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| Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman, read by William Hughes |
Silberman explores the history of autism by weaving stories / case histories of autistic people in with stories of psychological and ideological leaps in the understanding of autism. He reveals a lot of details I didn't know about researchers like Hans Asperger and the making of the movie Rainman. It was information that I was intrigued by, though I found his writing style to be a bit winding at times. In the end, I felt a little lost about what the thesis of Silberman's book was - or if he had one at all. Before reading the book I expected to get a history of autism research with a lot of current information on the neurodiversity movement. But because there were so many stories of autistic people woven into the book, I didn't really get what I expected. The information seemed a bit scattered. Not that I didn't enjoy the book - I did. It was interesting reading about all those case histories - it gave the book a personal air. I just expected a more A-to-B-to-C historical account of the history of autism and the neurodiversity movement.
I read Neurotribes last year and felt much the same way. I decided that it was a history of autism and important, but not quite linear in its presentation.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought maybe I would have followed it better if it weren't an audiobook and I had subtitles or something.
DeleteI keep hearing about this one...sounds overly dense. I am intrigued by the topic, but probably not enough to power through something like that.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say it's overly dense, it had a lot of personality because of its case histories, but then I may have a skewed image of what "dense" means. :)
DeleteThis book definitely interests me, but is also a little intimidating. Maybe the audio version would help me get through it...
ReplyDeleteI read the audiobook. I sort of wished I'd read the hard copy because of the non-linear structure. But I'd say if audio helps you out (it does me) then go for it.
DeleteThis subject is so important. It is also so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think that combining science and personal stories is a good idea.Too bad that the book was a bit disjointed though.
It was still a really good book. I just had overly high expectations, I guess.
DeleteI became interested in this book when I saw so many reading it for the read-along in November. As someone who is a newer fan of nonfiction, I am a little intimidated by the thought of reading it, but I have decided to give it a try, maybe in 2017. The subject is certainly of interest to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely worth a try! The book covers a very interesting and important subject matter. And most people just absolutely love this book.
DeleteI'm excited to hear your thoughts on this one! It was bit winding, but I think that's part of why I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed all the people stories. I finished reading feeling like the author had made a clear point though and I'm sure I'd have been more annoyed by the digressions if I felt differently about how clear he was.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's possible I just wasn't in the right mood? I was listening to it on audio, which I'm having a lot of trouble with lately for some reason. Attention issues. Maybe if I'd read it physically it would have been different.
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