'The Reason I Jump' by Naoki Higashida

The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism, Naoki Higashida (3)

This book turned out to be far more controversial than I imagined. We first heard of it on ‘The Daily Show’, where Jon Stewart interviewed David Mitchell, famous author and one of the translators. Mitchell talked about his son with autism and how the thoughts of Higashida-san on paper helped he and his wife more clearly understand the mind of their son. Who doesn’t want to reveal the secret workings of a non-communicative, hard to understand syndrome, particularly if it afflicts someone you love? So the big question here is – how much was really written by a 13 year old with autism versus how much by his ‘language facilitators’? The book is structured as a series of questions (like ‘why do you jump?’), with answers by Naoki and a few fables he has written in between chapters. The questions are very repetitive and it’s not clear if he was actually asked those questions, or who structured the book this way. Much of the criticism of the book has to do with the insight and poetic abilities of the author. It is hard to believe that someone of that age with little communication to society could be so eloquent and knowledgeable. I tend to think this had more to do with translation than anything else. Much of the short book did read like a 13-year-old’s musings (repetitive, simple, family oriented). My biggest issue with the book is how he answers many questions for the autistic community. If all the non-communicative issues are true, how does he know how anyone thinks beside himself? If I exchange all his ‘we’s’ with ‘me’ and ignore the ‘people with autism feel x’ sections, it helps. I have read a few items about the spectrum and the biggest insight for me had to do with his explanation of the concept of time for him. The idea that time can work different for severely autistic people helps me understand the repetition and difficulty in holding one’s attention.  His explanations for the lack of control for speech and movement were also interesting. While intriguing and likely comforting to some, harder to believe was his incredibly good understanding of the feelings of those around him. Overall I will chose to believe that the majority of this book represents his thinking, though it may have gotten shined up a bit with an award winning author translating.

'Faceless Killers' by Henning Mankell

Faceless Killers, Henning Mankell (3.5)

Henning Mankell has been credited with starting the Scandinavian crime novel trend, which more recently includes best sellers by Jo Nesbo and Stieg Larsson. This is the first of the Kurt Wallander mysteries, which follows a Swedish detective in the rural area near Malmo. Wallander is the definition of an anti-hero. He’s clever, but very broken and rather unlikable. Besides signs of alcoholism, gluttony, and misogyny, he admits to feelings of bigotry and self-pity. Oddly, through all of this, the reader really wants him to solve the crime. In this first Wallander novel, a couple has been found violently murdered in their farmhouse. The clues are sparse and a possibly related death in a refugee community sidetracks the police. An interesting theme, given this book was published in 1991, has to do with Swedish society and it’s increasing issues with refugees from Africa and Eastern Europe. I wanted to like this book more, but found a few niggling problems. The writing did not flow; it was more like a staccato pace (which could have been due to the translation). I also felt the solution of the crime did not make sense, given the severity of the violence done to the victims (as was mentioned several times- ‘It had to be a crime of passion’). The character of Wallander is an interesting one and overall I was intrigued enough to try another.

'The Lowland' by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri (3)

I found this book a little slow to build my interest. It is the story of two close brothers growing up in the 1950’s in Calcutta, India who were destined for different paths.  The quieter, older brother leaves for college in Rhode Island while the younger brother stays home and becomes more and more politically active. The first third of this novel plods along with this narrative. Eventually, a dramatic event jerks the plot forward, though it quickly gets back to a plodding pace as we follow the choices the older brother makes. I kept hoping for more to happen, to like the characters better, but it was not to be, even as time progressed more rapidly. The lack of love in the family dynamics of this book were sad, though maybe not as odd as they seemed to me. I wasn’t terribly interested in what would happen to the characters, and not much good did happen to them.

'Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman' by Robert K. Massie

Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman, Robert K. Massie (4.0)

Mr. Massie said that he tried to write Catherine’s story as if we were seeing it through her eyes. I think that is what makes this book stand apart. I had read a biography of this empress of Russia long ago and, while she was very interesting, the book was not. Massie has taken a historical character and fleshed her out with information found in numerous letters and with much research of the time period. Keeping the drama flowing is particularly difficult given the numerous characters and various Russian name changes. He starts her story in her teenage years as she is sent to Russia (from Germany) to meet the Crown Prince Peter III, the heir to the Russian throne and possibly her new husband. Massie addresses many of the rumors about Catherine (celibate marriage, three children by three different men, Potemkin villages, etc.) with logical conclusions based on the data he could find. It was generally easy to agree with his conclusions. There is no doubt that she was one of the most forward thinking, politically savvy leaders of her time and it is astounding to think that she was one of the strongest leaders of Russia, yet was not Russian and likely produced children who were not actually from the Romanov lineage, but who subsequently ruled Russia.  While telling Catherine’s story, we also get a primer in Polish, Prussian and French history during that time period, all very interesting and pertinent to her actions. Maybe not surprisingly, Catherine’s and Potemkin’s work in the Crimea was just a prelude to the current issues in that area of the world. Russia then, as now, wanted that lovely area with its access to the Black Sea.

'Alex' by Pierre Lemaitre

Alex, Pierre Lemaitre (3.5)

I chose this book randomly from the library. It had a sticker: ‘International Dagger Award Winner, Best Crime novel of 2013’ and a simple cover. Normally I don’t like crime novels, particularly ones that linger over the gore, but the premise of this one had me intrigued. The book starts with the introduction and quick abduction of a 30-year-old lone woman. She is beaten and subsequently taken to an abandoned building to be tortured by a man who seems to have been following her for the last few days. The police are called in as a witness saw the man throw her into a nondescript truck, though they start slowly as no one has reported a missing woman. This is where things get interesting. It becomes obvious that the woman is not as innocent as we first were led to believe and her kidnapper really wants her dead, for things she may have done in the past. Lemaitre does a good job of believably alternating your definition of the main character between victim, aggressor, psychopath and unfortunate soul. While I had to read the torture parts similar to how I watch a crime movie (with splayed fingers in front of my eyes – i.e. skimming), I did enjoy the plot. I don’t recommend this for those soft of heart, as it is quite gruesome and disturbing.