Memorys Last Breath

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In the tradition of Brain on Fire and When Breath Becomes Air, Gerda Saunders Memory s Last Breath is an unsparing, beautifully written memoir a true life Still Alice that captures Saunders experience as a fiercely intellectual person living with the knowledge that her brain is betraying her Saunders book is uncharted territory in the writing on dementia, a diagnosis one in nine Americans will receive Based on the field notes she keeps in her journal, Memory s Last Breath is Saunders astonishing window into a life distorted by dementia She writes about shopping trips cut short by unintentional shoplifting, car journeys derailed when she loses her bearings, and the embarrassment of forgetting what she has just said to a room of colleagues Coping with the complications of losing short term memory, Saunders nonetheless embarks on a personal investigation of the brain and its mysteries, examining science and literature, and immersing herself in vivid memories of her childhood in South Africa Written in a distinctive voice without a trace of self pity, Memory s Last Breath is a remarkable, aphorism free contribution to the literature of dementia and an eye opening personal memoir that will grip all adventurous readers. Free Read Memorys Last Breath by Gerda Saunders For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr 3.5 StarsAnd the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our lifeJulian Barnes, The Sense of an EndingA now retired scientist, Gerda Saunders was 61 when she was diagnosed with early onset dementia,specifically micro vascular disease This memoir is her thoughts, fears, frustrations over the following years, the affect it had on her, her husband, her children, and dai 3.5 StarsAnd the longer life goes on, the fewer are those around to challenge our account, to remind us that our life is not our life, merely the story we have told about our lifeJulian Barnes, The Sense of an EndingA now retired scientist, Gerda Saunders was 61 when she was diagnosed with early onset dementia,specifically micro vascular disease This memoir is her thoughts, fears, frustrations over the following years, the affect it had on her, her husband, her children...4 Our family s experience in comparing individual memories is congruent to my finding that the brain refreshes the truth every time you retell The author remembers a spectacular event from her childhood when a very fat death adder was discovered and killed and a whole lot of babies burst out Not something you re likely to forget, eh She told the story in a straightforward manner, and I wondered why.Then she contacted her siblings and others who were either on the scene or who had been told 4 Our family s experience in comparing individual memories is congruent to my finding that the brain refreshes the truth every time you retell The author remembers a spectacular event from her childhood when a very fat death adder was discovered and killed and a whole lot of babies burst out Not something you re likely to forget, eh She told the story in a straightforward manner, and I wondered why.Then she contacted her siblings and others who were either on the scene or who had been told about it earwitnesses, she calls them and guess what No two stories were the same They differed on who was there, who killed the snake and with what, and what they did with the bits and pieces of all the snakes The only agreement was that a snake full of live babies was destroyed So, a memory is changed every time it is remembered These findings upends the model of memory still held by most people, namely that memoryworks like a video camera, accurat...I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend as a book to do with Alzheimer s and I hope she will forgive me that I can t write a good review I really disliked the author I thought she was a dyed in the wool pro Apartheid racist who liked to think of herself as a liberal It is, especially for a South African Boer who has emigrated to the US, politically correct to identify as non racist However, her writing gives her away It is not enough to quote Maya Angelou or talk about I read this book because it was recommended to me by a friend as a book to do with Alzheimer s and I hope she will forgive me that I can t write a good review I really disliked the author I thought she was a dyed in the wool pro Apartheid racist who liked to think of herself as a liberal It is, especially for a South African Boer who has emigrated to the US, politically correct to identify as non racist However,...3.5 starsSo, after reading this, I ve got very mixed feelings about this book Overall, it s an amazing journal of what it means when a 61 year old woman is diagnosed with a form of dementia Of course, it hit home especially hard for me as we are basically the same age And whom among us doesn t have those moments of forgetfulness that strike fear into our hearts But to have them over and over and realize it s not just the odd occurrence It s my major fear Saunders hits some nails on the hea 3.5 starsSo, after r... Memory s Last Breath is not exactly the book of field notes its subtitle suggests Yes, it contains some qualitative written observations about Saunders s decline in cognitive function as she goes about her daily life, and yes, these do assist the reader in understanding the lived phenomenon of the disease process However, the author also includes a number of miniature essays on neuroscience topics, including brief bits about the discipline s ...Disappointing I picked this up after hearing the author on NPR, so I expected to like it but threw in the towel about halfway through.It is actually 13 essays about various aspects of her dementia, which is a wise choice of structure for someone with her problem She talked of the difficulty of writing and how long it took her, so she might not have been able to craft a book length work.I was not getting nearly as much insight into her experiences with dementia or her progression as I expected, Disappointing I picked this up after hearing the author on NPR, so I expected to like it but threw in the towel about halfway through.It is actually 13 essays about various aspects of her dementia, which is a wise choice of structure for someone with her problem She talked of the difficulty of writing and how long it took her, so she might not have been able to craft a book length work.I was not getting nearly as much insight into her experiences with dementia or her progre...Gerda Saunders was a scientist, an intellectual, a wife, mother and writer when at age 61 she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers For the next several years, she was able to document what was happening to her brain and how it affected her every day life This erudite memoir is a combination of research explained and daily struggles noted Saunders does not complain about the unfairness of it all She goes about her business doing the best she can under the circumstances Her husband and f Gerda Saunders was a scientist, an intellectual, a wife, mother and writer when at age 61 she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers For the next several years, she was able to document what was happening to her brain and how it...The human tendency to find order in chaos causes us to fill in conspicuous gaps or loose ends so that everything fits into a story andput into context p 145The self divides the minute we start looking for it p224In this amazing and moving study, GS attempts to fill in the ever widening gaps in her understanding by documenting her own creeping dementia Presenting the latest theories on the subject, she intersperses scientific opinions with philosophical musings, social experiments, and her The human tendency to find order in chaos causes us to fill in conspicuous gaps or loose ends so that everything fits into a stor...An amazing and revealing look at both a life and the loss of mental faculties Saunders combines tales from her past with notes from the journal she began taking after being diagnosed with dementia She is exceptionally open, at times shockingly so Memory s Last Breath is a mixture of auto...I am so impressed that Gerda Saunders wrote this book about her dementia it s an amazing achievement I also think it s a really valuable book in understanding dementia and understanding how people with dementia feel and cope If you know or work with people with dementia this is a really helpful read.Aside from all that, as a reading experience, it didn t quite come together for me the writing is fine, but isn t beautiful, the structure is also ok, but sometimes disjointed There...

Memorys Last Breath
  • English
  • 27 June 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 288 pages
  • 0316502626
  • Gerda Saunders
  • Memorys Last Breath