Scar Tissue (edition 2000)

From the very first page of Scar Tissue you are sucked in. The opening paragraphs are tragic and utterly real. You can easily put yourself in the story.
I am a big fan of clever one-liners and Scar Tissue is full of them, like "we are programmed to betray" (p 4). Truth be known I would have said "We are programmed to deceive" paying homage to one of my favorite songs of my youth, "Hotel California" by the Eagles. But, Ignatieff is right, betrayal is more in keeping with human nature than deception.

I grieved throughout this entire book. Told from the perspective of a middle aged married man with a family of his own, it is story of watching parents grow old and relationships change. The aging process is especially cruel when it is accelerated by Alzheimer's disease. The mother the narrator loves dies in the mind right before his very eyes and he is powerless to stop it. It is difficult to read about the mother's slow decent into another reality; a reality where childhood happened only yesterday but the spouse she wakes up next to is a complete stranger. The struggle to understand takes its toll on everyone around the narrator. He becomes fixated on "being there" for his mother, especially after the sudden death of his father. His marriage and teaching position suffer until there is barely anything left.
Probably the most poignant scene in the whole book for me was the narrator's visit to an ALS patient and the distinctions made between dying with a sound mind as with the ALS patient and his mother, dying with a damaged mind but a healthy body. ( )

Michael Ignatieff has written a novel about a philosophy professor. And, much of the novel reads like a philosophical essay. There are parts of the story that include a lecture given by the main character, and excerpts from articles he is writing. Even some of the dialogue between the narrator and his brother is rather academic.

This is the story of a young married man whose mother is suffering from a hereditary form of dementia. As he struggles to cope with his mother's illness, his marriage falls apart and he examines the meaning of life.

The use of philosophical reasoning sometimes becomes a bit tedious, but it is central to the main character. It is an honest reflection of how someone like him would cope with his mother's illness. An interesting contrast is provided in the brother's more scientific response (he's a medical doctor). Very much a character-driven and "meaning of life" story -- not for those who enjoy a strong plot. ( )

Pretty good for a man vieing to be Prime Minister of Canada. Auto-biographical elements are definitly part of the plot. Endearing story of a family members descent into ALS. ( )