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Monday, August 13, 2012

BOOK REVIEW


Here's an interesting one for you.

I don't think I've ever found a book so difficult to read but I persevered anyway.

It may have had something to do with the fact that I only read in bed, late at night when I'm tired.

It's a book about a child who has Asperger Syndrome ( I think !) - written sometimes by the child himself, sometimes by others like the boy's father and grandfather - whose father was killed in the tragic event that has come to be called simply 9/11.

It's quite difficult to know who is telling the story sometimes and it soon becomes clear that the Asperger's/ Autism is something that has been handed down through the family.

One of the reasons it is hard to read is the way it is written.
I have tried to scan some pages to show you but I'm afraid the book is quite thick so it was difficult to keep out the light and this has made the scans poor quality and difficult to see. (but clicking on them to enlarge them will improve your view tremendously ).



Do you see what I mean?
The punctuation is altered so there are no paragraphs and no new lines for a new speaker in conversations so the reader has to sort it out for themselves.

Then there are pages like the ones below.


or like this


and this.



So you can see that it a very different book but worth the challenge of reading it.

I don't know if I understood it completely.

It helps to discuss it with someone else who has read it and perhaps seeing the movie of the same name would be interesting too ( and make it easier to understand - as long as the movie stays true to the book )
but although rereading it would also probably help, it's not something I want to do.

Not exactly light entertainment but worthwhile.

I'd be very interested in your thoughts if you have read it too.

Cheers.

4 comments:

  1. Ah, that would be a challenge...

    I went out with a chap once who was a 'high functioning aspie'. It was a challenge too.
    He was a lovely guy, but felt very lost and distant from what he used to call 'my world'. He said that he wasn't from Mars (i.e. venus/ mars), but from another universe.

    I'll keep a look out for this book.

    I'm reading Daniel Deronda at the moment. It's also a thick wade. Probably because I read it last thing at night too! :-)

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  2. I don't think I could read that book just seeing the little bit you showed.

    I don't know if you ever read him, but my friend and alter ego Billy Ray Barnwell writes long paragraphs that are simultaneously dense and light.

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  3. Having worked as an editor and typographer most of my life, those pages make my stomach churn.

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  4. Hmmm... it doesn't inspire me to want to read it.
    Have you tried 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time' by Mark Haddon? It's written fromthe point of view of a boy with Aspergher's and it's much lighter than that book looks. Thought you might just like it.

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