The Still Point Of The Turning World (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a memoir which focuses on grief, specifically the grief of a mother whose baby is born with Tay-Sachs, a terminal disease. Before his first birthday, Emily Rapp and her husband learn that their baby will never develop beyond babyhood, will degenerate gradually, and will die around the age of three. The memoir doesn’t go into the specifics of the disease at all, doesn’t describe the child’s care or even his death. It spends a lot of time finding metaphors for grief, and in this it sometimes seems like a writing exercise. But often it’s very insightful, as the author tries to figure out how to be a mother in a very different kind of setting, focused completely on the present, learning to do without the dreaming and planning that’s natural to parenthood. She writes about what worked for her and what didn’t, what helped make her grief more manageable, and what made it harder. She quotes liberally from poets, novelists and philosophers, sometimes too often, and I do think this book could have used a bit more editing. It meanders, and in that, I’m sure it reflects the nature of grief. In fact, I think that’s one of the metaphors she uses - the journey without a map or a destination. Read the first chapter, then drop this book.The rest is, it pains me to say, not as compelling. I didn't hear much about Ronan, or her husband. She wrote lots of purple prose. If I were to sum this book after the first chapter, I'd write: "Life cannot exist without death. Everyone dies. In accepting death, you will learn how to live."I'm being unnecessarily harsh—I thought it was well-written, but maybe I was looking for something else. I really loved the first chapter: I cried. And, perhaps, this review is tainted because I suffered a huge loss before reading the rest. And then nothing was the same.
What do You think about The Still Point Of The Turning World (2013)?
Beautifully written, a real work if art. So sad, but also so inspiring.
—JayKay
This book had a different vibe than I expected, but was still good.
—mara01
Very literate, very poetic. And very sad...
—ilovegrandmacoco
