【104-1 第三名】應外四 楊〇玟：Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

參賽者：楊〇玟（應外四）
名次：第三名
書名：Still Alice
得獎作品：

     Alice Howland is a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard University and a world-renowned linguistics expert. As she is in the full flush of success, something is terribly wrong. She forgets the words during her lecture, and she gets lost when running in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, Alice is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

     Alzheimer is not an unfamiliar word for most of us; however, how clearly we know about it? Before reading this story, I thought Alzheimer only happens when people get old, and they lose their memories day by day. Nevertheless, the process of deterioration is actually painful for the patients, and how well the author depicts it faithfully makes this novel astonishing and touching. Additionally, Alice is a special case; she is only fifty and she is such a successful and ambitious woman. Learning the truth that she is losing herself gradually is definitely killing her. I profoundly remember one plot that Alice gets lost in her own house when she wants to go to the bathroom; then she just urinates on her pants, which really shocks me. Besides the pain Alice undertakes, I identify with Alice’s feeling that she doesn’t want to be a burden for her family. This winter vacation, I was injured because of an accident. None of my limbs was hurt, but there’s a big wound on my face and now there’s still an apparent scar. My family knows I am sad, so they dare not to talk about it and pretend it is nothing in front of me. I know how they feel; therefore, I want to be strong for them, just like Alice does. And luckily, my family supports me, just like Alice’s.

     Lastly, the speech that Alice delivers is the climax of this novel. She finds herself learning the art of losing every day. She loses the most precious thing in her life-her memory. Despite this situation, it is not who she is; it is just her disease. She knows that she is still alive, and she still owns other treasure, such as her family and her goals. She is not suffering, she is struggling to seize every moment in her life. No matter what may happen afterward, we shouldn’t forget that she is “Still Alice.” That’s the meaning of the book, and it is very encouraging and inspiring. I highly recommend everyone to read this book!