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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Mother and son read an amazing array of books as her life ends. Written by her son after the fact. Bibliography of books read is amazing. Do not read if you have a loved one current battling cancer or the like, hits home a bit too hard.
A book that will stay with me. I felt inspired and motivated and want everyone to read this book.
I just didn't like it as much as I wanted to. In book club, it was mixed - 1/3 loved it, 1/3 was ambivilent, and someone hated it.
I really enjoyed this book, a memoir of son and mother discussing favorite books during her cancer treatment, and the difficulty of progressing through an illness to a loved ones eventual death. There is more to I than this, but anyone who loves to read and has felt the power/ influence of ideas presented in a good book should enjoy this one. Some of the books they read are intriguing and I will be adding them to my list,
“Reading isn't the opposite of doing, it's the opposite of dying.”
“The greatest gift you can give anyone is your undivided attention...”
“...when you're with someone who is dying, you may need to celebrate the past, live the present, and mourn the future all at the same time.”
― Will Schwalbe
“The greatest gift you can give anyone is your undivided attention...”
“...when you're with someone who is dying, you may need to celebrate the past, live the present, and mourn the future all at the same time.”
― Will Schwalbe
This book is amazing. It is a story of a mother and son who form a "book club" after she discovers she has pancreative cancer. I found that the book was not a sad one as the mother is not simply journeying to death, she is living out her days, enjoying life, people, and reading. They discover more about each other through the conversations they have regarding the books they are reading. This book brought me healing as I lost my mother 1-1/2 years ago to Alzheimer's. While the two diseases are very different, the story still brought me to realizations and peace. I highly recommend this book, especially if you are a lover of the written word. I am already endeavoring to enjoy and savor the wonders of life that God has placed before me. This book encouraged that in a deeper sense.
Enjoyed this book-very good writer. It is so clear he loved his mom and most of all was so proud of her. Read it for book club. Long at times-maybe a short story or shorter book I would have rated higher
A beautiful book. It shows the power of stories shared with a loved one and will certainly extend your ‘to read’ list.
Good God. This memoir was like looking into my own relationship with my mom during her life and her death. I can't possibly give it an unbiased review.
When I finished the book, I felt exhausted and disheartened, but in that way where you know you're going to miss something that is gone. This book is an enriching experience, and I debated giving only a four star review, not because it doesn't warrant a five star review, but because it terrifies me just how fragile and mundane life really is. But that it challenged me to pay attention to a woman's dying, and not just any woman, but the author's mother, and a humanitarian of the greatest magnitude, it made me feel shame, the same way Will wonders if he's "doing enough" despite our current world events. But not ashamed of myself, I know I could do more, but even Will's mother says doing anything at all is good enough, rather, ashamed I don't give reading more time, I don't give discussion of books more time, and as a writer who doesn't give himself enough time to write, knowing there's an audience out there I could be entertaining, it makes me want to be a better contributor. And where the Schwalbe's are economically blessed to be philanthropic and travel the world, it doesn't make the pain of loss any less significant. To be honest, I'm jealous of Will's relationship with his mother, because it's something I wanted with my own, but our lives are very different. It was, however, my own mother who blessed me with the desire to read and eventually to write, so I could identify still yet, despite the divergent nature of our mutual relationships.
The conversations had over the course of the book, about the course of books, cements my own idea that books, real, electronic, comic, etc., are akin to memories. You can probably recall where you were in life when you read this or that book, how it made you feel, how it may have influenced your worldview. Like Tom Riddle's diary in The Chamber of Secrets, a book can carry a piece of your soul; you can keep it forever, a reminder of that space in time, or you can share it with someone to perhaps enrich their life as well. Or, conversely, you can do away with it, discarding, donating, or selling off the slough that didn't hit the mark. There's a bit of all of that with Will Schwalbe and his mother as they devour books to enhance their lives and remaining time together.
Books are worlds unto themselves and THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB is a deep dive into attempting to explore the universe when the universe has told you the jig is up. It is equally heartwarming and heartrending and a testament to do the most with the time you have, including devoting some time to a really good book, it may be the escape you need.
The conversations had over the course of the book, about the course of books, cements my own idea that books, real, electronic, comic, etc., are akin to memories. You can probably recall where you were in life when you read this or that book, how it made you feel, how it may have influenced your worldview. Like Tom Riddle's diary in The Chamber of Secrets, a book can carry a piece of your soul; you can keep it forever, a reminder of that space in time, or you can share it with someone to perhaps enrich their life as well. Or, conversely, you can do away with it, discarding, donating, or selling off the slough that didn't hit the mark. There's a bit of all of that with Will Schwalbe and his mother as they devour books to enhance their lives and remaining time together.
Books are worlds unto themselves and THE END OF YOUR LIFE BOOK CLUB is a deep dive into attempting to explore the universe when the universe has told you the jig is up. It is equally heartwarming and heartrending and a testament to do the most with the time you have, including devoting some time to a really good book, it may be the escape you need.