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What Dementia Teaches Us About Love

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What Dementia Teaches Us About Love

By: Nicci Gerrard
Narrated by: Nicci Gerrard
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About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of What Dementia Teaches Us About Love written and read by Nicci Gerrard.

Dementia is an unmaking, a de-creation - an apocalypse of meaning. Since my father's slow-motion dying, and his actual death in November 2014, I have been much preoccupied with dementia: by those who have it, by those who look after them, by the hospital wards whose beds are occupied by those in advanced stages of this self-loss, by the way society denies it, by the science of it, the art and literature about it, the philosophy, by what it means to be human, to have an identity. What is it to be oneself, and what is it to lose one's self. Who are we when we are not ourselves, and where do we go?

This is a book about dementia - not a personal account, but an exploration, structured around this radically-slowed death. Full of people's stories, both sad and optimistic, it is a journey into the dusk and then the darkness - and then out on to the other side, where, once someone is dead, a life can be seen whole again.

 Aging Parent Alzheimer's & Dementia Grief & Loss Parenting & Families Personal Development Personal Success Physical Illness & Disease Relationships Dementia Alzheimer's Disease Health

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Critic reviews

Immensely powerful . . . an incisive and compelling read. Gerrard, a crime novelist and former journalist, visits the "fresh hell" of hospitals across the UK, and interviews sufferers and those whose lives have been indelibly shaped by the diagnosis of a loved one . . . As well as being part-memoir and part-reportage, What Dementia Teaches Us About Love is also a great part philosophical inquiry into the nature of self and what it is to be human.
Essential reading about love, life and care (Kate Mosse)
An extraordinarily luminous book, at once terribly sad and frightening but also somehow hopeful and energising. (Nick Duerden)
Nobody has written on dementia as well as Nicci Gerrard in this new book. Kind, knowing and infinitely useful (Andrew Marr)
Gerrard ranges widely and wisely, raising questions about what it is to be human and facing truths too deep for tears
This is a tender, lyrical, profound, urgent book . . . Gerrard has penned a treatise on what it is to be human (Yasmin Alibhai-Brown)
Evocative and powerful, shining a light on a world which is often hidden and misunderstood
Gerrard writes beautifully, encyclopaedically and with humanity (Nicholas Timmins)
Nicci Gerrard exudes understanding of the breadth, scale and complexity of the dementias and the challenges they pose for society. Yet she communicates simply, personally and practically as if speaking individually to each of us (Sebastian Crutch)
Nicci Gerrard writes with power, insight, empathy and extraordinary beauty about the world of dementia . . . and demonstrates how we can address the fear, despair and ignorance that has accompanied its spread (Paul Webster)
All stars
Most relevant
One of the best books I have read - highly, highly recommend. Full of profound insights.

Absolutely beautiful

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This book contains so many wonderful insights into how to live well with dementia or of caring for a loved one who is experiencing the life changing condition. I found the author’s voice very helpful and interesting. A human story told with compassion. Thank you.

A Human Story Told With Compassion

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I listened to this book mostly out of respect for those caring for and with dementia, and perhaps to learn about how to make our journey with those suffering a little easier and more connected. The monotone voice of the narrator/writer made me miserable. On top of that, the subject is dismal and dark. The few references to art and artists helped the 'medicine go down', but sadly they are an oasis in a vast desert of the burning realisation of our mortality. I have read books that have been very inspiring and helpful regarding support and care for our elders. This is not one of them..

Painful and hard to listen to.

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