Terry Pratchett, diagnosed with Alzheimer's, says he has filled out but not yet signed the forms provided by "Dignitas", a Swiss organization that helps people die with dignity. Martin Amis argues that euthanasia should be readily available to everyone. For a thought-provoking literary look at the issues involved with suicide -- is it our responsibility to those we love to stay alive? -- I'd suggest reading The Hours by Michael Cunningham -- 5 stars.
What's a Common Reader -- and what is Uncommon Reading?
Virginia Woolf defined a common reader as someone who is not a scholar; not a critic. A common reader "reads for his own pleasure rather than to impart knowledge or correct the opinions of others. Above all, he is guided by an instinct to create for himself, out of whatever odds and ends he can come by, some kind of whole." By that definition, I'm definitely a common reader -- reading an uncommonly large and diverse collection of books.
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The thing I admire most about Sir Pterry is that he is bringing the conversation out in the open for discussion--we ALL have a stake in this.
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