A review by mahdigasmi
Shtum by Jem Lester
4.0
the story goes around this family who's only child ( Jonah ) is autistic and their battle to get him into a residential school for autistic children. don't expect clinical detailed details about the illness because you'll be disappointed; it's nothing medical-ish but you'll be introduced to much of the boy's daily behaves and manners if that's what you're looking for.
The narrator here is the father( Ben ),the whole book focuses much more on the male characters than the females...
i find it hard to settle with Ben's character; he's childish, indecisive, irresponsible and most of the time lying in his self-pity.throughout the story we can clearly see the difficulties encountered between Ben and his father(Georg) at every conversation they had..As for Jonah's, he's what his father sees and describes eventually.
The begging wasn't really gripping i almost gave up, luckily enough i didn't, once past the 60/70 page I found myself all soaked in.
one of the situations that the book discusses is how Ben finds it really hard to let go of Jonah ( as in sending him to the residential school )still he's simultaneously very eager to get a rest of wiping and cleaning and simply have a NORMAL LIFE. caught up between this and that, Ben is completely undecided ,confused and mostly scared because deep inside him he knows exactly what he wants but the thought of it couldn't simply settle down on him easily.he's condemned of selfishness and he struggle to explain his right of an ordinary life as the one he had in Jonah's presence was hardly bearable. i think the author dares the readers to be open on matters of a similar sensitivity and tries to walk them through a diffrent tunnel.
it's totally okay if we sometimes get angry against needy children
it's okay if we ask for help if we can't take care of our children as they're frankly tiring to handle.
it's okay to send away children to facilities that can provide help,security and a good life eventually if it's not possible at their homes.
it's safe to say that most of the problems whether between Ben and Georg or Ben and his wife were simply due to the bad communication. they're bad communicators and the majority of their decisions are based on false assumptions of words and reactions that were never pronounced nor expressed. it shows the importance of communication and how many conflicts could have bee.n avoided if it was of a proper conversation.
To sum it up, this book pictures one example out of millions ohers of families who struggle daily with autism.it raises our awareness so we can be more familiar with it.it's an open letter of tolerance as it's a call of love , loving ourselves first so we can love the others.
The narrator here is the father( Ben ),the whole book focuses much more on the male characters than the females...
i find it hard to settle with Ben's character; he's childish, indecisive, irresponsible and most of the time lying in his self-pity.throughout the story we can clearly see the difficulties encountered between Ben and his father(Georg) at every conversation they had..As for Jonah's, he's what his father sees and describes eventually.
The begging wasn't really gripping i almost gave up, luckily enough i didn't, once past the 60/70 page I found myself all soaked in.
one of the situations that the book discusses is how Ben finds it really hard to let go of Jonah ( as in sending him to the residential school )still he's simultaneously very eager to get a rest of wiping and cleaning and simply have a NORMAL LIFE. caught up between this and that, Ben is completely undecided ,confused and mostly scared because deep inside him he knows exactly what he wants but the thought of it couldn't simply settle down on him easily.he's condemned of selfishness and he struggle to explain his right of an ordinary life as the one he had in Jonah's presence was hardly bearable. i think the author dares the readers to be open on matters of a similar sensitivity and tries to walk them through a diffrent tunnel.
it's totally okay if we sometimes get angry against needy children
it's okay if we ask for help if we can't take care of our children as they're frankly tiring to handle.
it's okay to send away children to facilities that can provide help,security and a good life eventually if it's not possible at their homes.
it's safe to say that most of the problems whether between Ben and Georg or Ben and his wife were simply due to the bad communication. they're bad communicators and the majority of their decisions are based on false assumptions of words and reactions that were never pronounced nor expressed. it shows the importance of communication and how many conflicts could have bee.n avoided if it was of a proper conversation.
To sum it up, this book pictures one example out of millions ohers of families who struggle daily with autism.it raises our awareness so we can be more familiar with it.it's an open letter of tolerance as it's a call of love , loving ourselves first so we can love the others.