Book Review: Smiling in Slow Motion by Derek Jarman

Oh this was again a very intense and depressing book. More than a year ago, I picked up Derek Jarman's diary, Modern Nature. I found that especially moving, and so I decided to pick up its sequel, which is this book. And I must say, it is more intense and depressing than the previous one. After all, this is the last set of writings the author has penned down before he died of AIDS. So if you want to see how AIDS wrecks someone's body and mind, then this is a must-read. It's absolutely touching, I should say.

As I already said before, I was just a little kid during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Nowadays, people who have HIV can live very normal lives, as medicine has already advanced far enough to make the disease manageable. However, this was not the case in the 1990s. And the author showed how one can be very determined to live, even against all odds.

As I was reading this book, I could definitely sense that the author still had a lot of things he wanted to do in life, except that the body he was inhabiting was almost giving up. This book is a chronicle of a fight to the end, showing how his bodily functions slowly give way. His eyes fade into blue, his stomach gives in and causes embarrassing accidents, just to name a few. Hospital visits are frequent. And it is a good thing that he is surrounded by people who love him, and take care of him. And in the end, he dies.

This was such a depressing book that when I finished it, I wanted to talk to someone to cheer me up. But nevertheless, it provides a very poignant picture of life back in the 1990s, as some of us have dealt with the AIDS epidemic. I give it 4 out of 5 stars, as it's a very emotional and touching book to read.

See my other book reviews here.