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Butterflies and brain cells

May 26th, 2009 Molly - Central

Why on earth would anyone want to read a novel about a brilliant Harvard professor who discovers she has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease?  Well, I’ll tell you why: it’s a compelling story.  And so very readable.  Lisa Genova’s Still Alice is heartbreaking, painful, tension-filled, and many more unappealing adjectives, but once you start reading it, you will find it difficult to put down.  You will also want to start talking about it with anyone who will listen.

I’ll tell you right off the bat that I failed every single one of the cognitive tests that Alice had to take during her visits to the neurologist (remembering a man’s name and address, an AP story featuring a wildfire that trapped 30 people at John Wayne airport – or was it 36 people at LAX? Three pages later and I’m already failing).  This in itself was frightening.  Then the descriptions of clinical trials and drugs and Alzheimer’s research were overwhelming.  The support groups were exhausting.  The reactions from family and colleagues were frustrating.

And the character Alice Howard was only 50-years-old at the time of her diagnosis.  When I think of early-onset Alzheimer’s I think of 75-years-old as opposed to 85-years-old, even though I watched Julie Christie go through this very thing in Away from Her.  I just don’t think of it happening to people who are that young.

The hardest part of this story for me was the fact that Alice knew this was happening to her and knew what fate awaited her.  She established a memory test for herself that asked five vital questions: what month is it?  where do you live?  where is your office?  when is your oldest daughter’s birthday?  how many children do you have?  If she could no longer answer even one of these questions, she was to go to her computer and open the file named “Butterfly” and follow the instructions found there.

Any guesses about the instructions in the butterfly file?  This will keep you reading.  And wondering.  And discussing.  And hoping to God they find a cure for this disease.

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction