Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Book Review: In the Memorial Room by Janet Frame

Published posthumously, In the Memorial Room is a satire that Janet Frame wrote in 1974 about the fandom surrounding the late (fictional) poet Margaret Rose Hurndell. As Hurndell is intended to represent the actual New Zealand author Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), Frame insisted the book be published after her death.

The story follows Harry Gill, a writer who has been awarded the Watercress-Armstrong Fellowship, a living memorial to the late Margaret Rose Hurndell. Gill travels to a small French village where his housing accommodations are located, but finds his new digs unacceptable to write or live in.

Kirkus Reviews says that "Frame's sentences are marvels, winding like narrow alleys through hill towns: They open spectacular vistas. Brilliant."

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Book Review: In the Memorial Room by Janet Frame

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