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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to read this book, but found myself pleasantly surprised. I loved the interaction of the relationship between mother and son, and the way the son was challenged to assess his views through his reading and discussing with his dying mother. More, I loved how the son learned more about his mother, and himself, and their relationship through their discussions, and her dignified journey towards death. I confess, I copied the reference list of books from the back of the book. I may never read any of them - most certainly not all of them! - but I would like the opportunity to chose to do so if I wish. To see these books through new, and more personally critical eyes. While this book may not be for all, I would certainly recommend it to quite a number of my fellow bibliophiles.
It’s not often that I walk away from a book with a list of books I want to read. I Now have a stack of 6 books to consume all because they were a part of this one. Also Do not take this book with you while you get a pedicure-especially when you’re very close to the end. Trying not to cry in public is hard!
This choice was a book club book. I liked the concept behind it, but rather than the books the author and his mother read being instruments of life changing discussion, in most cases they are only lightly mentioned, while the reader drowns in detail after detail of the daily life of a family battling cancer. There were times Schwalbe writes insightfully about the family's experiences, but the whole book needs a solid edit, and could lose about fifty pages. At times, the writer seems to dote too much on how much privilege the family has, which I think will really come off badly with some readers. This book would be a comfort to those in a similar family situation, but is only ok for the average reader.
characters: Will and his mom, Mary Anne Schwalbe
What a great book to get ideas about what to read, and also a good read about how to deal with terminally ill loved ones. Nothing profound, but enjoyable.
What a great book to get ideas about what to read, and also a good read about how to deal with terminally ill loved ones. Nothing profound, but enjoyable.
Normalerweise lese ich ja solche Bücher nicht - ist nicht so meins. Auch nach der Lektüre dieses Titels ändert sich daran nichts. Dennoch war es weniger schlimm als ich erwartet hatte.
Der Autor berichtet von der Krebserkrankung seiner Mutter, die dazu führt, dass die beiden eine Art Lesegruppe gründen und miteinander Bücher besprechen. Somit ist dieses Werk einerseits eine Biogrpahie, andererseits eine Krankheitsgeschichte und vor allem eine Liebeserklärung an die Bücherwelt.
Denn Schwalbe und durch ihn auch seine Mutter zeigen uns auf, dass Bücher nicht einfach nur Texte sind. Hier bekommt man direkt vorgeführt, wie sehr einem ein gutes Buch durch eine schwierige Zeit helfen kann. Dies ist oftmals sehr berührend. Man hört oft, dass Lesen gut sei, aber nie wird einem wirklich aufgezeigt, weshalb oder wie. Das wird hier nachgeholt.
Jedoch ist das Buch auch für Krebspatienten und deren Angehörige interessant zu lesen, da Schwalbe viel über die Besuche im Krankenhaus und den Krankheitsverlauf bei seiner Mutter berichtet. In meiner Familie kamen bisher zum Glück kaum Krebsfälle vor, so konnte ich dank der Lektüre dieses Werkes einen Einblick erhalten, wie man als Familie damit umgehen kann und auch, was in den Betroffenen vor sich gehen wird.
Somit war dieser Titel für mich in vielerlei Hinsicht ein Augenöffner, der mich viel lehren konnte.
Der Autor berichtet von der Krebserkrankung seiner Mutter, die dazu führt, dass die beiden eine Art Lesegruppe gründen und miteinander Bücher besprechen. Somit ist dieses Werk einerseits eine Biogrpahie, andererseits eine Krankheitsgeschichte und vor allem eine Liebeserklärung an die Bücherwelt.
Denn Schwalbe und durch ihn auch seine Mutter zeigen uns auf, dass Bücher nicht einfach nur Texte sind. Hier bekommt man direkt vorgeführt, wie sehr einem ein gutes Buch durch eine schwierige Zeit helfen kann. Dies ist oftmals sehr berührend. Man hört oft, dass Lesen gut sei, aber nie wird einem wirklich aufgezeigt, weshalb oder wie. Das wird hier nachgeholt.
Jedoch ist das Buch auch für Krebspatienten und deren Angehörige interessant zu lesen, da Schwalbe viel über die Besuche im Krankenhaus und den Krankheitsverlauf bei seiner Mutter berichtet. In meiner Familie kamen bisher zum Glück kaum Krebsfälle vor, so konnte ich dank der Lektüre dieses Werkes einen Einblick erhalten, wie man als Familie damit umgehen kann und auch, was in den Betroffenen vor sich gehen wird.
Somit war dieser Titel für mich in vielerlei Hinsicht ein Augenöffner, der mich viel lehren konnte.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death
I can't quite pin down why I liked this book so much. I don't know which I enjoyed more: the love story between a son and his mother, or their love story with books. If you love to read and can appreciate all literature, I think you'll enjoy this book. At times it was a bit challenging, because it was slow paced and there was little plot, but the book club conversations were beautiful. In the end, you'll have ideas for more books to read, as lots of books are discussed.
A wonderful book for book lovers. Reading and books are given as prominent a place as the themes of cancer, dying, a mother-son relationship, and social values. Definitely worth reading.
When Will Schwalbe's mother is diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, he and she start an informal book club that meets mostly during her chemo treatments. The list of books is free-wheeling, not dependent on theme or author. It's a mix of new reads and old favorites. In the larger sense, it's an opportunity for a mother and son to say goodbye through the medium of books, something they have both enjoyed throughout their lives.
This book has been on my "to-read" list for a long time, and I finally picked it up in the store the other day, sitting down to begin as soon as I got home. I wish I could say the anticipation was bested by the book, but it wasn't.
Though it's clear that Will's mother, Mary Ann, was a good woman, I never grew to particularly care for her. Maybe it's the upper-crust life that she lived, so unimaginable for me, or maybe it's just that, sometimes, she seemed a little too proper for my taste. She said all the right things and did all the right things, but it all felt just a little too much. And this is more her story than Will's, so it's important that you like her, but when the book reached its inevitable conclusion, I wasn't all that moved.
I think part of my disconnect, right or wrong, was grounded in the juxtaposition between Mary Ann's end-of-life experience and my own mother's. While Mary Ann is allowed to pay for the best care, my mom ended up in a nursing home chosen almost solely because it's what Medicare would pay. While Mary Ann is allowed to die in bed, surrounded by her friends and family, my mother passed, alone, with me somewhere in the middle of a 15 hour road trip, trying to get home. It's an inequity that Mary Ann (and Will) recognizes, but it still didn't make her experience any more endearing to me.
One final note to explain my disappointment, though it may not necessarily excuse it, is that I was hoping to read the book and get a few more titles for my "to-read" list. It didn't happen. For whatever reason none of their books interested me, so I wasn't even grounded in that part of the story.
In the end I don't know whether to recommend the book or not. It could just be my mileage that caused the disappointment. However, I certainly can't give it a full endorsement, so take that for what you will.
This book has been on my "to-read" list for a long time, and I finally picked it up in the store the other day, sitting down to begin as soon as I got home. I wish I could say the anticipation was bested by the book, but it wasn't.
Though it's clear that Will's mother, Mary Ann, was a good woman, I never grew to particularly care for her. Maybe it's the upper-crust life that she lived, so unimaginable for me, or maybe it's just that, sometimes, she seemed a little too proper for my taste. She said all the right things and did all the right things, but it all felt just a little too much. And this is more her story than Will's, so it's important that you like her, but when the book reached its inevitable conclusion, I wasn't all that moved.
I think part of my disconnect, right or wrong, was grounded in the juxtaposition between Mary Ann's end-of-life experience and my own mother's. While Mary Ann is allowed to pay for the best care, my mom ended up in a nursing home chosen almost solely because it's what Medicare would pay. While Mary Ann is allowed to die in bed, surrounded by her friends and family, my mother passed, alone, with me somewhere in the middle of a 15 hour road trip, trying to get home. It's an inequity that Mary Ann (and Will) recognizes, but it still didn't make her experience any more endearing to me.
One final note to explain my disappointment, though it may not necessarily excuse it, is that I was hoping to read the book and get a few more titles for my "to-read" list. It didn't happen. For whatever reason none of their books interested me, so I wasn't even grounded in that part of the story.
In the end I don't know whether to recommend the book or not. It could just be my mileage that caused the disappointment. However, I certainly can't give it a full endorsement, so take that for what you will.
I LOVED this book. It is the story of a man dealing with his mother's diagnosis of cancer. Throughout the treatment process they come together through their two person book club. It was truly a story of living more than dying, to me at least. I did tear up a bit at the end but not a sad book at all.