The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block

A tragic story of the devastation of a family by early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, which, in this fictional account, is inherited. Told from the dual viewpoints of a precocious teenager and an old man. The teenager is seeking answers to his mother's disease, as well as clues to his family and her past. The old man is striving to make sense of his life, and waiting for the return of his daughter. We find out quickly that the two are related, as are all the sufferers of this fictional version of AD. The novel alternates between the teenager's quest and the old man's struggles, while also including a fairy tale that they share, as well as a more clinical account of the origins of the disease.

The novel builds as both the teenager and the old man face problems of their own. The teenager's mother is institutionalized with AD, the old man does his best to hang on to what he has and await his daughter's return. The author does a good job of bringing the characters together and bringing the novel to a close.

The writing seems overwrought, especially in the emotional passages.  The more dramatic the scene, the more the writing needs to be simple and clear to convey a powerful message. The author seems to take the opposite approach, and I found it cloying and overly sentimental.

The fairy tale, which describes a culture where no one remembers anything and everyone is happy seemed particularly inappropriate for the subject matter. It's hard to believe that people under threat of developing AD would envision such a place as a relief from their disease - it seems more like a nightmare. It is memory that makes us human - without it, we are little more than animals.

While the author includes many of the more horrific details of AD, he consistently comes back to the idea that sufferers have moments of happy bliss, when they have forgotten everything. I have a close family member with AD, and have never observed this. It's a terrible way to die, as the inflicted person forgets how to read, talk, walk, swallow, breath. Memory loss is only a small part of AD., although the part most often observed and dramatized.

As a novel of love, loss, and family, I think the author has done a good job, especially since this is his first novel and he is young. But to make Alzheimer's such a central part of the novel I consider a mistake. Better to write an essay or memoir about AD and its devastating affect on a family, than to invent a fictional version of the disease and focus so much on the loss of memory.

Among the Missing by Dan Chaon

An excellent collection of short stories. Insightful, serious, but not maudlin or melodramatic. Safety Man and Big Me were my favorites, but they're all good. Highly recommended.

The Diagnosis by Alan Lightman

Instead of "Death of a Salesman" it's "Death of an Information Manager." I confess that I did not care for it very much. Perhaps I see my own life reflected in the protagonists. I have read more than my share of depressing books lately, and this one starts bad and just gets worse, ending with the death of the protagonist. The author draws a parallel with the Greek who pushed for the execution of Socrates and his principal character. I don't think he makes the case that well.

Another National Book Award finalist that I am not very impressed with.

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

A Newberry Award winner, published back in 1976. A black family struggles to hold on to its land and stay together during the depression in Mississippi, in the face of white bigotry, prejudice, and racism.

This is an important book in the literature for young adults, and it deals with some difficult topics while teaching through example. I have to highly recommend it for those reasons.

But from a writer's viewpoint, it does have some problems. The ending seems unnecessarily abrupt, in that the denouement seems to be missing. I suppose there is a sequel. Also, the author relies heavily on adverb laden speech tags. Here's a list I compiled from just a few pages:

• replied grimly


• said absently


• questioned suspiciously


• described all-knowingly


• said morosely


• continued amiably

And so forth. Very out of fashion now, but not so objectionable once you get used to her style. Not something I would suggest a modern writer emulate!