Still Alice

The book is an attempt to imagine what it must be like for a very intellectually-gifted woman to be hit at the age of 50 with early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. I found it very interesting, and thought the central character was well-drawn though not entirely convincing. She's an extremely bright, emotionally well-balanced, tenured Harvard professor married to another extremely bright, emotionally well-balanced, tenured Harvard professor, with three extremely bright, emotionally well-balanced adult children. No clouds on the horizon, bar youngest daughter's ambition to become an actress rather than a tenured Harvard professor. This does not seem very realistic to me, more like the author's fantasy of what would constitute a perfect life.

I did think the portrayal of Alice's gradual realization of her illness was absolutely gripping, and I suffered with her in sympathy. It was all too easy to imagine the horror of receiving such a diagnosis, and foreseeing for oneself the bleakness of the inevitable end. I also found it very easy to believe the author's portrayal of Alice as slowly adapting, finding pleasure in ice creams and sunny days - at least some of the time. We can't know what Alzheimer's is really like for the sufferer, since the ability to convey the experience is lost along with other high-level abilities, but this did seem to me a very persuasive imagining of what it MIGHT be like.

Until the ending. The book ends with Alice still living a happy life, surrounded by her family, bathed in the warmth of their love, cuddling a grandbaby in her lap. The message seems to be, she's lost her memory and no longer recognizes her husband or her children, but she's somehow "still Alice", so it's not so bad after all. This seems to me a copout. We all know Alzheimer's doesn't end that way, and Alice isn't going to be "still Alice" by the time it takes its toll.

Still, we all wish it were otherwise. I understand the author lost a relative to Alzheimer's, as did I, and too many others. Maybe this book is best seen as a rewriting of reality to make it more bearable. It's a good dream, while it lasts.