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qtpieash3 's review for:
Every Note Played
by Lisa Genova
This book was really hard to read at times as Genova takes her usual approach of plopping the reader in close proximity to a really awful disease. My grandpa died from ALS when I was younger and while I was around him and sort of knew how he declined, Genova took it deeper giving us a firsthand perspective from Richard, a former concert pianist, and his ex-wife/caregiver Karina.
Neither character was particularly likeable - he was an arrogant jerk and she needlessly took on the role of martyr when her career went in an unexpected direction - so it was interesting to see how the how alternating viewpoints colored my perceptions of them. There was so much left unsaid between them and even when they knew of Richard's diagnosis and knew how quickly he would lose his faculties, they were stubborn and took way too long to reach peace. Their internal monologues were full of all the things they should have said to each other and as the reader knowing both of these, I ultimately felt they set things to rights but am not sure how each character walked away with the same since at the end his communication was reduced to blinking. I liked that Karina still knew Richard well enough to balk at the guitar music therapist - that was a much-needed point of levity - but the rest just felt very stilted at times. I get that Genova is prompting the reader to examine areas of their own lives that may need resolution but the hulking hugeness of the issue loomed large in the book and seemed to overshadow the story most of the time; I think a more dialed back approach may have allowed ALS to play more of a role.
Overall, I liked it well enough - 3 stars.
Neither character was particularly likeable - he was an arrogant jerk and she needlessly took on the role of martyr when her career went in an unexpected direction - so it was interesting to see how the how alternating viewpoints colored my perceptions of them. There was so much left unsaid between them and even when they knew of Richard's diagnosis and knew how quickly he would lose his faculties, they were stubborn and took way too long to reach peace. Their internal monologues were full of all the things they should have said to each other and as the reader knowing both of these, I ultimately felt they set things to rights but am not sure how each character walked away with the same since at the end his communication was reduced to blinking. I liked that Karina still knew Richard well enough to balk at the guitar music therapist - that was a much-needed point of levity - but the rest just felt very stilted at times. I get that Genova is prompting the reader to examine areas of their own lives that may need resolution but the hulking hugeness of the issue loomed large in the book and seemed to overshadow the story most of the time; I think a more dialed back approach may have allowed ALS to play more of a role.
Overall, I liked it well enough - 3 stars.