Be Specific About Books As On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear
Original Title: | On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear ISBN13 9781948226288 |
Edition Language: | English |
Lynn Casteel Harper
Hardcover | Pages: 240 pages Rating: 4.24 | 17 Users | 7 Reviews
Particularize Of Books On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear
Title | : | On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear |
Author | : | Lynn Casteel Harper |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | First Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 240 pages |
Published | : | April 14th 2020 by Catapult |
Categories | : | Nonfiction. Autobiography. Memoir. Psychology. Health. Medicine. Science |
Narrative In Pursuance Of Books On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear
For fans of Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, Eula Biss’s On Immunity, and Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air, On Vanishing offers an essential, empathic exploration of dementia, and in the process asks searching questions about what it means to face our own inevitable vanishingAn estimated 50 million people in the world suffer from dementia. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s erase parts of one’s memory but are also often said to erase the self. People don’t simply die from such diseases; they are imagined, in the clichés of our era, as vanishing in plain sight, fading away, or enduring a long goodbye. In On Vanishing, Lynn Casteel Harper, a Baptist minister and nursing home chaplain, investigates the myths and metaphors surrounding dementia and aging, addressing not only the indignities caused by the condition but also by the rhetoric surrounding it. Harper asks essential questions about the nature of our outsize fear of dementia, the stigma this fear may create, and what it might mean for us all to try to “vanish well.”
Weaving together personal stories with theology, history, philosophy, literature, and science, Harper confronts our elemental fears of disappearance and death, drawing on her own experiences with people with dementia both in the U.S. health-care system and within her own family. In the course of unpacking her own stories and encounters—of leading a prayer group on a dementia unit; of meeting individuals dismissed as “already gone” and finding them still possessed of complex, vital inner lives; of witnessing her grandfather’s final years with Alzheimer’s and discovering her own heightened genetic risk of succumbing to the disease—Harper engages in an exploration of dementia that is unlike anything written before on the subject.
Expanding our understanding of dementia beyond progressive vacancy and dread, On Vanishing makes room for beauty and hope, and opens a space in which we might start to consider better ways of caring for, and thinking about, our fellow human beings. It is a rich and startling work of nonfiction that reveals cognitive change as an essential aspect of what it means to be mortal.
Rating Of Books On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear
Ratings: 4.24 From 17 Users | 7 ReviewsCommentary Of Books On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia, and What It Means to Disappear
For fans of Atul Gawandes Being Mortal, Eula Bisss On Immunity, and Paul Kalanithis When Breath Becomes Air, On Vanishing offers an essential, empathic exploration of dementia, and in the process asks searching questions about what it means to face our own inevitable vanishingThis book fits into so many categories: memoir, philosophy, guide book, and spirituality. My father was diagnosed with cognitive impairment in 2018, and through Lynn Casteel Harper's experiences, I was able to conceptualize many of his struggles; however, the greater impact comes through her shared acceptance that we are all approaching some form of cognitive decline that we must learn to accept and embrace. In order to be more fully human it is up to us to prepare for old age. Then we can be
I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!This was a very good book about dementia. When I'm at my internship, an in-patient psychiatric facility, I work with older adults on the senior unit. Most people admitted are there for behavioral problems with dementia. Wandering, sundowning, aggression, sexual behaviors, etc. Honestly, I've probably seen it all. So, this book was a refreshing look at dementia and how the perspectives beat into us that dementia is awful and
I read this book because (1) the author is my wife's aunt, (2) I assumed this book would be helpful for me as I aspire to continue ministering as a hospital chaplain, and (3) my own grandmother has dementia. I'm giving this book 5 stars because it was beautifully written, well argued, inspiring, and so helpful for thinking more deeply and honestly about the issues related to dementia and our culture's responses to dementia. I would recommend this book to anyone, but I would especially recommend
I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review!This was a very good book about dementia. When I'm at my internship, an in-patient psychiatric facility, I work with older adults on the senior unit. Most people admitted are there for behavioral problems with dementia. Wandering, sundowning, aggression, sexual behaviors, etc. Honestly, I've probably seen it all. So, this book was a refreshing look at dementia and how the perspectives beat into us that dementia is awful and
Have to be honest, this book was a lot more like a memoir than I expected. Perhaps because of that, I found the first half somewhat lackluster and jumbled, with some of the comparisons and lengthy metaphors seeming like stretches. However, I liked the second half much better than the first and felt that it seemed like it formed a more cohesive whole. Harper makes good arguments for a re-evaluation of how we see dementia and this is a good and necessary book, but since she's a minister, she does
0 Comments:
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.