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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Meh. I just couldn't relate at all to these people. And the author seemed to try and make his mother into this "holier than thou" being, and that just bugged me. I get it. You all are super rich and you can quit your job without having another lined up. Good for you.
I did enjoy reading about the books though. Which is why I'm giving 2 stars, and not 1.
I did enjoy reading about the books though. Which is why I'm giving 2 stars, and not 1.
The premise seems straightforward: an adult son is in the role of caregiver as his mother is in treatment for advanced stage cancer, and they discuss books (and therefore life) in the long periods of waiting at chemo appointments in the year+ leading up to her death. But this memoir has many layers to it, including the mother's illustrious career as a humanitarian and social change advocate, and the son's, um, maybe meandering and sheltered life in the upper class. The books they choose to read and their commentary on them are intellectual to the point of being a bit pretentious (because I can't fathom choosing those books or having those conversations with my family members!)... and yet, I was fascinated by their conversations and how they were central to the son's reckoning with his mother's failing health as well as with their entire relationship, and I thought his love and admiration for his mother shined through.
This is a sweet memoir of a son and his mother, who is dying of pancreatic cancer. Both are big readers, and as the son accompanies his mom to her treatments, an informal book club springs up, just the two of them. They read everything from pop lit to foreign literature, much of it way more high brow than anything I would ever read. Their discussions help them both come to terms with death.
The book was just okay. It was slow and I found myself skimming quickly. I did enjoy the literary references and that the author took great pains not to spoil the endings of the books they read!
I couldn't help comparing it to When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Both books are memoirs about terminal cancer. Both are written by very well-read, educated people. However, the Kalanithi book is more poignant, perhaps because it was written from the perspective of the one with cancer, rather than a family member. Kalanithi's writing style is more elegant; Schwalbe writes in a very straightforward, almost simplistic style. Both had good lessons about the meaning of life, but I enjoyed When Breath Becomes Air more.
The book was just okay. It was slow and I found myself skimming quickly. I did enjoy the literary references and that the author took great pains not to spoil the endings of the books they read!
I couldn't help comparing it to When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Both books are memoirs about terminal cancer. Both are written by very well-read, educated people. However, the Kalanithi book is more poignant, perhaps because it was written from the perspective of the one with cancer, rather than a family member. Kalanithi's writing style is more elegant; Schwalbe writes in a very straightforward, almost simplistic style. Both had good lessons about the meaning of life, but I enjoyed When Breath Becomes Air more.
A lot of great books discussed in a moving tribute to a mother.
Maybe I would have liked this better if I had read it rather than listened to it on tape. The narrator gave the mother an odd, effeminate voice that made her sound self righteous and holier than thou to me (sorry, but when she wasn't sure she should accept a blood transfusion because someone else might need it, it made me squirm- even though this is exactly something my own mother would have said and done!) I also was surprised that someone so involved in books never heard of Josephine Tey, and how could they not comment on Three Men in a Boat? But that is just my bias. Even so, I loved the concept of the book and reading their reactions to so many books I've read myself.
The title captured my attention but it didn't turn out to be what I expected. To be fair, I didn't finish reading it so it may have been better, but I just didn't like the author's voice and many of the books he talked about at least in the beginning are not the type I would be interested in. I'm sure that many people would enjoy this book but it was just not for me.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
