![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book review: The Speed of Dark
Oct. 18th, 2005 10:44 pmToday's book review is The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon.
This is a novel about autism, told in the first person by an autistic character, written by the parent of an autistic child. Autism is a subject of some personal interest, since I see some of the symptoms of autism in myself. It is somewhat challenging, but I find myself identifying with the viewpoint character early in the book, and being fairly caught up in the story. It goes well through most of the book, but then comes to an ending that I really didn't like, which bothers me at the level of the characters and my identification with them and also at the level of the philosophical message.
This book does explore some interesting issues, going beyond the specific issue of autism to make the reader think about the meaning and value of personhood and about what it means to be a good person. I can't say more without spoilers, but I really want to say more, so I will put the real spoilers behind a cut.
( **spoiler warning** why I don't like the ending )
A very good book except for the ending. Interesting stuff to think about, stuff that more of us need to think about and understand more than we do. Unfortunately, with the ending it has, I can't give it more than 6 out of 10.
This is a novel about autism, told in the first person by an autistic character, written by the parent of an autistic child. Autism is a subject of some personal interest, since I see some of the symptoms of autism in myself. It is somewhat challenging, but I find myself identifying with the viewpoint character early in the book, and being fairly caught up in the story. It goes well through most of the book, but then comes to an ending that I really didn't like, which bothers me at the level of the characters and my identification with them and also at the level of the philosophical message.
This book does explore some interesting issues, going beyond the specific issue of autism to make the reader think about the meaning and value of personhood and about what it means to be a good person. I can't say more without spoilers, but I really want to say more, so I will put the real spoilers behind a cut.
( **spoiler warning** why I don't like the ending )
A very good book except for the ending. Interesting stuff to think about, stuff that more of us need to think about and understand more than we do. Unfortunately, with the ending it has, I can't give it more than 6 out of 10.