karimorton33's review against another edition
4.0
Another great book by Lisa Genova! The story just pulled at my heart and drew me into the family dynamic.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.5
‘Karina, he has ALS.’
The novel opens with Richard, an accomplished concert pianist, playing Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major, op 17. Richard knows his playing is technically correct, but he doesn’t feel his usual connection to the piece. Something is not quite right. Twelve months later, Richard is living with a diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Motor Neuron Disease (MND), a rare and terminal neurodegenerative disease resulting in the progressive loss of the motor neurons that control voluntary muscles.
Karina, Richard’s ex-wife, learns of this when she attends a graduation party for a friend of her daughter, Grace. Karina finds her life as a piano teacher unfulfilling and is bitter that she did not pursue her earlier career dreams. She blames Richard for this and for their failed marriage. Their daughter Grace, now studying at college, sides with Karina. We learn that Richard is also estranged from his father and brothers.
As Richard’s disease progresses and he loses the use of both his arms, it becomes clear that he cannot continue to live on his own. Karina reluctantly suggests that Richard move back into the marital home where she can be his carer.
What follows is a story which takes the reader into both the detail of living with ALS and an examination of why Richard and Karina’s marriage failed as well as Richard’s fraught relationships with both Grace and his father.
Richard, trapped in a body that no longer obeys him, is losing his ability to speak. Karina, exhausted and overwhelmed by Richard’s care, also has issues from the past to resolve.
I could not put this book down. ALS is an horrific disease. While I knew a little about it because of Professor Stephen Hawking (who died in 2018), and (here in Australia) Neale Daniher (diagnosed in 2013) and Fighting MND, this novel taught me more. Ms Genova, while raising awareness about this disease, changes the focus to the specific personal issues that need to be addressed. One of her secondary characters, Bill, who provides personal care to Richard, is the kind of carer all of us would wish for: caring, competent, humane.
As Richard deteriorates, the focus shifts. Because Richard needs to make choices about the options available to him, the reader also considers those choices. Because Richard and Karina each have issues to resolve, the reader wonders whether these resolutions can happen at all, or within a timeframe which will release them both from their feelings of guilt.
‘Funny how the story of their lives can be an entirely different genre depending on the narrator.’
Recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
jennifermarla's review against another edition
5.0
This is another fantastic book by Lisa Genova! It will haunt me forever...and that's a wonderful thing.
It amazes me how she weaves together the medical and familial with such grace.
It amazes me how she weaves together the medical and familial with such grace.
sarose13's review against another edition
5.0
Okay, I’m not sure if it’s just me, but this author has the saddest but BEST books ever. Maybe it’s because of my job in healthcare that I find these stories so interesting and special. The medical aspects seemed quite accurate and the characters have so much depth. Love love love. In my job, we do review for Radicava, so I’m going to think of this book every time I do one of those reviews.
marcccb's review against another edition
4.0
I've read previous Genova novels, so I'm a huge fan of them. My first one was Still Alice which became a movie starring Julianne Moore. It was completely spectacular.
Every Note Played is about a man who is diagnosed with ALS. As a teenager, I didn't really know what ALS was, but I have heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge going around. I feel that many people participated in it, not knowing exactly what they are doing it for. It's very important to know what ALS exactly is, before participating in such a thing.
Genova's novels are always very descriptive, and do not shy away anything at all. It is one of the reasons I enjoy reading her novels. She has a special way of making the readers connect with the character as if we are there, suffering through the illness with them. She describes every single aspect of ALS; what it is and how it affects and changes the lives of not only the person suffering from the ALS, but also the people around them
I started reading this novel three days after Stephen Hawking passed away (may he rest in peace). It was very interesting to know more about this disease and to understand exactly how it affects a person's life. It's tough to read about something so sad, knowing that it is happening to people all around the world.
Genova takes her readers deep into the lives of Richard and Karina, a divorced couple, who end up living together after her ex-husband becomes diagnosed with ALS. It really is a profound and emotional novel and I think that everyone should read it.
Every time I read a Genova novel, I have a box tissues prepared with me, knowing already that I will cry. If you are interested in learning about ALS, then this is the book for you.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Scout Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Every Note Played is about a man who is diagnosed with ALS. As a teenager, I didn't really know what ALS was, but I have heard of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge going around. I feel that many people participated in it, not knowing exactly what they are doing it for. It's very important to know what ALS exactly is, before participating in such a thing.
Genova's novels are always very descriptive, and do not shy away anything at all. It is one of the reasons I enjoy reading her novels. She has a special way of making the readers connect with the character as if we are there, suffering through the illness with them. She describes every single aspect of ALS; what it is and how it affects and changes the lives of not only the person suffering from the ALS, but also the people around them
I started reading this novel three days after Stephen Hawking passed away (may he rest in peace). It was very interesting to know more about this disease and to understand exactly how it affects a person's life. It's tough to read about something so sad, knowing that it is happening to people all around the world.
Genova takes her readers deep into the lives of Richard and Karina, a divorced couple, who end up living together after her ex-husband becomes diagnosed with ALS. It really is a profound and emotional novel and I think that everyone should read it.
Every time I read a Genova novel, I have a box tissues prepared with me, knowing already that I will cry. If you are interested in learning about ALS, then this is the book for you.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Scout Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
vanitar's review against another edition
4.0
An equally beautiful and devastating book. It is beautifully written and gives a picture of ALS that we are not always aware of- how it impacts the individual and the caregiver. The themes of forgiveness and love were well woven throughout the story. Took me a while to first get into it but once I got to know the characters and their stories, I felt like I was journeying alongside them.
stitchykitch's review against another edition
3.0
I actually didn't finish this-- not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because I was reading the audiobook, and when I was one disc away from the end I could pretty much tell what was going to happen and I didn't want to go on that emotional roller-coaster ride! I like Lis Genova's books, but there's always a thread of sadness and regret throughout. I very well may be missing the redeeming hope that might come in the final chapters, and if so, I guess that's my loss.
I did enjoy the prose about the music performances, and would have loved to read more of that. Music can be such a vehicle of transcendence, and I wanted Richard to get to ride that wave more. The acting was beautiful in the audio version as well.
I did enjoy the prose about the music performances, and would have loved to read more of that. Music can be such a vehicle of transcendence, and I wanted Richard to get to ride that wave more. The acting was beautiful in the audio version as well.