Month: October 2011

Still Alice

Linda J

‘Still Alice’ was a book I stumbled on at the airport, after I quickly returned another book ‘Little Bee’ since I had already read it under another title, ‘On the Other Hand’. (Another review, another time?) So it wasn’t my first choice, but it turned out to be a great choice – though I finished it far too soon, as you often do with a good book. I had wondered about whether I would enjoy the read, dealing with early on-set Alzheimer’s disease, but I found it a captivating tale.

It is told from the point of view of Alice, a well-renowned psychology professor, who begins to find increasing memory losses creeping into her well-ordered life. For someone viewed as a world expert in her field of linguistics, the tragedy of losing basic words in conversations and lectures, and even forgetting to be at lectures, is immense.

At first, Alice refuses to consider that the changes she is experiencing are anything but a temporary symptom of her busy lifestyle. So she remains quiet and ignores many telltale signs of deterioration; which also remain invisible to her busy family as they come and go. Finally, her inability to make sense of the series of lists she creates for herself, and an increasing inability to keep track of things in family conversations, force her to consult medical advice.

Lisa Genova has written a thought-provoking account of what it could be like to feel yourself slipping away from reality. While in the beginning there is clarity in Alice’s thoughts and actions, as time goes on, it becomes clear that what she ‘remembers’ is often far from what actually was happening to her.

There is a sensitive portrayal of the confusion and frustrations that can be experienced, as Alzheimer’s takes its toll on both the sufferer and their family members. Because of the way it it told, the story gives the reader true experiences of the confusion that Alice has to deal with. It also demonstrates the way in which some family members may be too close, day-to-day, to notice the subtle deterioration in the sufferer, except in hindsight.

‘Still Alice’ has received a lot of praise from reviewers, some of which have had personal experience with dementia within their families. It is written as though you were inside the mind of Alice, as the disease takes hold and changes everything for Alice and her family. Endorsement by the National Alzheimer’s Association is high praise for Genova’s writing, and a continuing blog on Alzheimer’s by the author further endorses the quality and authenticiity of this tale, and the mastery with which it has been written.

Listen to Lisa Genova discuss the beginnings of her first novel, inspired by her grandmother’s onset of Alzheimer’s, and the importance for her to tell this tale.

As a neuroscientist-turned-novelist, Lisa Genova has opened a door for us to view these changes, and perhaps, to help us to understand some of those around us – parents, grandparents, friends or neighbours, who may be affected. Thus, even though it would be considered an adult novel, I wouldn’t hestitate about recommending to younger readers who might need some understanding about people known to them fighting the disease.

Another worldview: Trash

Linda J

Smoky Mountain. Piles of trash. Kids as young as 3, sifting through rubbish, to retrieve anything of value. Life, as it is for many poor children from developing countries around the world, is grimly portrayed in Andy Mulligan’s tale, Trash.

The story is told from varying perspectives, dependent on whose point of view is most valuable at the particular stage of the story. There’s Raphael, a dumpsite boy who scours the trash to help support his extended family, since he lives with his aunt’s family and, of course, cousin Gardo. He is fairly street smart, with good survival skills, but not as confident as Gardo.

Gardo is Raphael’s best friend, and outwardly much bolder, though far more serious. They share everything, so of course, Raphael has tell Gardo of his discovery at the dumpsite. When the police come questioning the dumpsite kids about whether they had found anything unusual, they both know something sinister is afoot, and they seek help among their own.

Rat (or Jun-Jun) is their unlikely hero. Younger than both boys, he is infinitely more streetwise, and incredibly adept at detecting dangerous situations – as he moves effortlessly and invisibly about the slums of Behala.

Banded together with the discovery of the small leather bag in which the police are obsessively interested, they become engaged in an adventure of mystery, intrigue and danger. But together they are determined to right past wrongs and overcome some of the elements which rule their miserable existence in the slums.

Andy Mulligan has worked as a teacher in a school near the dumpsite in Manila, and has thus experienced the sounds, smells and squallor of the nearby slums, and reflected these in his book, Trash. At no time in the novel is it specified that it is set in Manila, however, and as he has pointed out, there are many such squallid locations found around the world. And in these dumpsites, there are thousands of children living the life portrayed in ‘Trash’ – collecting rubbish to survive in poverty.

Thus in this adventure, the reader has to struggle with the knowledge that though this a fictitious tale, it is based in what is a reality for many young children around the globe, through no fault of their own. Their daily struggles and how they cope is far removed from our own existence, told as it is through the eyes of young yet resilient children, simply after a better life.

As food for thought, it may also have great impact in the form of a movie, (which is meant to happen) and would be great reading for any young teen searching for challenge and adventure. For now here’s the book trailer… or listen to the author speak here.

Hear the classics – Free audiobooks

Linda J

If you’ve always wanted to trial an audiobook, but hadn’t yet got around to it, then perhaps now is the time.

I’ve just discovered a post 20 Popular High School Books Available as Free eBooks & Audio Books on Open Culture. Here, there are links to all sorts of classics like Huckleberry Finn, the Great Gatsby, To Kill  a Mockingbird and Pride and Prejudice – all available as FREE audiobooks.

This would be immensely valuable to students covering some of the classics in their school studies, as well as for those of us who would like to revisit a golden oldie but with limited time to do so. Just visit some of the suggested links to upload to your mobile device and start ‘reading’!

the Help – change that begins with a whisper

Linda J

Kathryn Stockett, born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, has written a book about an author living in Jackson, Mississippi, writing a book about Jackson. The difference is that Miss Skeeter lives in times of prejudice and intolerance – and to write about these things at this time is both risky and challenging.

Eugenie Skeeter, however, takes up the challenge and invites others to find the courage to tell the tales of life during the civil rights movement – importantly, from the points of view of ‘coloured’ house maids. As a dissatisfied writer, she yearns to do something meaningful with her life – which is devoid of any real friends in Jackson. Returning home from college, she provides her mother with angst (with no husband-propects on the horizon), but as a keen observer, she now sees relationships at home with new eyes – ‘where black maids raise white children, but aren’t trusted not to steal the silver’.

When she finally convinces maids Aibileen and Minny to begin telling the tales of their lives as second class citizens, a momentum builds. At the same time, tension and conflict rear their ugly racist heads, as social climbers in the community work to maintain the status quo – and to keep the downtrodden in their place.

Eugenie’s friendship with two black maids is dangerous; writing a book about their experiences even more so. The outcome and whether the whole exercise is worthwhile, considering the potential harm for all those involved, creates a constant tension throughout the story, and the risks are great for all those involved.

The voices Stockett has created are immensely believable, and full of humanity. As each character (Aibileen, Minny and Miss Skeeter) tells her story, the frustrations and pressures for each of them is real and considered. Little by little, their lives are painted before us, and the impact of the prejudices of small town gossip and traditions make our hearts ache for those involved.

We feel for little Mae Mobley whose (white) mother neglects her, leaving her in the care of her maid, Aibileen. We fear that Minny will be again moved out of a much-needed job, if past employer Miss Hilly finds out where she is – that is, if Minny’s husband, Leroy, doesn’t beat her senseless before then. And then, there is the constant worry that Miss Skeeter’s writing activities will be uncovered and demonised by Miss Hilly, the young socialite, who wants to keep the blacks in their rightful positions for her view of society.

Stockett has created a strong believable story, with courageous women in a time of trouble and strife – a modern day ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ scenario – blacks guilty before being tried, dealing with trashy white attitudes – people demanding respect from family staus rather than any true accomplishemnts in life. Though ‘The Help’ has now been made into a movie, I resisted seeing the movie before reading the book, which absorbed me fully into the lives of 3 brave women at a historic period in America. having ‘heard’ their voices, I can now look forward to what has been a well received adaptation of the book:

“The Help” is a delicious peppery stew of home-cooked, 1960s Southern-style racism that serves up a soulful dish of what ails us and what heals us. Laughter, which is ladled on thick as gravy, proves to be the secret ingredient — turning what should be a feel-bad movie about those troubled times into a heart-warming surprise. – Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2011.

Check out one of the many film trailers here –

the Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai

Linda J

the-inheritance-of-loss1As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been ‘reading’ (via a CDs-and-book combination) ‘the Inheritance of Loss’ – a book by Kiran Desai which won the Man Booker Prize in 2006. I had picked it up in my search for books reflecting issues of globalisation.

Set mainly in the foothills of the Himalayas, it tells the stories of several characters interwoven by family and work relationships, amid the legacies of post-colonial India, and the local struggles for political independence. Position, power and politics all play a part in this tale – with some predictable outcomes – and a perspective into cultures quite different from my own.

Since finishing (and enjoying) this book, I have searched to see how others had reviewed and found a mix of praise and criticism for the prize winner. Some reviews were quite effusive in their compliments, while others decried Desai as using too many stereotypes and betraying the culture of many Indian people groups.

Comments used in reviews include:

  • a series of parallel stories… each quixotic
  • ‘literature of tourism’ – a fascinating introduction to a particular time and place
  • overwhelmed by detail
  • gripping stories of people buffeted by the winds of history, personal and political
  • the book gets under your skin
  • a bleak view of the clash of the ‘first world’ with the ‘third world’

(Most of these comments from: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95186.The_Inheritance_of_Loss)

It’s interesting to see the polarisation of reviews which often occurs with awarded books. These also made me wonder how the book might be received differently based on your ethnic background – would people who lived in, or knew the ethnic cultures, be accepting as I was of the way characters were portrayed and acted in the tale? Is that where the acceptance or rejection of the novel diverges greatly? Perhaps based on our own cultural baggage?

‘Reading’ using an audio production may have had an input to my enjoyment of the novel, read as it was by experienced narrator, Sam Dastor. This gave accents and voice to the characters which my personal reading-from-the-page may have missed. It certainly gave me things to laugh at in the car, as humour was interwoven with the daily struggles of Sai, Biju, Noni and Lola, and the Judge. And the language Desai uses is, at times playful, at other times precise, reflective and colourful. Perhaps that is why I also felt the need to purchase a physical copy of the book – and to see the shape of her words, and to see the names of the people and places in the tale.

I recommend picking up either copy (audio or book), or, as I did, try both! As usual comments and feedback welcome!