reading wednesday

[boxofdelights]

Aiko has arthritis. Only in one elbow, but that elbow is so crudded up I am surprised that he has only just started limping. Also his allergies, which improved a bit with the grain-free food, have flared up again. Are allergies and arthritis related? They're both described as inflammatory, but is that just a metaphor or are similar things going on at a cellular level?


• What are you reading?

The Child's Child, by Barbara Vine. Getting into the head of someone whose actions seemed insane, seeing how it all made sense from their point of view, is something Ruth Rendell has always been good at. But in this book it feels like she literally isn't even trying. Here's the protagonist (who is getting a Ph.D. in English literature) describing the conscience-violating and out-of-character action whose consequences drive the rest of her story:

What it came down to was, I shouldn't have done it. I could have said no to him and sat up and hugged him again. Now I have forgotten why I did do it, but not forgotten that I did.

That's it. That's all she can tell us about her thinking.

• What did you recently finish reading?

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova, for library book group. This isn't really a novel; it's more a What To Expect From Early-Onset Alzheimer's article dressed up to look like a story. Wholesome but dreary. Do people really find information more interesting when it is presented by two characters as-you-know-bobbing at each other?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

White Horse, by Alex Adams. Jacqie says she likes to pick something a little creepy for October.

Comments

[wild_irises]

I would be kinder about Still Alice than you are; I did think it was a novel, though it does have a good deal of as-you-know-Bob. I liked Alice, and got irritated with her daughter, and those things helped me through the dreariness. I read it a couple of years ago, and I still think about it pretty often; though that's much more the subject than the story.

[j00j]

"Are allergies and arthritis related? They're both described as inflammatory, but is that just a metaphor or are similar things going on at a cellular level?"
Well, they both involve the immune system attacking things it shouldn't, but that's all I recall off the top of my head. It's been awhile.

[kaberett]

Certainly allergies + other inflammatory conditions are often comorbid in humans, and people with endometriosis are encouraged to eat low-allergen diets to help minimise endo flares.