14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of food for thought, 13 Jun 2005
This review is from: Forever Today: A Memoir Of Love And Amnesia (Hardcover)
Deborah Wearing relates the story of her husband's amnesia - the worst case known, she says, and it is certainly hard to imagine how anyone else's memory-loss could be worse than Clive Wearing's. I found "Forever Today" quite easy to read, although it is essentially a sad and depressing tale. You can't help but think that in the same situation, you would far rather that your life had not been saved, because the reality of such a "saved" life is too awful to contemplate. The one saving grace of the tale is the continuation of the love Clive feels for his family and his wife in particular, and her assertion that despite having no memory at all, he remains "the same Clive".
This book is well worth reading because of the unusual ground it covers and the considerable food for thought it provides - I had never before really tried to contemplate what life would be like with no memory at all, and no ability to create new memories. It is also fascinating to learn more about the complexity of the human brain, and to share the insights this book provides into brain injuries and their impact.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The human spirit, 16 Dec 2005
This book will move you. It is touching, sad and funny too! If you are interested in the human character then read it and learn. If cognitive function is your bag then it will enlighten you too, whilst making you wipe that tear away! I felt like I was part of Deborah Wearing's family she was so frank and honest. Read this book, its a cracker.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unforgettable!, 30 July 2006
Some factual books are of a kind that if they were fictional writings, they would be too strange to be believed. This is one of them. It is also that rare factual book, one that you cannot put down because you do not know how it will end and you are gripped by the narrative.
In his forties, Clive Wearing, an expert on ancient music was nearly killed by viral encephalitis. Not diagnosed for a week, he only survived because an anti-viral drug was eventually administered. But a lot of his brain was destroyed, especially the parts giving memory. His amnesia was the worst ever seen. Not all past memory was gone, but he had no capacity for new memories. He never knew how long he had been ill, never recognised people who cared for him professioanlly for years, could not remember food and drink previously taken. yet he could recognise family at times, read music not books, could write and could conduct a choir and play the organ. Initially euphoric, Clive then spent weeks in uncontrolled weeping when he realised something of his predicament. He could also be violent. To her horror, his wife Deborah, only in her twenties, found there were no facilites for ambulant brain damaged people like Clive. So, working in P.R., she was able to get a T.V. documentary made about him and start a charity which eventually led to the provision of specialist facilities to care for Clive. For six years had been in a psychiatric ward. With Clive settled, Deborah left England , divorced and hoped to find another man to give her children. But she came back to England, Clive and an amazing conversion to Christian faith which led to a renewal of marriage vows.
This is simply a spell binding story of tragedy and love. I have never read anything like it.
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