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megwritesNow that I have the backlog of books what need reviewing done, I can get around to reviewing each book as I finish it and do the less quick-and-dirty version of my summaries.
I borrowed this one from my father-in-law who had finished it, and I wanted to see how the things I'd read in The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time measured up against it.
Title: Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Author: Daniel Tammet (Daniel Tammet Official Website)
Genre: Non-fiction
Page Count: 256 (paperback)
Publisher: Free Press
Basicplotline premise: The book is a the memoir of Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant who was the subject of the 2005 documentary Brainman and holds the world record for having memorized the most digits of pi. The book follows his childhood with autism, his experiences working in another country, his coming out as gay, the Brainman documentary, and his conversion to Christianity.
The positives: As a memoir, it's very linearly and leanly written. The cover copy called it "free of sentimentality", which is a fair enough assertion. While there are descriptions of feelings and sensations, it is generally very plain spoken and unadorned. I was able to get a better grip on what Asperger's and autism are, and what the experiences are like. I also appreciated that there was a message of personal growth within in the memoir.
I also appreciated that Tammet's book helped me to understand why it is that many advocates don't want Asperger's to be considered a disability. I think I may agree somewhat with them after this book. Tammet has, after all, done as much/more than I have in my life and I am neurotypical. He's also done quite a few things I could never dream of. Which leads me to believe that if there was ever an appropriate time to label someone as "differently abled" rather than "disabled",
I also consider it a positive that Tammet, while being inspirational in and of himself, did not write with a tone of deliberately trying to inspire anyone. He told his story, told the things he'd done. Inspiration was left to the reader to find, which is how it should have been.
The negatives: Some part of me (though I am not expert) worries that this book might lead the general public to associate autism with savant abilities automatically, and that it might have helped if Tammet had stressed a little more that being autistic does not actually mean you can automatically do large sums in your head.
I skipped many of the detailed explanations of math puzzles and number games, and found them tiresome. As a person who can scarcely memorize her four digit pin number at the bank and got as far as 3rd grade multiplication before failing abjectly in math from there on, they gave me headaches. If you're a math geek, that might be different. However, I would note that the math bits can be skipped without any detriment to your reading.
CoC Score: 5. I'm inclined to rate this differently than I would a fiction novel, or not to rate it all. But I feel that it is important not to remove a critical eye from anything I read, even memoirs. There are mentions of friends of color the author had in school, and those mentions are positive for the most part. Given that this is a deeply personal memoir of a white guy from England, I wouldn't expect that much diversity. I will say that Tammet seems to have a rather neutral view of race, and you can decide if you feel that is good or bad.
GLBT Score: 10. Not a lot of time was spent on Tammet's sexuality since the book is about his autism not his orientation. There is a mention of an early crush in school, and how he met his partner. It was nice to read a positive coming out story, and to see an intersecting of someone who is not neurotypical (though I would posit that Tammet cannot be labeled 'disabled' as, honestly, he has done more in his life than I have in mine and done a few things I could never accomplish) and gay. Because I think there is a tendency to apply either racist, ablist, or other prejudices when examining queerness as though only pretty, smart, neurotypical, white people are gay.
Gender Score: 8. Though being not interested in women romantically, Tammet is very kind to the women in his memoirs, speaking fondly of them, and not treating them discernibly different than men.
I borrowed this one from my father-in-law who had finished it, and I wanted to see how the things I'd read in The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time measured up against it.
Title: Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
Author: Daniel Tammet (Daniel Tammet Official Website)
Genre: Non-fiction
Page Count: 256 (paperback)
Publisher: Free Press
Basic
The positives: As a memoir, it's very linearly and leanly written. The cover copy called it "free of sentimentality", which is a fair enough assertion. While there are descriptions of feelings and sensations, it is generally very plain spoken and unadorned. I was able to get a better grip on what Asperger's and autism are, and what the experiences are like. I also appreciated that there was a message of personal growth within in the memoir.
I also appreciated that Tammet's book helped me to understand why it is that many advocates don't want Asperger's to be considered a disability. I think I may agree somewhat with them after this book. Tammet has, after all, done as much/more than I have in my life and I am neurotypical. He's also done quite a few things I could never dream of. Which leads me to believe that if there was ever an appropriate time to label someone as "differently abled" rather than "disabled",
I also consider it a positive that Tammet, while being inspirational in and of himself, did not write with a tone of deliberately trying to inspire anyone. He told his story, told the things he'd done. Inspiration was left to the reader to find, which is how it should have been.
The negatives: Some part of me (though I am not expert) worries that this book might lead the general public to associate autism with savant abilities automatically, and that it might have helped if Tammet had stressed a little more that being autistic does not actually mean you can automatically do large sums in your head.
I skipped many of the detailed explanations of math puzzles and number games, and found them tiresome. As a person who can scarcely memorize her four digit pin number at the bank and got as far as 3rd grade multiplication before failing abjectly in math from there on, they gave me headaches. If you're a math geek, that might be different. However, I would note that the math bits can be skipped without any detriment to your reading.
CoC Score: 5. I'm inclined to rate this differently than I would a fiction novel, or not to rate it all. But I feel that it is important not to remove a critical eye from anything I read, even memoirs. There are mentions of friends of color the author had in school, and those mentions are positive for the most part. Given that this is a deeply personal memoir of a white guy from England, I wouldn't expect that much diversity. I will say that Tammet seems to have a rather neutral view of race, and you can decide if you feel that is good or bad.
GLBT Score: 10. Not a lot of time was spent on Tammet's sexuality since the book is about his autism not his orientation. There is a mention of an early crush in school, and how he met his partner. It was nice to read a positive coming out story, and to see an intersecting of someone who is not neurotypical (though I would posit that Tammet cannot be labeled 'disabled' as, honestly, he has done more in his life than I have in mine and done a few things I could never accomplish) and gay. Because I think there is a tendency to apply either racist, ablist, or other prejudices when examining queerness as though only pretty, smart, neurotypical, white people are gay.
Gender Score: 8. Though being not interested in women romantically, Tammet is very kind to the women in his memoirs, speaking fondly of them, and not treating them discernibly different than men.
