Hi,
One of the incredible things about great books is how they come back to you at totally unexpected times. I had such a moment a couple of weeks ago during an otherwise mundane moment during my daily routine that highlights this idea.
It started the night I received a jar of homemade (home-collected?) honey from one of the nurses at the hospice I volunteer with (outside of his day/sometimes night job as a nurse, this fellow is a fairly skilled beekeeper). When I returned home, I found no
available shelf space. After a brief deliberation, I impulsively moved the filter and pot that
go with my coffee maker into one of the cabinets and placed the honey in the now available space (1).
The next day, I could not find the needed equipment to make coffee! It took a couple of minutes before I saw the honey jar in the usual place for the coffee pot. From there, I recalled my decision to use the cabinet. The required mental connection made, I returned to my usual morning routine.
As I drank the coffee later, I thought about a book I read in July, Still Alice, by Lisa Genova. Specifically, I thought about Genova's character, Alice, and how if she were in my place, her early-onset Alzheimer's would likely have prevented her from finding the coffee pot. She would not have connected the jar of honey to the prior night's decision to move the coffee pot. She would not have made her own cup of coffee as I had just done.
Not many books are capable of guiding a reader to understand how another's eyes see the world. What an accomplishment that this book was able to do so with such empathy and understanding of the difficulty that this dreaded disease brings to its victims.
The next day, I could not find the needed equipment to make coffee! It took a couple of minutes before I saw the honey jar in the usual place for the coffee pot. From there, I recalled my decision to use the cabinet. The required mental connection made, I returned to my usual morning routine.
As I drank the coffee later, I thought about a book I read in July, Still Alice, by Lisa Genova. Specifically, I thought about Genova's character, Alice, and how if she were in my place, her early-onset Alzheimer's would likely have prevented her from finding the coffee pot. She would not have connected the jar of honey to the prior night's decision to move the coffee pot. She would not have made her own cup of coffee as I had just done.
Not many books are capable of guiding a reader to understand how another's eyes see the world. What an accomplishment that this book was able to do so with such empathy and understanding of the difficulty that this dreaded disease brings to its victims.
Still Alice was one of the best books I have read so far this year. Instead of relying on facts and figures to teach a reader about the condition, Genova's novel patiently and gradually shows what happens as the disease progresses. In addition to detailing the impact of early-onset Alzheimer's on its victims, it also does a very honest exploration of the different ways colleagues, friends, and loved ones respond to the challenges presented by the disease.
I found the book very much worth its high ratings and recommend it to anyone looking for something to read as the summer winds down.
I found the book very much worth its high ratings and recommend it to anyone looking for something to read as the summer winds down.
Back on Friday with my thoughts on the rest of my reading from July.
Tim
Footnotes?
1. Is it truly life changing? Or even magical...?
Footnotes?
1. Is it truly life changing? Or even magical...?
There is a book that I see often on 'best of' lists or
in the front display sections of bookstores about the great Japanese concept of
tidying up (or something like that). I get asked about this book more than
logic would dictate (I suppose it does seem like the type of thing I would
read) and it does tend to come up from time to time (*).
*It came up when I went to Washington DC last week. My friend made a good point about this book- it is quickly become the type of book that no one is reading but everyone is happy to talk about as if they did read it. And why not? Everyone is talking so much about it, you've probably overheard the book in its entirety by this point from a bunch of people who haven't read it...I do not expect to read it anytime soon, however. Here's why- I read Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project some time ago. She discusses the wisdom of always keeping an empty shelf (covered to some degree in this post on her blog)- you always have someplace to put things on hold until you can truly sort it out later.
Once I internalized this, there was no need to learn anything else about 'tidying up'. I just did my best to keep an empty shelf (or the equivalent) and noted- like in the example above- that most of my failures to remain organized stemmed from a disruption to the empty shelf idea.
