Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia, and Poetry
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.95 (622 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1589880617 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 204 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-01-26 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Eleanor H. said What is dementia like and what is it like to care for someone with dementia. George Edwards, a music professor and composer, was diagnosed with dementia at the age of 61. In this book, his wife, Rachel Hadas, describes the man she fell in love with; the period when she began to realize, initially on a subconscious level, that something was wrong with her husband; and finally, after he was diagnosed with dementia, the withering away of George as a person while he remained relatively physically healthy.Giving telling examples of her husband's behavior, Hadas vividly depicts what a person with dementia is like. She describes how emotionally draining it was living with her hu. A Gripping Narrative with Deep Reflections I have, thank goodness, never had the experience that Rachel Hadas describes so compellingly in this gripping book, and I hope never to have anything like it. But her book--memoir, scientific analysis, literary criticism, daily diary--reminds all of us what a lived life can be, and how it can call forth all of the resources of will, brain power, research, emotion, and human allies in its quest for help, guidance, and sustenance. The book, finally, is less about George Edwards than Rachel Hadas, poet/essayist/wife/mother/professor, and about how she handles the challenges of ordinary life with ext. A Great Consolation Elderly The author, Rachel Hadas, wrote about the same thing I am living through in dealing with a husband who has dementia. It was a great consolation for me to find that she had the same mixed feelings of love for him and guilt for wanting someone else to take over caring for his needs. She watched the man she married become uncommunicative and unable to express himself in the most simple matters. The man who had always been strong and completely in synch with her thoughts was now hopelessly out of touch with reality and totally dependent upon her. It gave me hope that I, too, will endure and get throu
Her narrative begins when George's illness can no longer be ignored, and ends in 2008 soon after his move to a dementia facility (when, after thirty years of marriage, she finds herself no longer living with her husband). Beautifully written, totally engrossing, and very sad."—Lydia Davis"Strange Relation is a deeply moving, deeply personal, beautifully written exploration of how the power of grief can be met with the power of literature, and how solace can be found in the space between them."—Frank Huy
Rachel Hadas, in the course of her personal narrative, cites accounts of dementia, in its social and personal meanings."—Robert Pinsky"Brilliant and tough-minded, poignant but clear-headed, Rachel Hadas shines a steady light on her experience as the wife of an accomplished composer who, at a comparatively early age, descended into dementia. Strange Relation never sacrifices truth for easy answers. Instead, Hadas uses literature to chart a course through wrenching complexities. Beautifully wri