Annie Ernaux

Washington Post Top Memoir of 1999 An extraordinary evocation of a grown daughter’s attachment to her mother, and of both women’s strength and resiliency. "I Remain in Darkness" recounts Annie’s attempts first to help her mother recover from Alzheimer’s disease, and then, when that proves futile, to bear witness to the older woman’s gradual decline and her own experience as a daughter losing a beloved parent. "I Remain in Darkness" is a new high water mark for Ernaux, surging with raw emotional power and her sublime ability to use language to apprehend her own life’s particular music.

I Remain in Darkness

I'm not sure if reading this book during the few days after my mother visited me from Turkey was the best idea, but some passages were incredibly emotional and heavy. Sometimes, we forget that our mothers were once little girls too.

Sila Baykal

selva

uma das piores coisas que eu fiz pra minha saúde mental nos últimos anos. só quem tem problema com a mãe vai entender.

farah farooq

Hellboy TCR

A journal of a woman who cares for her dying mother follows the author in the summer of 1983 as she nurses her aging mother through Alzheimer's and physical decline leading to death.

Shelby Doherty

Likes:
- I enjoyed that there were no be picture takeaways or things of this nature. While the subject matter is quite heavy the writing and passages themselves are quite simple. Simply a reflection on her feelings and the passing days as her mother degrades due to her disease.
- It is interesting how closely her mother's trajectory and tendencies seemed to match my grandmothers
- I think Ernaux's changing feelings towards her mother, from love to anger, are captured well. I feel that this can provide some insight into my own mother's relationship to my grandmother, especially in the final years.
- Her thought that people in her mother's situation might not be given a chance to keep on living in this condition in 20 or 50 years is both frightening and calming. As she says she doesn't know how to feel about this idea and neither do I.

Dislikes:
- Was expecting this to be much more emotionally charged than it turned out to be. Not that this is a bad thing, just not what I was expecting
- Had some difficulty deciding how to read this. It's short enough to finish really quickly but the subject matter is quite heavy and the short passages made it seem like it would be good to take time reading through.

Alex

hessensitive

Irene Lydia Bintou

Pratik M

A woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease is taken in by her daughter who records her decline. The daughter narrates, "Today she was holding a corner of her blouse (smock), clutching onto it. In the elevator, she stood facing the mirror. I am sure she could see herself." By a French writer, author of Simple Passion.

I Remain in Darkness

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