Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice Lisa Genova


This book epitomizes everything that is bad about books that hit the NY Times best seller list.
The author said to herself, "What topic can I choose that will fascinate because it is everyone's worst fantasy? Sharks have already been done. I know, I'll choose Altzeimer's."

Then she mapped out a plot, stuck in some actors - characters is too complimentary a word - and they all read their lines.

No need to develop these characters, no need for any plot twists, no worry about being heavy-handed. The audience is held because it is imagining its own worst nightmare, testing itself in the doctor's office, wondering about its own symptoms and prognoses. It's like Shutter Island - except Shutter Island was better.

Every cliché is here: the adored daughter who is more concerned about her own genes than her mother's, the difficult daughter who turns out to be the most sympathetic. There is no tenderness, no passion, nothing original. Even when Alice announces her condition to her children, no one says, "Poor Mum."" It's not in the script. The plot dictates that at this point we must examine the heredity issue.

The saving grace is that the book is a quick read. One need read only the first and last line in every paragraph. There is no need to worry about missing a surprise twist or an apt turn of phrase, a beautiful description or a true piece of conversation - there aren't any.

Book groups will discuss the issues raised in the book, but they will be discussing Altzheimer's, not literature.

EM