The Story of Forgetting: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: genetic history part, extended cab pickup truck, High Plains, The Waiting Room, Jamie Whitman (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Told from two perspectives that are at once nearly polar and intimately linked, this astounding debut captures an air of the fantastical while presenting one family's heartfelt battle with Alzheimer's. Seth Waller is a 15-year-old Austin, Tex., science nerd determined to discover the reason behind his mother's recent mental breakdown. Abel Haggard, living on his family farm just past the Dallas suburbs, is an aging recluse roiled by memories of his one true love: Mae, his brother Paul's wife. The two had a torrid affair while Paul served in Korea, forcing Mae to conceal the paternity of her baby when she became pregnant. Both Seth and Abel speak of a fantasy land named Isidora, which exists outside of our physical world, but which becomes a common thread in piecing this delicately woven story together. Each character is a product of a different time and place, but as Seth delves deeper into his scientific investigation and Abel's troubled life is further revealed, the two stories meet in an emotional and memorable climax. Block displays an innate gift for developing believable characters each with his own distinct voice. The result is a story that's compulsive and transporting. (Apr.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—This riveting novel features well-drawn characters engaged in the epic struggle of finding purpose and meaning in life. Early-onset/familial Alzheimer's disease (EOA) is the launching point for an exploration of memory and the human condition. Fifteen-year-old Seth and 70-year-old Abel alternate as sympathetic narrators of their family's stories. Although they don't meet until the end of the book, the connection between them becomes apparent early on. When Seth's mother is diagnosed with EOA, he assigns himself the task of learning all he can about the disease. Meanwhile, Abel reflects on his past, including his family's struggles with EOA, as he resists encroaching suburban sprawl and waits for the return of his long-gone daughter. The author effectively interweaves several writing styles: historical fiction (the imagined origins of the disease in a medieval English village and its subsequent spread to America); scientific inquiry (explanations of genetics and psychological studies of the brain); fantasy (tales of the mysterious land of Isidora, an alternate world known only to EOA families); Abel's reflective reminiscences; and Seth's coming-of-age in contemporary Texas. The narrators tell painful, funny, heartbreaking stories in authentic voices. An author's note indicates that the novel is semiautobiographical and provides resources for further information about the disease. In addition to being an excellent read, this book would be a wonderful supplement to a psychology class studying memory, or a biology class learning about genetics.—Sondra VanderPloeg, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400066794
• ISBN-13: 978-1400066797
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #308,834 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkable Debut, April 1, 2008

By	R. A. Taylor "avid reader" (FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block is one of my favorite reads for 2008. The author's use of words to weave a story of two very different people is absolutely fantastic. Although Abel Haggard and Seth Waller are two very different characters, both in age and in social background, their stories are compelling and I could believe that both these men were real. Amazingly enough, the scientific parts of the book were very interesting to me as I am generally not interested in novels about science.

The Story of Forgetting is about familial early-onset Alzheimer's disease and how it affects those with the disease and those people close to them. Seth Waller is a young teenager losing his mother to the horror of this disease, and losing the balance of the family he once had. Abel Haggard is an elderly reclusive man, living in the old family homestead, passing his days with memories of what he once had and how it was lost. Both characters are completely drawn and fleshed out so that it is easy to picture them in my mind. This story will stay with me a long time.

My mother suffered from dementia before her death and I understand the frustration of trying to deal with someone who is no longer the person you know and love. The Story of Forgetting is a brilliant book, I would recommend it to anyone dealing with Alzheimer's disease and to just anyone who enjoys a compelling, beautifully written story

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A debut worth checking out..., April 1, 2008

By	Susan Tunis (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For reasons inexplicable, it took me weeks to pick up this novel and read the first sentence, but once I did I was hooked. I don't know what my problem was, but kudos to Stefan Merrill Block, because he drew me right into his story from the first pages.

The structure of the novel is that it jumps back and forth between two different characters, two different stories. The first is 68-year-old Abel Haggard, a modern-day hermit living exactly as he did decades ago on the distant outskirts of Dallas. Abel is basically reviewing his life inside his mind and agonizing over the mistakes he has made. Through his recollections you learn about his one true love, and how he lost everything he had. Now he's waiting for something... and trying to hang on by his fingertips to the life he has.

The second story revolves around 15-year-old geek, Seth Waller. I'm a 39-year-old woman, but I can't tell you how much I related to Seth. My social skills are considerably better, but we're both science nerds and were high school outcasts. Through Seth, we learn the story of his mother's diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer's in her mid-thirties. As painful as it is to watch her decline through Seth's eyes, it doesn't touch the sadness of the strained relationship he has with his father. Scenes between the two of them broke my heart, as each tried to deal in his own way with tragedy. Seth copes by embarking on a "scientific study" of his mother's illness.

While these two equally compelling narratives are unfolding, there are two more narrative threads weaved throughout the novel. One is the story of the orgin of the Alzheimer's mutation that plagues Seth's mother. It starts with patient number one and moves forward through history. The other thread is actually what ties the stories of Abel and Seth together. It's a series of tales of a mythological land called Isidora--stories that were told to both Abel and Seth in their childhoods.

It sounds like a lot is going on, but all the threads blend to form a satisfying cloth that is neither too busy nor boring. The novel moves at a fast pace, and I found myself (surprisingly) equally captivated by the tales of both Seth and Abel. They were rich and fully-formed characters with distinctive voices and personalities. When I started the novel I thought the mystery would be: How do their stories intersect? That really isn't it. You just want to see these tales through to their proper conclusion.

One more thing... Reading what I've written, this novel sounds like a real downer. I can't pretend the subject matter is happy, but my personal tolerance for tragedy is incredibly low, and I really enjoyed this promising debut.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Could there be anything more sad and more lonely than remembering what terrible things the future will bring?", May 15, 2008

By	Gregory Baird (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In his ambitious debut novel Stefan Merrill Block shows off the wide range of his talent. "The Story of Forgetting" combines elements of science, history, and fable into four storylines that weave together to tell a single story. And it works, for the most part. I can see how some may have been turned off by the quirky nature of Block's storytelling or grown bored with the genetic history storyline, but I have a feeling that the majority of literary fiction fans will enjoy Block's novel just as much as I did.

The first storyline concerns Abel, an elderly hunchback living in isolation and haunted by the ghosts of his brother and sister-in-law and the daughter that ran away from home never to be seen again. He bustles around his dilapidated house in his failing body, desperately filling the void around him and trying to avoid stillness that might lead to reflection on how he got to this lonely point and whether or not it is deserved. The modern world is creeping up on all sides of his property, showing Abel just how little use the world can make of an outdated person like him, and his neighbors are trying to force him out so they can raise their property values. But Abel is holding onto the hope that someday his daughter might come looking for him, and he wants to be waiting when she does.

Second is the story of Seth, your typical gawky, angular teen and a stereotypical nerd and social outcast. His mother has recently been placed in a home after a nasty fall and a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease - an extremely rare genetic disorder that Seth, who may someday be a victim of the same disease, becomes obsessed with researching. In truth, his research is equal measures avoidance and an attempt to get closer to his family. All his life, Seth's mother was careful not to reveal anything about where she came from or even why she felt the need to be so secretive, and his research allows Seth a unique opportunity to finally find out just who his mother is. At the same time, it allows him to escape the nightmare of his social life, visits to the home where his mother is by far the youngest resident, the paralyzing fear that he too may suffer her fate, and lonely nights where his father drinks too much and watches the History Channel, unable to bear the burden of disappointment and sorrow.

The third storyline introduces us to the mythical world of Isidora, a "land without memory, where everything one needed was at arm's length, where there was never reason to be afraid, where nothing was ever possessed and so nothing could ever be lost." Isidora provides a curious link between the stories of Seth and Abel, because both of them were raised on fairy tales of the fabled city. While one may question whether or not Isidora is actually as utopian as the author would like you to believe, the charming element of fable that it brings to the novel and the creativity and passion of its creation will win you over in the end.

And finally is a storyline concerning the genetic history of Seth's family and how the genetic variant that created the early-onset Alzheimer's disease got started and spread, tracing the lineage all the way to Texas, where Seth and his family reside. If it occasionally feels superfluous and not that consequential to the plot, Block imbues it with the same charming element of fable that makes you forgive the excess in the end.

The main attractions here are Abel and Seth, and they make "The Story of Forgetting" well worth your while. And if the link between their two storylines is painfully obvious about sixty pages in, it is still a heartfelt journey seeing how their lives converge in the end. As for Block, he proves to be a remarkably thorough and creative writer, as well as a literary talent to watch in the coming years.

Particularly recommended to fans of Jonathan Safran Foer's sterling Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel and Nicole Krauss' The History of Love: A Novel.

Grade: A-