Turn of Mind - Alice LaPlante

[Argobot]

I just finished reading Turn of Mind, the book about the older woman with dementia that Remo mentioned on the cast a few weeks ago. It was pretty good, and by pretty good, I mean it was a heartbreakingly accurate depiction of someone with Alzheimer's. I was grateful that it never felt like the author was emotionally manipulating me--an amazing feat given the book's subject. My only criticism is that the book had a crime thriller sub-plot that I felt was unnecessary; the story of a woman dealing with dementia and how the disease was affecting her and her loved ones was enough, the whole murder-mystery didn't really add anything to the core story--at least for me. But I would still recommend this book, as kind of a more physical less philosophical version of Sense of an Ending.

[Chris]

I just finished reading Turn of Mind, the book about the older woman with dementia that Remo mentioned on the cast a few weeks ago. It was pretty good, and by pretty good, I mean it was a heartbreakingly accurate depiction of someone with Alzheimer's. I was grateful that it never felt like the author was emotionally manipulating me--an amazing feat given the book's subject. My only criticism is that the book had a crime thriller sub-plot that I felt was unnecessary; the story of a woman dealing with dementia and how the disease was affecting her and her loved ones was enough, the whole murder-mystery didn't really add anything to the core story--at least for me. But I would still recommend this book, as kind of a more physical less philosophical version of Sense of an Ending.

I agree. I appreciated that it was so far from a typical crime thriller, but as a piece of literature unto itself the existence of the genre subversion didn't really seem necessary.

[Dosed]

Hello fellow Thumbers

I've just recently completed Turn of Mind which I picked up on the based on the recommendation by (I believe) Chris from a recent podcast. Just wondering if any fellow readers had managed to read this? And what their thoughts on the whole dealio was.

I found it to be a decent enough read. I don't think it works particularly well as a thriller or suspense novel, but it was incredibly interesting to see through the eyes of a dementia sufferer. I loved the fact that the novel was just cut up into short bursts of random scenes and dialogue, and that she managed to keep this theme fresh throughout the entire novel even though Jenny practically forgets who everyone is at the start of each new segment.

It's interesting to see a depiction of the mind in such a shattered state, and how Jenny's mind all boil down to the passions, interests and hatreds she has harbored all of her life. It kind of made me wonder what utter nonsense I'd be spluttering out if I reached that point in life. What would my life boil down to?