David Hastings, the retired corporate executive protagonist of Switzy, Emma Cline’s new, Booker Prize longlisted novel, always carries a small leather notebook in his jacket pocket. When he wakes up in the mornings, he opens it up to recall his own name, the names of his daughter (Rebecca) and grandson (Rainer), his itinerary over the next week or so – all scribbled down in a patchy handwriting that must be his but he still can’t recognise. His 30-something assistant Cody is “the real keeper of the schedule, but it was one of those little feints they made at normalcy”. Not too long ago, David was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. His doctor had told him there was no cure: the best therapies merely stave off the worst symptoms. To David, the plodding progression of the disease seemed particularly dreadful, the ignominy of bearing witness to steadily losing one’s mind. Abhrajyoti Chakraborty review the new Emma Cline novel: newstatesman.com/culture/boo…