Learning the Realities of Aging and Alzheimer’s through Novels.
August 14, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
There’s an interesting article in the Irish Times that looks at fact that ‘reading lists for medical students on ageing are largely composed of novels.’ Written by Desmond O’Neill, director of Aois agus Eolas, the Centre for Ageing, Neuroscience and the Humanities, the article highlights some of the novels on medical students reading list…
- The Human Stain by Philip Roth
- The Summer of a Dormouse by John Mortimer
- A Short History of Tractors in the Ukraine by Maria Lewinska
- Embers by Marai Sandor
- Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan - The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen
- Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler
It’s definitely a list worth reading…
When I read novels that include characters who have Alzheimer’s disease, I like to check to see how “true to life” these characters are. Some authors exaggerate; others poke fun at those with Alzheimer’s; and those who truly understand Alzheimer’s present the characters in true form with the humor, the sadness, the frustration, the dignity, and the hope that encompasses this disease.