wonder what they are thinking?  Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a brilliant novel that shares what it is like to have Alzheimer’s from the point of view of one who actually has it!  Most stories about people with Alzheimer’s are told from the caretaker’s point of view.  Still Alice lets the reader inside the mind of the person afflicted with this degenerative disease which has no cure.  Alice is only 50 and already has some symptoms of Dementia.  She is a college professor at Harvard, the wife of a scientist and mother of three grown children.  This is a story about a family and how the mother with Alzheimer’s feels as she discovers she is losing her memory, becoming confused and is sometimes disoriented. 

Reading this is a great way to learn about Alzheimer’s and become aware of the symptoms.  It was a bit scary for me to read this and find that my “senior moments” of forgetting words and names happened to Alice who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 50!   The author actually interviewed people who had early onset of Alzheimer’s.  Questions for discussion are included in the back along with an interview by the author. 

This is a good read and did not drag at all.  Some parts were even humorous.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about families, relationships or wants to know more about Alzheimer’s.  I think it would be a good book for a book club to discuss.

Another book Gerard and I highly recommend by Lisa Genova is Left Neglected.  To learn more about Still Alice or get in touch with Lisa Genova, visit www.StillAlice.com.  To learn more about Alzheimer’s or help those suffering from the disease, visit www.actionalz.org or www.alz.org.

Gerard's review 3/2/09:
Still Alice by Lisa Genova is a book I saw on Amazon and saw it got a good review so thought it would be worth reading. It sure is. This is just a fantastic book! It is a story about Alice Howland who gets early Alzheimer's disease. It's funny, sad, powerful and tells how she and her family handled having it. This, I think, is the definitive book on Alzheimer's. Hard to put down. I'm not surprised if people could read it in one sitting. It's that good. Do not miss reading this. It will stay with you for a long time!



Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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