Hello anyone who likes reading ! Library rang today to say the Michael J. Fox book's in : A funny thing happened on the way to the Future, Twists and turns and lessons learned. So if anyone has the chance to read it and would like to discuss the book - watch this space ! Am open to other suggestions as well. Now evenings drawing in , good chance to get our reading habit back again.
The first few pages of jenni Murray's book "Memoirs of a Not So Dutiful Daughter" contain descriptions of her mothers declining health (her mother had PD) & Jenni's reaction to it, which I found uncomfortable reading. I skipped through the rest of it. It is a book about a stormy mother/daughter relationship & how it moulded Jenni rather than a book about living with PD> I may give it another go as I rather like Jenni Murray. At least I like listening to her wonderful voice on Woman's hour
Hi all, I find your remarks regarding reading and PD really interesting. I too was an avis reader but since my dx ten years ago that has stopped, as I can only concentrate for short periods of time.
I did however manage to read Paul O'Grady's book On my mothers knee, which was a wonderful read. I have just bought the follow up the devil rides out the second coming, which is proving to be equally amusing. I feel that such light hearted reading is good for my soul, particularly when I cant be my most positive.
I was looking at buying a Kindel for reading books etc but it is quite expensive when I went onto Amazon site to look you can actually download Kindle to your PC free of charge. You can then dowwnload books some for free and newer releases at a lower price than the actual book. The beauty of this, I have found, is that you can increase the text size to suit. I have trouble reading smaller print and my focus often wavers along with concentration. Its worth a look and its free so if doesnt suit or appeal you have not lost anything. All the best
Hi fellow readers, Have read the new Michael J. Fox book now 'A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the future, Twists and Turns and lessons learned ' It's an odd little book , only 100 pages. It covers everything we've already learned about him in the first two books, 'Lucky Man' and 'Always looking up' It's written in the style of an older person giving the benefit of his own life's experience , growing up without the advantages of a college education, to a younger person who has graduated. There is only a small segment referring to P.D. which surprised me. I can't in all honesty recommend it as a 'must read. ' I have to say , I don't really know why he wrote it ! Would be interesting to hear if anyone else has read it and thinks differently ? Meanwhile, tell us if you've really enjoyed a book recently or even if there's one you hated !
Although nothing directly to do with Parkinson's I found the following book inspiring. It was not so much for the diet,which is a good general,healthy diet, but for his writing about coming to terms with illness.He was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was very young. Not depressing but something to read to help one come to terms with the rotten hand of cards one has been dealt. Anti cancer a new way of life by Dr David Servan-Schreiber
Nor is it a "pull yourself together" or a "poor me" type book. It certainly does not lecture. It is more about his experiences and inner journey in trying to help himself.
Although I had a long and successful business career, I've always been a disastrously slow reader. As a result I've always seen books as ominous mountains to drag myself over - a laborious and dreaded chore to be avoided wherever possible.
I know this means I've missed a lot of pleasure over the years, but I can't help it. I'm a hardened bibliophobic now, and cross the road before I get to the library!
Hi Ray, I think there are a lot of people like you who don't engage with books. Nothing to apologise for ! We're all different and have had different upbringings and experiences of learning to read. I was a little girl who read in secret very often , with a torch under the bedclothes. I read for escapism. I liked the Famous Five and Noel Streatfield , Malcolm Saville adventure books spring to mind. I had kind, hardworking parents who were practical. They were not imaginative and reading, though not discouraged, was something you could do only when you'd finished your other chores. So if i'd run out of time in the daytime , I couldn't wait to get into bed and catch up with whatever adventure book I was in the middle of ! My son had no interest in books until about 7 or 8 he discovered Dinosaurs , and then he read about them vociferously for years ! Perhaps the secret is that if you are curious or very interested in a particular subject , then this drives people to seek out the material to read, because they want to find out more. Ray, you know a huge amount about our condition, drugs, research, side effects etc. so you must have read much, to learn what you have accumulated. So I conclude that this is the kind of catalyst that turns people into readers - strong interest and wanting to know more ! What do others think ?
Actually Lorna I do not agree. For me reading is (or rather was!) an exploration into other people's ideas and experiences be it in a fictional, autobiographical or poetic way. For me reading about your own specialised subject is reseach
My first wife used to utilise both of our library tickets (8 in all) for herself every week, i.e. she got through over a book a day. And that was when she was working full time.
For my part, one book easily lasts a year or more!
Hi a.b.d. I understand your point. I think the reasons we read change over time , and are many and varied. As a child growing into a teenager, it was definitely to escape into worlds which were different from real life . Then as a student I read less , but still for escapism. Then things changed again with demands of family, meaning apart from the newspaper, I hardly read at all. Actually , i realise that's not exactly true. Something I'd not really thought about til just now , when thinking about why I read. I read huge amounts of childrens books , firstly as the bed time story and then it continued as I was frequently on the lookout for second hand books for my children , which we continued to read together for quite a while. It was at this time that I discovered I really liked Wind in the Willows, a book I'd hardly got past the first page as a child. In latter years , prior to p.d. I was definitely reading mostly non-fiction both for knowledge and information. Now I really struggle with fiction, I feel I'm wasting my time ! Odd isn't it. This summer I've been reading about France , and the lives of the Impressionist painters. I 'm finding their lives fascinating and more compelling than fiction. That's why, this thread if we can keep it going , should be very interesting !
Hi, Like Lorna,as a child i enjoyed snuggling down and escaping to another place reading books.Having a vivid imagination,i would almost become a character in the book.I would be engrossed almost to the point of Astral projection.Until recent years i could read almost anything.I have bookshelves groaning under the burden in our bedroom.Ironically my Wife does not read at all and doesen't see the attraction. In the last couple of years i have avidly started reading a number of books only to finish half way through.The only ones ive read properly recently are the Michael.J.Fox books.I tend to speed read any books now,because i know i just can,t dedicate the time or generate the interest anymore. That same interest and motivation is lacking in other areas as well.I go to car boot sales and constantly pick books up knowing full well i probably won.t read them now,but buy them because i love books,especially old ones. It,s much easier now to just sit in front of the telly or computer.I lost interest in my horse racing for a while to the point of not having a bet for days and totally loosing track of form etc.This seems to have been revived since taking medication.Now i,m studying form again and having a good time betting(within my means).I have got to be careful though because i know the pull of compulsive behaviour whist taking DA,s.The alarming thing is,i have worked out a profitable system,but feel the warnings of Ray of Sunshine echoing in my ears.So i bet low and am keeping check of myself just in case. All the best Titan
Have you read Pat Barkers Regeneration trilogy? I used to have the books Regeneration, The Eye In The Door, The Ghost Road , but somebody pinched them. About the 1st world war & based on the true experiences of the poets Seigried Sassoon, Robert Graves & Wilfred Owen. Unforgetable. And Lorna - enough about WITW. I still have memories of trying to be a tree Enid Blyton books were banned at my Convent school, ostensibly because they were not good literature but I suspect it was more to do with Enid's private life. So what did we all do? Guess
Hi Titan and A.B.D. Thanks for your replies , very interesting. There must be some way to harness our concentration again. I'm not watching much t.v. at present , have got music on while i'm on here , so maybe i've made a start on the road back to reading. a.b.d. I don't know how you got through your early years without ' The magic faraway tree' ! ! E.B.'s little masterpiece. As for WITW's I think you could try again with it ! I've read Regeneration , quite an affecting book. I do like Wilfred Owens poetry , remember studying it for English. Have you read ' Birdsong' Sebastion Faulks. One of those extra special books that makes a powerful impact. See , already we've made progress to reading more, we're talking about reading more !
I liked Mrs wash-a-lot. Just remembered ' The Wishing Chair ' another by E.B. Say what you like about her style and content , children loved reading her creations!
I didn't see it. But I know she had marriage difficulties and her daughters had different views about how she was as a mother. Different era I s'pose. Daphne du Maurier , now there's a writer I admire. Rebecca, I re -read every few years !
