Still Alice
-
-
4.5 • 1.3K Ratings
-
-
- $13.99
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
In Lisa Genova’s extraordinary New York Times bestselling novel, an accomplished woman slowly loses her thoughts and memories to Alzheimer’s disease—only to discover that each day brings a new way of living and loving. Now a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, and Kristen Stewart!
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children and a house on the Cape, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. In turns heartbreaking, inspiring, and terrifying, Still Alice captures in remarkable detail what it’s like to literally lose your mind...
Reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind, Ordinary People, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Still Alice packs a powerful emotional punch and marks the arrival of a strong new voice in fiction.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We were bowled over by this powerful story of a brilliant mind ravaged by Alzheimer’s disease. Author Lisa Genova—a Harvard-trained neuroscientist—details the slow unraveling of linguistic psychologist Alice Howland with great care, crafting crystal-clear moments of disorientation, family strife, and heartbreak. Genova’s remarkable heroine inspired an astounding film performance by Julianne Moore, earning her an Oscar®.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova mines years of experience in her field to craft a realistic portrait of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice Howland has a career not unlike Genova's she's an esteemed psychology professor at Harvard, living a comfortable life in Cambridge with her husband, John, arguing about the usual (making quality time together, their daughter's move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer's begin to emerge. First, Alice can't find her Blackberry, then she becomes hopelessly disoriented in her own town. Alice is shocked to be diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's (she had suspected a brain tumor or menopause), after which her life begins steadily to unravel. She loses track of rooms in her home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children. The brutal facts of Alzheimer's are heartbreaking, and it's impossible not to feel for Alice and her loved ones, but Genova's prose style is clumsy and her dialogue heavy-handed. This novel will appeal to those dealing with the disease and may prove helpful, but beyond the heartbreaking record of illness there's little here to remember.
Customer Reviews
Still Alice
This book was so accurate and moving. I am a Registered Nurse and worked as Research Nurse on Alzheimer's clinical trials. I cried, laughed and thought about all my patients enrolled in the trials. The frustrations of their loved ones and their desperation for a cure. I really thought this was a non fiction book while reading it. I hope it will be made into a movie to get a broader audience. I read it in 4 days, it would have been in 1 day, if I did not have 2 children and working full-time.
Thank you for such a masterpiece and for giving a voice to all those living with this horrific disease. Thank you!
Still Alice
I appreciate how this book is told from the perspective of someone with Alzheimer's . It helps give valuable insight into relating with people with dimentia. As a RN and a family member of someone with this disease, it gives me new ways to communicate and understand those inflicted with the disease.
Powerful and touching
As I read this book I felt as though I could be Alice. When I read a book and can place myself in it easily, I know I have a winner! The story was depicted in a touching, but also practical way. Anyone caring for someone with a form of dementia might benefit from reading this book, especially since the main character tells the story from her point of view. It was a bit scary in that the reader could someday be in the same position as the main character. Bravo!