Every Note Played by Lisa Genova - 3 stars

[Joy D]

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova - 3 stars - My Review

As the story opens, Richard Evans is a concert pianist starting to experience symptoms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He is estranged from his ex-wife and daughter. As his symptoms worsen, his ex-wife becomes a reluctant caregiver. The storyline documents Richard’s deterioration.

I had previously read and appreciated Still Alice, and I enjoy musical themes, so this book seemed like a good choice. The focus, and the author’s intent, is to raise awareness about the need for further ALS research and in this she succeeds. The ravages of ALS are described in gut-wrenching detail. Unfortunately, the characters and storyline are thinly developed. For me, it lacked an emotional connection, which is where it falls short in comparison to Still Alice. I think it would have helped if the characters at least liked each other.

I listened to the audio book. Both Dennis Boutsikaris and Dagmara Domincyzk do an excellent job with the reading, pacing, and voice acting.

[LibraryCin]

I wonder if the additional emotional "punch" in "Still Alice" comes from being from her own point of view?

I gave this one 4 stars, but I think I gave "Still Alice" 5. (Or 4.5, I'd have to check.)

I looked at my review and it sounds like I didn't like a couple of characters (at least at first), either.

[KateNZ]

Ah dang - this one is on my list of possibles for the month. Still sounds worth reading, but I won’t have too high hopes...

[Joy D]

LibraryCin wrote: "I wonder if the additional emotional "punch" in "Still Alice" comes from being from her own point of view?

I gave this one 4 stars, but I think I gave "Still Alice" 5. (Or 4.5, I'd have to check...."
Yes, I think her own point of view helped. I also think the author could have spent some time with the characters before Richard got diagnosed. They were all extremely unlikeable characters and they did not even like each other. I think in a book like this where you are going to be taking readers through a horrible decline, it would help if the characters themselves had exhibited more empathy.

[Joy D]

KateNZ wrote: "Ah dang - this one is on my list of possibles for the month. Still sounds worth reading, but I won’t have too high hopes..."
Yes, I think it is worth reading. Also, it has a very high average rating so others liked it more than I did.