In a Tangled Wood: An Alzheimer's Journey

Rating:
Summary: The best book I've read on the subject of Alzheimer's
Review: I've read them all and this is the best. Don't be afraid to read it thinking it will be "depressing". This book is uplifting, funny and very human.

Rating:
Summary: Must be read by anyone who loves his or her mother...
Review: Joyce Dyer is a masterful writer, and In A Tangled Wood is some of her very best work. Though many find the subject of Alzheimer's Disease to be taboo or distasteful, Ms. Dyer presents her family's journey through her mother's AD years in such loving and personal terms it is impossible to feel anything but tremendous respect for everyone involved.

Dyer uses cunningly descriptive metaphors throughout the book, as well as well-placed bits of comic relief in what could have easily become a much too depressing story. She reveals enough of herself personally to allow the reader to understand how she and her mother developed the relationship they had. While this is a story about a woman who has AD, it's also a story about a daughter's relationship with her mother - regardless of any illness. It reveals what we children can and will do for our parents when the tables (ultimately) turn.

It is a tale of courage and faith, of patience and hope, of acceptance and love.

Rating:
Summary: Must be read by anyone who loves his or her mother...
Review: Joyce Dyer is a masterful writer, and In A Tangled Wood is some of her very best work. Though many find the subject of Alzheimer's Disease to be taboo or distasteful, Ms. Dyer presents her family's journey through her mother's AD years in such loving and personal terms it is impossible to feel anything but tremendous respect for everyone involved.

Dyer uses cunningly descriptive metaphors throughout the book, as well as well-placed bits of comic relief in what could have easily become a much too depressing story. She reveals enough of herself personally to allow the reader to understand how she and her mother developed the relationship they had. While this is a story about a woman who has AD, it's also a story about a daughter's relationship with her mother - regardless of any illness. It reveals what we children can and will do for our parents when the tables (ultimately) turn.

It is a tale of courage and faith, of patience and hope, of acceptance and love.

Rating:
Summary: Personal Account Makes the Difference
Review: Ms. Dyer's account of her own mother's illness is really what made the difference for me in this book. I am not touched by alzheimer's disease yet, so I have no basis of engagement or interest. But something about this book told me I'd enjoy it, and I was right.

Ms. Dyer's MO is to simply present her story about her mother intertwined with the stories of other people in the home with her mother. She reflects on her mother's past, on their shared pasts, on her own past. She doesn't ever get overly weepy, but Dyer does present her feelings as her mother decays further and further away from her true self. Overall, though, you feel that Dyer was happy to be able to experience this trying time with her mother, and you get a glimpse of the strength that it must have taken to come back to the home each day.

It's clear that writing about her experiences is therapy. But reading about them is therapy, too; it forces you to think about "something else," something more grave than whether you should handwash that plate and whether the lawn needs another cut. In reality, Dyer reveals many issues of the basic human condition that are grounds for thoughtful discussion and planning.

I enjoyed every bit of the book. The personal account format really drew me in, and the reality and emotion kept me reading.

Rating:
Summary: Personal Account Makes the Difference
Review: Ms. Dyer's account of her own mother's illness is really what made the difference for me in this book. I am not touched by alzheimer's disease yet, so I have no basis of engagement or interest. But something about this book told me I'd enjoy it, and I was right.

Ms. Dyer's MO is to simply present her story about her mother intertwined with the stories of other people in the home with her mother. She reflects on her mother's past, on their shared pasts, on her own past. She doesn't ever get overly weepy, but Dyer does present her feelings as her mother decays further and further away from her true self. Overall, though, you feel that Dyer was happy to be able to experience this trying time with her mother, and you get a glimpse of the strength that it must have taken to come back to the home each day.

It's clear that writing about her experiences is therapy. But reading about them is therapy, too; it forces you to think about "something else," something more grave than whether you should handwash that plate and whether the lawn needs another cut. In reality, Dyer reveals many issues of the basic human condition that are grounds for thoughtful discussion and planning.

I enjoyed every bit of the book. The personal account format really drew me in, and the reality and emotion kept me reading.