Still Alice

Another interesting read...at times it even felt like a true story.
There were so many different things going on that I could relate to that it did make it real. I can appreciate the author's dwelling on the career protion of Alice's life. It seems she was imagining how she (the author) would feel if she lost her memories. Afterall, the acquisition, use and sharing of knowledge is her "crowning glory" and essentially her identity. Thus, she continued to bring it to the forefront so that we could feel what Alice had lost more realistically.  I belive it would be the same for all of us though, not just a college professor. We build so much of our identity on successes in our career and to lose that would be overwhelming to the majority of us.
I loved the daughter's...they are so like my own (one in Pharmacy school and one studying theater). It was expertly portrayed. The Pharmacist, could deal better with facts and wanted tangible ways to help, she needed structure. Where as the actress kept her Mom "in the moment". And what a glorious time they had. That is exactly how these minds approach life. We often look to the health care professional for the answers and feel they should be able to understand and handle the situation better than others. This case was proof positive that there is more than one effective approach in dealing with the illness. The most therapeutic approach for Alice to experience joy, love, and usefulness was just to experience the "here and now."

This book was an effective look at Alzheimer's Disease from many different perspectives. We saw  the relationship perspectives the characters had but also the different personality perspectives. Each were valuable to the story and to providing insight to the fact that there is more than one "correct" way to live day to day with Alzheimer's Disease.

Sandra