Still Alice - Read and Be Changed

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I sat in on an author chat with Lisa Genova a while ago and knew I wanted to read her work. I also knew that I wanted to start with Still Alice. And, further, I knew that it would upset me.



I started reading Still Alice a week or so ago and put it down after two pages. I just couldn't read it yet. Already, I was getting that tight, apprehensive feeling. A few days later, I tried again. I got further into the story and was hooked. Every page hurt, and almost every chapter had me crying but I needed to know what would happen, how Alice would cope.



Genova's language is clear and real and engaging. You feel that you are there, right inside Alice's mind with her. When Alice is disoriented, you are too. It is so scary, so agonizing.



Aside from the incredible depiction and sensitivity she pays to the Alzheimer's patient, Genova creates relationships that resonate. What initially upset me, in those first two pages, was the relationship between Alice and John. The tension and emotion felt so true, so present. She had me thinking of my own marriage, how we drift closer and farther apart and closer again, almost like the tides. Throughout the book, I mourned that relationship and so wanted my husband to read the book, just to see the dynamic. It was also fascinating and empowering to watch the relationships between Alice and her adult children develop.



As a story told from the perspective of the Alzheimer's patient, Still Alice is a true character study. I knew this story would affect me; and it did. It reminded me that we must celebrate and enjoy the relationships with which we are blessed. We need to take the time to really see, to really hear, to really feel. We need to respect each person's uniqueness and choose paths that strengthen more frequently than those that destroy.



I am so happy that I read this book, even though, the tears flowed freely throughout.





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