Rowing Without Oars: A Memoir of Living and Dying

By Ulla-Carin Lindquist and ULLA-CARIN LINDGUIST

Book Overview

In the tradition of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the extraordinary account of a womans illness and her struggle to come to terms with death Ulla-Carin Lindquist was happily married with four adoring children and a successful career as a newscaster. All of that changed when, as her fiftieth birthday drew near, she began to notice small failures of strength and strange numbing sensations in her hands and arms. As she set out to understand her illness, she began a journal recounting her failing health. Soon the diagnosis became terribly clear: she was suffering from ALS, or Lou Gehrigs disease. In the face of this incurable, degenerative disease, Ulla continued to chronicle her life not only for her childrens sake but also to cope with her impending death. From the moments we ordinarily take for grantedphone calls with her daughters, afternoons spent with her husband and sons through the extraordinarily painful and pervasive decline of her abilities, Ullas unflinching account reminds us of how precious life really is. Her courage through her final days is evident in her clear and lucid prose. As powerful and moving as books like Autobiography of a Face and Tuesdays with Morrie, Rowing without Oars is an unforgettable work that explores the terror, embarrassment, and pain of illness as well as the universal themes of life, death, love, and the enduring importance of family. I have never read anything like itits quietness, its courage, its lucidity; I found it searing, beautiful, terrifying, and at the same time, affirmingand reassuring. Dr. OliverSacks, author of Awakenings

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670034754
• ISBN13: 9780670034758
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 0.8" x 5.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

A very moving memoir

This memoir just took me a little over a weekend to read. It may be a small book but it is a very powerful one. I was very moved when I read it. It certainly gave me great insight to what someone with A.L.S. lives with on a daily basis. What a brave woman she was!

A Memoir on Living and Dying

Ulla-Carin Lindquist's poignant personal journey with ALS is a well written account containing many end of life issues - end of life as one knows it, end of dreams for the future, the beginning of a different way of framing events of the past, and the slow deterioration of health and abilities once taken for granted. Relationships are explored while emotions are uncovered or discovered. This book is filled with real thoughts from an intelligent woman undergoing tremondous hardship, yet done with beauty and hope. Ulla-Carin was a popular newscaster on Swedish Television. Three parts of the book stayed with me (might be a spoiler if you're planning on reading the book - I'm not sure). One, when her now grown daughter describes that all she ever wanted when her mom was a busy career newswoman was to have a full day to spend with her, and she never could (ouch!)but now that Ulla-Carin is sick she has all of the time each day to spend as she wishes within her limitations - another, when her boys play communication games (very touching and some just for FUN!) and a thought her young son introduces into her life, and which she introduces earlier but then she ends the book.