so-soI am still working on the Booker longlist and was excited that this one was a shorter read. Little did I know it would take me the longest amount of time to read and honestly in the end the effort didn‘t seem worth it to me. It is not a bad book, it just didn‘t click with me.
so-soI loved the first third of this NBA longlister for Fiction in Translation.
Then it got VERY repetitive and long-winded.
The final third was more interesting but I‘d already guessed what was going to happen, although not the ultimate ending, so that lessened the impact a bit. That, and the fact that i5 was all rather depressing, kept this as a so-so..
Author Thomas DeBaggio, (1942-2011).
Photos before and during/after Alzheimer‘s.
Diagnosis: 57 years old.
Death: 69 years old.
Over a decade of pure hell. 💔
pickI wanted to read this book quickly to get it out of my house, and donate it to a local little free library. These memoirs are all too personal to me—as a hospice volunteer I spend time with patients (and their families) who have this demon of a disease; my father has it too, and as of now, has been on hospice almost 3 months. The author was diagnosed with early onset at only 57 years old, and died at 69. Here, he shares his early experiences ⬇️
It may appear to be just another illness, especially of the elderly, but Alzheimer‘s is a unique and wrenching disease that destroys the mind, without which you lose your sense of being human. In its early stages, when you are most sensitively aware, you watch helplessly as you slowly lose yourself. Memory disappears. Language is gone. You forget who you are and become lost and dependent. Yet you continue on in silence, the body unsure ⬇️
I know it is difficult for them to watch me deteriorate and if I keep quiet they won‘t see what is really happening. I do not want to make them suffer with me but I also want them to understand the uncontrolled evil this disease represents. They must know, as others should, the destructive power of it. Although subtle in attack, Alzheimer‘s is the closest thing to being eaten alive slowly. I am losing my ability to wrote. I see the signs⬇️
I‘m 82 pages in, and this is a hard read. These kinds of memoirs always are.
You can see Thomas isn‘t there in this photo…he‘s far away somewhere. Link to listen: Tom' DeBaggio's Decade With Alzheimer's Disease
https://www.npr.org/2010/06/16/127857149/a-decade-of-alzheimers-devastating-impa...
pickThis was the only available book of Adam Silvera at our library right now, so I went with this one. I don't know what I expected, but it sure wasn't what I got. It took me a while to get into it, but at some point the story really takes off. It's heart-breaking, moving and sometimes hard to read. And it's a very, very, very important message Silvera shares with us.
#QueerBC @PuddleJumper
pickSO good. I‘m really looking forward to my book club‘s discussion! This book was very readable and centered on a Chinese American college student and her grandmother. They are part of a legacy of women who made elite pencils and… there is some magical realism about how they use the pencils. It‘s so original and memorable. Themes of memory, war/loyalty, communication, privacy, queer love. Great relationships of all types. Well written. Read it!
