I'm reading a book called Illness by a philosopher named Havi carel. She sufferes from a rare lung disease and during her treatment she started to reflect on what being ill meant. To her, to her medical team, her family, friends and work colleagues.
Familiar territory for us, isn't it. I am finding it a very useful book to read at the moment as she explains in conceptual terms the very things I have been grappling with as an ill writer myself. Her knowledge of philosophy (for example, phenomenology and materialism) and her experience of being ill make for a lot of insights and a very interesting read.
The last book I read was Lying, A Metaphorical Memoir by Lauren Slater. Now that was a very strange book indeed. From what I can gather she has made up a story about herself having epilepsy (or not?) and has used it to explore some of her life issues (particularly her relationship with her mother). I think I have got that right. For the life of me it really isn;t easy to get an angle on what she was really on about. Chapter One just says "I exaggerate". That's all.
Help me out here, if you've read it. Or maybe you'd just like top pretend you've read it and make up something to say. That would fit.
I might stick to a more philosophical treatment for a while.
Except for my own writing.
Of course.
H
