Francis King
The Agony of Alzheimer’s
Whereas sufferers from diseases such as cancer, tuberculosis and multiple sclerosis have produced graphic accounts of their experiences up to only a few hours before their deaths, with Alzheimer’s there cruelly comes a moment when the victim is literally lost for words. Fortunately, from time to time some writer – not a sufferer but possessed of exceptional intuition and literary skill, such as Norah Hoult in her 1944 There Were No Windows (reissued by Persephone four years ago) and now Samantha Harvey in this remarkable first novel, long-listed for this year’s Booker Prize – manages to persuade one that, yes, this is exactly what it must be like to suffer this ghastly affliction.
At the beginning of The Wilderness, the still vigorous Jake, a successful Jewish architect, is travelling in a private plane to a retirement party given in his honour. He is already suffering a vague unease at his increasing difficulty in recalling a name or recognising a face. All
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
The ruler of Gwalior ‘named his son George after the British king. His counterpart in Bahawalpur ... boasted a collection of six hundred dildos, which Pakistan’s generals solicitously buried when they deposed him’.
@pratinavanil on India’s Maharajahs.
Pratinav Anil - Midnight’s Playboys
Pratinav Anil: Midnight’s Playboys - Dethroned: The Downfall of India’s Princely States by John Zubrzycki
literaryreview.co.uk
Dec’s Silenced Voices section of @lit_review features the scandalous criminalization of prominent 🇲🇪 academic Boban Batrićević (Faculty of Montenegrin Language & Literature)
His hearing for writing about hateful narratives spread by the Serbian Orthodox Church is on Jan 22nd
⬇️
‘We know that Ballard was many things – novelist, fabulist, one-time assistant editor of “British Baker”, seer of Shepperton, poet laureate of airports. But, it seems, he was not a fan of Mrs Dalloway.’
Joanna Kavenna - Unlimited Dream Company
Joanna Kavenna: Unlimited Dream Company - Selected Nonfiction, 1962-2007 by J G Ballard (Edited by Mark Blacklock)
literaryreview.co.uk