maryw's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
carmelitasita's review
4.0
4 stars more for the way she wrote a first-person account of someone whose mind is deteriorating from Alzheimer's than from the plot which was probably around 3 stars.
deadwife's review
1.0
Committing a huge faux pas and rating a book I did not finish because otherwise there’s no closure. I’m not saying this isn’t a good book but I live by a strict set of rules that requires me to 1-star anything I couldn’t stomach reading. I got to page 79 and can recognize that it’s well written. I have some neuroses regarding aging and descending into dementia and I just hated being inside a mind that’s fading away. 100% a case of it’s not you it’s me!! May revisit at a later date.
schiefgelesen's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jesikasbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
On occasion there is something about a book, as you see it on the shelf in the book store, that calls to you and you know that you just absolutely have to read it. 'The Wilderness' was one such book for me - and then I read the blurb. This was five years ago and my beloved Grandad had begun to spiral ever quicker away from us as he battled his own Alzheimer's. I knew then that I just couldn't face the book -it was clearly going to be painful and this is the only reason I can think of that a book with such fantastic reviews and award nominations has so few 'reads' on here - this is a book which faces a topic so many of us struggle with in reality and are simply not ready to distance ourselves from enough to witness in fiction.
I bought the book anyway. I couldn't help it - I remember seeing the spine across the book store I was in and knowing I had to read it. I also remember realising that what this really meant was that I was going to have to read it at some vague, distant time when I could comprehend it. So this book sat on my shelf for over five years, waiting patiently, and last week I suddenly needed to read it.
I am so glad I bought it and let it wait - the comparisons of the beauty of language and character to Marilynne Robinson are not unfounded. The writing is exceptional, the slow development of changing memory, a life being remembered and re-imagined; this is a hauntingly beautiful ode to the value of being able to hold on to what one knows to be real. The strength of characters is so simple and genuine that they can uphold such a vast and unspecific narrative as this illness necessarily entails.
I understand that a lot of people hate books like this one - it is not plot driven in any way. Yet my reading enjoyment is always in the character and the experience of witnessing life through another's eyes. Samantha Harvey achieves this spectacularly well and the result is a very moving novel.
I have seen a few reviews stating that they find this hard to review as it didn't seem to represent what they have seen of dementia. I think that when trying to analyse this it is very difficult to remember that everyone's experience will be different - either of Alzheimer's but more likely of someone who has it. You have to be able to step away from the personal experience and view the general experience - very much like literature surrounding fictionalised accounts of autism. This is partly why I waited so long to read this book - I didn't want to be angry that it wasn't exactly what I had experienced. As it happens though, I do think that the way the slow forgetting and mashing together of memories was pretty spot on. The slow decline which turns into an almost imperceptible moment of no more understanding was what I did indeed witness and I think Harvey deserves endless praise for controlling this so steadily through her novel.
Honestly, I would love this novel even without the personal attachment I felt to Jake, but witnessing his journey helped me to start thinking of Alzheimer's as something in itself rather than as the thing that hurt someone I love so thoroughly. For this I am beyond thankful to the author - this book did for me what all great literature does in that my emotional reaction to it changed me. Reading it, I felt myself begin to let go of an awful lot of anger - I am so glad I let this book sit on my shelf waiting for so long as I would never had found it now that I was finally ready to read it if it hadn't been there already.
I bought the book anyway. I couldn't help it - I remember seeing the spine across the book store I was in and knowing I had to read it. I also remember realising that what this really meant was that I was going to have to read it at some vague, distant time when I could comprehend it. So this book sat on my shelf for over five years, waiting patiently, and last week I suddenly needed to read it.
I am so glad I bought it and let it wait - the comparisons of the beauty of language and character to Marilynne Robinson are not unfounded. The writing is exceptional, the slow development of changing memory, a life being remembered and re-imagined; this is a hauntingly beautiful ode to the value of being able to hold on to what one knows to be real. The strength of characters is so simple and genuine that they can uphold such a vast and unspecific narrative as this illness necessarily entails.
I understand that a lot of people hate books like this one - it is not plot driven in any way. Yet my reading enjoyment is always in the character and the experience of witnessing life through another's eyes. Samantha Harvey achieves this spectacularly well and the result is a very moving novel.
I have seen a few reviews stating that they find this hard to review as it didn't seem to represent what they have seen of dementia. I think that when trying to analyse this it is very difficult to remember that everyone's experience will be different - either of Alzheimer's but more likely of someone who has it. You have to be able to step away from the personal experience and view the general experience - very much like literature surrounding fictionalised accounts of autism. This is partly why I waited so long to read this book - I didn't want to be angry that it wasn't exactly what I had experienced. As it happens though, I do think that the way the slow forgetting and mashing together of memories was pretty spot on. The slow decline which turns into an almost imperceptible moment of no more understanding was what I did indeed witness and I think Harvey deserves endless praise for controlling this so steadily through her novel.
Honestly, I would love this novel even without the personal attachment I felt to Jake, but witnessing his journey helped me to start thinking of Alzheimer's as something in itself rather than as the thing that hurt someone I love so thoroughly. For this I am beyond thankful to the author - this book did for me what all great literature does in that my emotional reaction to it changed me. Reading it, I felt myself begin to let go of an awful lot of anger - I am so glad I let this book sit on my shelf waiting for so long as I would never had found it now that I was finally ready to read it if it hadn't been there already.
francesisreading's review against another edition
2.0
One of the most tedious and confusing books I have ever read. I gave up halfway through - the only book I have ever not completed.
The narrative jumps around and often I found it extremely hard to understand what was actually happening. When I did, however, it seemed interesting and the concept of the book had promise, but it just failed to deliver. It should have been good, but it just wasn't.
Maybe one day I'll try again with this, but for now I think I'd rather spend my time reading books I actually enjoy.
The narrative jumps around and often I found it extremely hard to understand what was actually happening. When I did, however, it seemed interesting and the concept of the book had promise, but it just failed to deliver. It should have been good, but it just wasn't.
Maybe one day I'll try again with this, but for now I think I'd rather spend my time reading books I actually enjoy.
emilydreadful's review
1.0
Committing a huge faux pas and rating a book I did not finish because otherwise there’s no closure. I’m not saying this isn’t a good book but I live by a strict set of rules that requires me to 1-star anything I couldn’t stomach reading. I got to page 79 and can recognize that it’s well written. I have some neuroses regarding aging and descending into dementia and I just hated being inside a mind that’s fading away. 100% a case of it’s not you it’s me!! May revisit at a later date.