VEMPHaHa reviewed The Grieving Brain by Mary-Frances O'Connor
Review of 'The Grieving Brain' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I both admire the brain and rue its deficiencies. Mostly, the deficiencies make me feel sorry for the poor brain. I mean, it's trying. It hunts out shortcuts (which lead to our prejudices). It flows to the easiest route (which leads to habits being so hard to break). Mostly, the brain lives and dies on expectations. It projects what it expects. Grief, it seems, ruins those expectations.
It's a truism that love is loss. When someone dies, we lose them. They physically are no longer where we expect them to be—beside us in the bed, at the table eating a snack after school, at the window watching for our approach. Apparently, the loss throws the brain for a loop (I'm not using scientific terms here.) It searches and searches for what it expects to be there but will never be again.
I would have liked more scientific conversation about brain …
I both admire the brain and rue its deficiencies. Mostly, the deficiencies make me feel sorry for the poor brain. I mean, it's trying. It hunts out shortcuts (which lead to our prejudices). It flows to the easiest route (which leads to habits being so hard to break). Mostly, the brain lives and dies on expectations. It projects what it expects. Grief, it seems, ruins those expectations.
It's a truism that love is loss. When someone dies, we lose them. They physically are no longer where we expect them to be—beside us in the bed, at the table eating a snack after school, at the window watching for our approach. Apparently, the loss throws the brain for a loop (I'm not using scientific terms here.) It searches and searches for what it expects to be there but will never be again.
I would have liked more scientific conversation about brain function, but the book is short and easy to read. Mainly, the understanding it gives will make me forever more sympathetic to both myself and others as they try to live after a loved one is literally lost.
