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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Well written and easy-to-read book that brought the author's mother alive and made you wish you had been able to meet her. It's always a bonus to read something written by and about people that love to read, and this was all about exploring life through devouring and sharing books.
On one hand, I love books that recommend lots of other books. This is a fantastic book for bibliophiles. And Will's mom sounded like an awesome humanitarian who had unending love for her fellow mankind. On the other hand, the name-dropping of all the semi-famous upper-class people they ran in circles with got a bit tiresome to me. I really loved the index in the back that had a list of all the books they mentioned throughout this book.
My first impression was that I didn't feel like Schwalbe was a great writer. I didn't like the sentence flow or the attempts at description. Throughout the book, I wondered why it mattered where the authors of the books he discussed lived, went to school, or how old they were when they wrote the book, especially when the descriptions of the books themselves were so slim. He talked about what he and his mother thought about the books and how they applied them to the current situation, but not a lot of effort was put into discussing the actual book plot or intent. I realize the purpose of The End of Your Life Book Club was their experience with reading, but the little inserts about the authors was more annoying than helpful. He also kept telling us things he'd already pointed out previously. The blog he and his mother were writing was written by her as if from his point of view, which he seemed to have to point out to us each and every time. We're smart enough to remember, really. We also remember who David Rohde was without having to describe every detail every time he mentioned him.
I could not relate to the characters. He presented his mother as a perfect, controlled, giving woman, and maybe she was, but it is harder to believe a perfect character over someone with a flaw or two. Sure, he was eulogizing his mother and I can only hope my children think so highly of me. Yet it took away from my ability to connect with her. I also found it hard to connect with him as he appeared to like to point out his privilege, which most of us cannot relate to. Summers in London, boarding school, being able to quit a job and not worry about rent, vacationing at a condo in Florida, huge dinners that obviously cost more than I make in a month ... unrelatable. And again, why was it necessary to keep pointing that out?
So why did I keep reading and actually enjoy it? I did enjoy hearing about the books they read and how they processed and discussed them. I did enjoy reading about the progression of his mother's disease and how he and she worked through that. I really enjoyed the idea that he was able to spend so much time with his mother before she passed away, building on a relationship and making it deeper and more meaningful through books. My mom wasn't a reader, but it would have been a nice thing to be able to have conversations with her before she passed away. I tapped into that and it made the book enjoyable enough to finish and give three stars.
I could not relate to the characters. He presented his mother as a perfect, controlled, giving woman, and maybe she was, but it is harder to believe a perfect character over someone with a flaw or two. Sure, he was eulogizing his mother and I can only hope my children think so highly of me. Yet it took away from my ability to connect with her. I also found it hard to connect with him as he appeared to like to point out his privilege, which most of us cannot relate to. Summers in London, boarding school, being able to quit a job and not worry about rent, vacationing at a condo in Florida, huge dinners that obviously cost more than I make in a month ... unrelatable. And again, why was it necessary to keep pointing that out?
So why did I keep reading and actually enjoy it? I did enjoy hearing about the books they read and how they processed and discussed them. I did enjoy reading about the progression of his mother's disease and how he and she worked through that. I really enjoyed the idea that he was able to spend so much time with his mother before she passed away, building on a relationship and making it deeper and more meaningful through books. My mom wasn't a reader, but it would have been a nice thing to be able to have conversations with her before she passed away. I tapped into that and it made the book enjoyable enough to finish and give three stars.
I thought that the books in The End of Your Life Book Club would take centre stage...and they do, but not quite in the way that I expected. I found myself much more interested in the people involved. I wanted to know what they thought about the books and why. I wanted to get to know them through their thoughts on the books. And I did. I got to know Mary Ann and for that I am grateful.
The End of Your Life Book Club is the sort of book that makes me want to be a better person. Mary Anne Schwalbe is quite the inspiration on how to live and die - at least as told by her son Will Schwalbe. I loved their insights into various books, some that I had read and some that I hadn't. More importantly was the honest way they dealt with the business of dying from cancer. I read this on an e-book but might buy a hardcover book so that I can mark some of my favorite passages. It's a book I keep thinking about and will do so for some time.
Deeply moving book about the power of books and how reading books helps to connect us. I grew to love Will's mother, as I am sure he intended. I hope she's in heaven with an endless stack of good books. Highly recommend
The End of Your Life Book Club is a loving tribute to Schwalbe's mother who died of pancreatic cancer. During the last years of her life Will and his mother created a book club of two and it is through books that they gained a deeper understanding of each other. I liked this book and found the discussions of the books that they chose to read interesting; however, I’m not sure that someone who doesn’t have a deep passion for books would enjoy it. The story of Schwalbe’s mother and her living with cancer tends to get lost amidst the highbrow analyze of the books that they read. It's worth reading, but you need to know what the focus is going in, or you may be disappointed.
An interesting premise that was done pretty well. But the whole thing went on a little too long, and I had a bit of trouble relating to these people.