Alice: I miss myself
-Julianne Moore, as Dr. Alice Howard in the film Still Alice
Honestly speaking, I never heard of this book until I watched the movie, Still Alice, directed by Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer. Soon after, I purchased a paperback copy of the book online and read it, and that is when I realized that I missed those clever undertones of Lisa Genova, hence I had to watch the movie one more time.
The American author, Lisa Genova, created a masterpiece with her heart-wrenching debut book, Still Alice and the screen adaption of which automatically sky-rocketed the sales of the book, Still Alice in the last month. And that is how I came to learn about the book!
Synopsis:
Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she’s a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease changes her life.
As the inevitable descent into dementia strips away her sense of self, fiercely independent Alice struggles to live in the moment. While she once placed her worth and identity in her celebrated and respected academic life, now she must reevaluate her relationship with her husband, a respected scientist; her expectations of her children; and her ideas about herself and her place in the world.
What happens when a brilliant mind falls victim to the early-onset Alzheimer’s disease? What happens when you lose everyone around you and gradually loses oneself? Lisa Genova captured the journey of a Harvard professor who falls prey to the one of the most deadliest disease in the world, Alzheimer. Read this book to follow her devastatingly beautiful and insightful journey from the early stage of Alzheimer to the stage where she completely loses it all.
First, I would like to applaud for the author for spinning such a poignant tale filled with realism and contempt. The plot is flawless and striking and the her evocative words describing each event of Alice’s life with intricacy makes the story one hell of an emotional roller-coaster ride. The best part is that the author managed to shift our perspectives about Alzheimer. I used to believe that Alzheimer can only affect old people, I bet almost every one believed in the same way. Still Alice is not a fictional story but it is the reality which definitely have hit us hard on our soul with the fact that Alzheimer has no age to affect a human! Moreover, I had no idea that Alzheimer could be a genetic disease.
Do you want to know about what makes the book truly incredible? Well, I know, whoever read this book, will agree with me on the point that this story is narrated from Alice’s perspective, thus making the story raw, deep with emotions and definitely an eye-opener. The moment I began reading, the whole environment/mood set up by the author grasped me and I fell deeper into it’s core. And then I flowed along with the stream of the story. Not only Alice got lost on the streets of campus on her morning run, but along with her, I felt so clueless about my whereabouts. It was not only Alice who realized she was losing on the bigger words, I was too there with her. Yes, that’s what the author did with her story-telling- completely pulled me along with it’s strings.
The characters!! Do I even have to say anything about it? One tip: Watch the movie, then again read the book. I bet you’ll agree with the fact that Julianne Moore absolutely justified Alice’s character. Alice is not a fragile woman, she’s way too smart and brilliant and completely out-of-her league. Her smartness has no words to describe it. She never loses hope even for a single second. Most importantly, she tries her level best to stand up against this disease and a for very long time, she fought it out with vigor and zeal. Alice and her husband, Dr. John Howard had three children- Anna, Tom and Lydia. Honestly speaking, I never found any such striking st of characters in a book, where each one of them tried to overrun with their diverse demeanor. Lydia is another character who will be forever etched into your hearts, and I bet every mother will hope that her daughter becomes a good human being like Lydia despite of the fact that Lydia is not a role-model material, wasting away her future in the dimly lit theaters. And once again, Kristen Stewart who we knew can only play fragile girlfriend’s role, has completely changed our perspective about her with this Lydia character, and I will forever respect her for that. I was hoping that Stewart will bag at least one Oscar nomination in the Supporting Actress category.
This is a story that will stay forever in your hearts! And I always respect those stories which provokes our thoughts in a beautiful way. And it is not only the Alzheimer journey that captivates your mind, but an unbreakable bond of mother-daughter relationship story that allures your soul.
Verdict: Before the Oscar fever, do read this emotional and deeply moving story of Alice.
Wishes: Good Luck Julianne Moore for the Best Actress nomination in the Academy Awards, 2015.
- Goodreads rating – 4.31
- REVIEW – Aditi