Between Two Kingdoms
By Suleika Jaouad
345 pages
What’s it about?
Suleika Jaouad is the author of the New York Times column- “Life, Interrupted”. When Suleika is a senior at Princeton an itch begins on her leg and does not stop. Exhaustion soon follows. She is eventually diagnosed with Leukemia. This book chronicles her battle with cancer, the toll it took on her relationships, and and then her transition back to “normal” life.
What did it make me think about?
How good writing can really make you feel the experiences of others.
Should I read it?
This book really touched my heart. The cancer journey was illuminating, but her journey of self-discovery is what made it special for me. I would highly recommend this memoir. It is really a book about dealing with loss- and who can’t learn from that?
Quote-
“That night, I began to think about how porous the border is between the sick and the well. It’s not just people like Bret and me who exist in the wilderness of survivorship. As we live longer and longer, the vast majority of us will travel back and forth across these realms, spending much of our lives somewhere in between. These are the terms of our existence. The idea of striving for some beautiful, perfect state of wellness? It mires us in eternal dissatisfaction, a goal forever out of reach.” “To be well now is to learn to accept whatever body and mind I currently have.”What’s it about?
Suleika Jaouad is the author of the New York Times column- “Life, Interrupted”. When Suleika is a senior at Princeton an itch begins on her leg and does not stop. Exhaustion soon follows. She is eventually diagnosed with Leukemia. This book chronicles her battle with cancer, the toll it took on her relationships, and and then her transition back to “normal” life.
What did it make me think about?
How good writing can really make you feel the experiences of others.
Should I read it?
This book really touched my heart. The cancer journey was illuminating, but her journey of self-discovery is what made it special for me. I would highly recommend this memoir. It is really a book about dealing with loss- and who can’t learn from that?
Quote-
“That night, I began to think about how porous the border is between the sick and the well. It’s not just people like Bret and me who exist in the wilderness of survivorship. As we live longer and longer, the vast majority of us will travel back and forth across these realms, spending much of our lives somewhere in between. These are the terms of our existence. The idea of striving for some beautiful, perfect state of wellness? It mires us in eternal dissatisfaction, a goal forever out of reach.”
“To be well now is to learn to accept whatever body and mind I currently have.”
