A Tattoo on my Brain by Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker
| A Tattoo on my Brain by Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker | |
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| Category: Autobiography | |
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Reviewer: Alex Merrick
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| Summary: Alzheimer's Disease and memory are irrevocably linked in the most destructive way. That's why Daniel Gibbs' memoir about living with Alzheimer's is so profoundly moving. As a father, husband and neurologist he charts how his life has progressed since being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. | |
| Buy? No | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 254 | Date: May 2021 |
| Publisher: Cambridge University Press | |
| ISBN: 978-1108838931 | |
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Alzheimer's is a disease that slowly wears away your identity and sense of self. I have been directly affected by this cruel disease, as have many. Your memories and personality worn away like a statue over time affected the elements. It seems as if nature wants that final victory over you and your dignity. This is what makes Daniel Gibbs' memoir so admirable. Daniel Gibbs is a neurologist who was diagnosed with Alzheimers and has documented his journey in A Tattoo on my Brain.
A memoir about Alzheimer's seems absurd in its premise. It could seem like King Cnut yelling at the tide to halt, a desperate act in halting the inevitable. You are attempting to preserve that which you are already forgetting. Yet Gibbs makes it seem necessary. Even though he is a neurologist, he writes some beautiful passages to symbolise this idea that his past is becoming unknowable even as he writes about his past. He describes Alzheimers as leav[ing] the mind adrift at sea. Humans are formed and are who they are because of their memories. We become who we are largely through our memories, and without these who are we? Gibbs knows intimately what will happen to him, so he is taking control of the disease and the narrative.
It has been often said that an autobiography is narcissistic, inward looking and contributes to the perceived separation of the individual from society and history. The same can be said for memoirs. However, Gibbs is not writing this as a literary form of navel gazing. This is not the case for Gibbs. He has written this memoir not just for himself, as an act of remembrance but for the public almost as a public health act. He is still attempting to heal and prevent disease after retirement. He provides interesting information about how to combat Alzheimer's and potentially prolong your cognitive functions. He quotes studies that illustrate the efficacy of having multiple leisure activities, plenty of sleep and a healthy Mediterranean diet in preventing this disease.
As a neurologist Gibbs seems primarily interested in this aspect of his memoir. He wants to give us the facts of this horrible disease. He does this well. It is when he aims to put together his memories of his life with the neurological studies that there seems a lack of cohesiveness. The book never seems to become more than the sum of its parts. The memories are interesting, and the science is informative; yet there seems to be something missing.
However, that may be the disease, while the book is certainly worth the read. Alzheimer's is talked about in hushed tones and worried looks. We prefer to sweep the elderly out of sight when they become too much to handle, when they are a reminder of what we have to face becomes too ugly. Gibbs wants us to think about this disease and how it can affect anyone. His memoir is a symbol of resistance that has muted the conversation about Alzheimer's among patient and doctors, family members and as a society.
If you want to read similar books, then maybe try When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
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