4 Stars
Summary: Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother. (taken from this inside cover)
Review:
This was a very insightful look into the mind of an autistic child, which is completely new to me. It was fascinating to see how he processed information and what seemed like little issues were drastically huge issues to him (for example, he hated the color yellow and could not touch it because it made him feel sick). There was also some subtle humor in the dry comments and observations. I did enjoy the mathematical aspects. I always remember Stephen Hawkings when he said that mathematicians see the world completely differently from non-mathematicians, and Christopher's comments reminded me of that. However, to me I just found the theology and the plot too depressing.
-Amy
Okay, I've finally finished it, too. I didn't hate this book--I might have even given it a 6, if not for the fact that it definitely earns -2 for language alone. (Apparently, no one in England is capable of uttering an entire sentence aloud without inserting at LEAST one "f-bomb". Who knew?) It's by no means what I would describe as inspirational, but it is both very interesting, and very well-written (excepting the expletives, of course). The book it most reminds me of is "Flowers for Algernon" because it allows you inside the possible thought processes of a demographic we often forget to explore. But, it was truthfully more hopeful and less disturbing than "Algernon." All in all, I found it worth one read, but wouldn't recommend it to just anyone.
ReplyDeleteOh, and that whole rant was me, Amanda, not Ivan. I'm just being outwitted by the phone at present, sorry...
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