Monday, April 12, 2010

Silent Boy


Well another book down, though this wasn't in my pile at the beginning of the year.  My eldest daughter gave it to me for my birthday.  She is the most vorocious reader I know.  Speed reader I think, she just flies through them.  Me on the other hand I have to eat, actually nibble and chew on every word.  I have to see the faces and places, smell the scents, hear the noises, so it takes me ages to read a book. 
Well what to say about this one, different.  Not to say I didn't enjoy it, I did well sort of.  But towards the end I just wanted it to finish so I could start something else.  You know those kind of books.  I have to read to the end, I have to find out the conclusion, so I can't just stop and start something else.  Though I have done that it still bugs me.  Torey Hayden the authoress is an educational psychologist and a special ed teacher and she writes about her struggles in the classroom.  So this and all her novels, I assume are based on some facts.  That is probably what got to me the most.  Kevin the subject of the story is most likely a real person.  How sad and depressing is that.  He is so traumatised by his childhood, that at 15 when Torey, she uses her own name in the novel, meets him, he hides under tables and uses the chair legs as a safety barrier.  He doesn't speak hence the title and he doesn't respond for much of the book.  Sparodically he talks, hits out and reacts badly, or positively depending, and I found that quite frustrating.  Any progress he made in one chapter seemed to be lost again in the next.  Thinking that this is probably how Torey's daily work life is, just irritates me no end.  One step forward three back argh!!!!

So for all the teachers and educators and psychologists, I am sorry, you will probably enjoy the daily struggles she encounters in trying to help Kevin.  I was just annoyed.  The story does have a somewhat happy ending, and there are sections that are just so vividly written, I was cringing with the horror, so her writing is I guess very well done.  I would probably not read any of her other novels, simply because I believe I would be so annoyed again.  Actually that is what I love so much about reading.  There are so many styles, so many different views, it really is never boring.

Please share a really good book you have read lately, it gives me a chance to search out new writers and new styles.  Have a wonderful Monday.

5 comments:

  1. One of my favourite authors is Jamaica Kincaid. She is from Antigua, which is next door to Montserrat in the Caribbean Sea.

    one love.

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  2. Oh my, I was so behind on your blog... lucious to catch up! Love your photos, each and every one!!! Boot are fabulous! Can't wait for France!!! :-)

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  3. Kim,
    I just posted a stack of books I just bought. Go check it out and also I have a favorite author Sena Jeter Naslund.
    I loved Ahabs Wife and Abundance.

    http://www.bookbrowse.com just found this site. looks like fun. You might spend so much time browsing you don't have time to read :)

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  4. I know this feeling, "just wanted it to finish so I could start something else..." put then can't just stop. I am always hopeful that it will change, get better, or just be done with faster!

    You may want something lighter than this, but I just finished "Making Toast" which is by Roger Rosenblatt. He writes about his experience of going to live with his grand children after the sudden and sad death of his daughter. It's sad, for sure, but so full of redemption and hope!

    You can read part of it here:
    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_rosenblatt

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  5. Thank you for the tips ladies, often I just stand in the book store for hours reading the backs and deciding what I think might be interesting, th best books I have read have been recommended so now I have somewhere to start.

    ReplyDelete

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