Every Note Played

I have always been an avid reader and very seldom bother to rate a book I have read, as most of them are just so so and not worth my time and energy to write anything about them. I feel compelled to rate (AND RAVE!) about this book. I just wish I could give it more than five stars. Lisa Genova has been my favorite author ever since I came across her first book, "Still Alice". I have read every other book she has written, and just finished her latest, "Every Note Played". Not only is Dr. Genova a world famous doctor specializing in diseases and disorders of the brain, she is the best writer I have ever come across in over 60 years of reading. She does not just describe her characters. She has the incredible ability to actually take the reader into the very body, heart, soul and mind of her main characters. She gives the reader a clear concise look into what daily life is like for someone dealing with a horrific disease, as well as the roller coaster of emotions that the family and loved ones go through. I cannot recommend this author highly enough. One of my main fears is that some day she will stop writing, and I HOPE HOPE HOPE that never happens. I look forward to each book, and hope I can continue to do so for years to come.

Richard Evans hasn’t exactly been the best husband and father. He sacrificed his wife and daughter for his art. In their place, the piano became his lover and his child. There is no room for imperfection and regrets. Until now.When he first was diagnosed with ALS, he refused to believe that fate could be so cruel. He’s far too young to lose both his music and his life. Now all he can hope for is that he can finally gain absolution from those he so carelessly cast aside.Karina left her native Poland because she wanted so much more from life than just being a wife and a mother. She wanted to explore music and find her own path. But that is exactly what she became when she fell in love with Richard.Her career and aspirations always took a backseat to his and after the birth of their daughter Grace, she completely forgot who she was. Their divorce was a strange mercy, but with a tragic blow from destiny, they are forced to come face to face with the frailties of love and healing power of forgiveness.I thought I knew what I was in for when I started reading Every Note Played, but I never expected how beautifully Lisa Genova could make me ache with only words.With characters that are both flawed and at times, needlessly cruel, she skillfully makes their longing and regret so tangible that I found myself experiencing all of the emotions right along with them.It’s heartbreaking in its honesty about all of the things taken for granted, clinical in its design and desperate in its search for mercy. And it will open your eyes to the fragile power of love…

Brief summary and review, no spoilers.This story is about a world-renowned pianist named Richard Evans who develops ALS in the prime of his career. He had been married to his equally talented pianist wife Karina, but they had divorced years earlier due to Richard’s infidelities and other issues we learn about later on. He and Karina also had a daughter together; a girl named Grace who is currently away at college.Karina was born in Poland but immigrated to the United States and married Richard. Richard had grown up in the United States but had a difficult childhood gaining his father’s approval. Karina is a gifted pianist, but she gave up her dream of being a jazz pianist both to raise their daughter Grace and to accommodate Richard and his career.Early on, we know that Karina and Richard are divorced and that this divorce was acrimonious. At the very start, we meet Richard as he is starting to notice a weakness to his precious fingers, and he is soon diagnosed with ALS.As the story proceeds, we witness Richard’s physical deterioration from this devastating disease. We also see how he reunites with Karina and his daughter and what insights all three learn during this emotional and tragic time.If you’ve never read Lisa Genova, you’re in for a treat. In each book always tackles some medical calamity and is able to make the reader understand it and feel empathy for its sufferer. Still Alice, which was made into a movie was one of my favorite books that dealt with Alzheimer’s.This is the third book of her’s I’ve read and I have enjoyed them all. Ms. Genova is a neuroscientist and she is able to combine her medical knowlege with quality writing - not easy to do.This iis probably one of the best books about ALS I have ever read. As usual and as expected, the author really shines when she gets into the nitty-gritty about the effects of this disease on both the patient and on the family. ALS is truly one of the worst diseases you can get, and when you finish you will understand that.So why 4 stars instead of 5? It’s because the only problem I have with her novels is that as much as she excels with the illness narrations, the rest - dealing with the family issues - just don’t work as well. I’m not sure I bought into those parts as being as three - dimensional as the ALS portions.Still, her books are always page-turners and I do recommend this.

My dad has ALS and was diagnosed on 12/24/16. The beginning of this book was hard for me to read because I was reliving the initial symptoms and emotions that went along with those. Richard, the main character afflicted with this horrible disease, reminded me a lot of my own dad so I really related to his daughter and ex wife. Lisa Genova definitely did her research on this and portrayed ALS in all its ugliness, humility, and devestation. If you're not familiar with what ALS does to your life, this book will educate you. I hope people read the last pages and if are able to, make a donation to ALS research. The cure is just on the horizon if only it was better funded.

Richard is a gifted piano player, travelling and playing worldwide. He left his wife and daughter three years ago, lives in a beautiful apartment & eats and drinks the best of foods. Karina his ex wife gave up her own musical career so he could flourish and she would raise their kid. Grace is now in college - loves mum, hates dad, Karina (wife/mum) is a bit lost and Richard is intolerable with his self absorbed attitude. Everyone knows their place in the world and everything is fine until Richard starts to experience some issues with his fingers/hand. Richard is diagnosed with ALS, he remains stubborn and refuses to accept the inevitable, regardless of his acceptance or telling anyone ALS is here and life as they know it is about to change.Oh you guys, I love Genova's books (not always how they end) but she brings these horrific diagnosis's to life, gives them faces, names and the reader experiences and lives it with the characters. The one with the condition, the families and loved ones viewing it, processing it, enduring it, the person trying to come to terms and a very real picture of how it tears their lives apart.I had a hard time relating to Richard, he is not a likable character but you soon feel for him as everything he knows is stripped away. I had a lump in my throat a few times because it is just such a horrific condition that strips the person of everything, literally everything they have. By using an unlikeable character I think it punches in a bigger impact because you can't help but be pulled through it, from all their experiences. The wronged ex wife, the neglected child (playing second best to his precious career) and him, the person as he is and his battle as he is stripped, bit by bit, of the very things we all take for granted every day.Hard hitting, graphic descriptions and scenes of exactly what this condition steals from you and in such a short period of time. Character development, sadness, grief, relationships, family, love, loss, health and at the end of the book a website you can read more on this and donate. 5/5 for me, I think I went through a whole host of emotions and I have never known anyone personally who has had this, I can only imagine the impact of someone who has reading it. Grab the tissues and comfort food, you will need it. I love these kinds of books because despite it being fiction, because of her career she pulls from actual experience and creates characters to give it heart, a face, ooft it is brutal and lets you learn as you go, absolutely recommend!

How do you start to describe this remarkable piece of writing? I’ve just finished it and my emotions are wrung out. I know what to expect from Lisa Genova, but this was an especially stark and intense emotional journey, eliciting genuine empathy and more than the occasional tear.Genova is breathtakingly skillful in the way she manages to combine the physical horrors of a degenerative illness such as Motor Neurone Disease with a heartfelt human story about how a tragic diagnosis brings resolution and healing to a family broken by resentment, deceit, and abandonment. That Richard - the egotistical, feted, concert pianist - must come face-to-face with his own mortality in order to recognize his failings as a husband and father, is a bitter irony, which Genova exploits to the full.As well as being knowledgeable about her topic and an effortless storyteller, Genova is a master of characterization. Who could fail to feel wretched with pity for Richard as he struggles to come to terms with his diagnosis, confronts his personal demons, and tries, with impaired vocal expression and no recourse to physical gesture, to seek forgiveness from his ex-wife Karina and estranged daughter Hannah?Like Richard, Karina is also a deeply complex character: both victim and culprit, once deliberate now accidental martyr. By caring for Richard through his horrible, demeaning hurtle towards death, she too is forced to look inside herself and acknowledge her own mistakes. Unable to find the words, she communicates her sorrow and regret through music. This is her apology and final gift to Richard.Many scenes in this moving story will live with me for a very long time. The passage where Richard and Hannah are reconciled must be one of the most viscerally poignant I have ever read. And that, where a dying Richard makes a choice that for the first time puts Karina’s needs before his own, made me ache for the belated self-awareness that had eluded him for so long.Some of the narrative describing the progression of Richard’s illness, his humiliation and loss of self-respect, is not for the faint-hearted. There is no sensitivity here. It is raw, repellent, and shocking. But it is also a necessary and powerful part of the story. Music, in all its vibrant shades, is the counterpoint to these darker passages. It is both the backdrop and the vehicle of expression of the narrative; it’s the emotion that Richard can no longer express, the source of Karina’s anger and resentment as well as her salvation, and the balm that ultimately soothes their hurt.I am in awe of Lisa Genova’s literary powers. It is truly extraordinary that she can take such an ugly subject and turn it into a work of art. Five stars simply doesn’t do it justice.Thanks for reading my review. I hope you found it helpful. You can find more candid book reviews on my Amazon profile page.

Although it is interesting to understand more about neurological conditions, in this case motor neurone disease, the detail of the step by step decline of Richard the professional pianist in this story makes very bleak reading. It is sad, but not necessarily heart-wrenchingly sad for the reader because Richard is portrayed as an unlikable character, particularly as he has cheated on his now ex wife and not been there enough for his daughter. His ex wife makes the brave decisions to care for him, despite the resentment she holds for him, and during their remaining time together this resentment is explored further whilst at the same time some sort of acceptance and forgiveness is sort.

Gosh, this was a sad one. An ALS/MND diagnosis is a death sentence, the people like Stephen Hawking, who live with it for decades, are vanishingly rare, most people have a life expectancy of 2-5 years. Lisa Genova goes into much more detail with the neurological decline than you’d get with another author, but this type of story is what she does. Richard is probably a less sympathetic character than some of Genova’s others, but you can’t help but feel sad as his deterioration is chronicled, or feel for Karina as she shoulders the burden of a man she thought was out of her life.

Lisa Genova's book took me on a journey through what it might be like to have ALS, motor neurone disease. From first noticing a symptom to diagnosis, disease progression and death, her protagonist, Richard, is forced to re-evaluate himself, his life and his choices, and to face the loss of everything that matters to him. The book ends with a request from the author that her readers consider making a donation to research into this illness. It's a book that stays with you after you put it down.