Language Arts

What’s it about? Some novels make you feel, and some make you think.  This novel tries to do both, and is often successful.  This book explores autism and it’s affects on Charles and his wife Allison.  It also touches on so many other subjects along the way.  Language, memory, family relationships, marriage, penmanship, and education are all important themes in this book. What did I think? I enjoyed this book, but it was really ambitious.  It included so many important thoughts that they sometimes became muddled.  It was a good book that I feel could have been better with some more editing.  Some of the passages are just beautiful though.  All thelinguaphiles (lovers of words and language) out there would love this book!!!! ​Should you read it? I would recommend this book with some slight reservations.  The story and characters are interesting.  Stephanie Kallos has a really nice way of writing.  She has such compassion for her characters. She really brought home how difficult it would be to love and be responsible for an adult child with severe autism.   How the waves that come off that situation could knock a whole family out of balance. Quote- “Or maybe he was just put on this planet as a miracle-in-reverse, a punch line for a joke that nobody gets but God, a test for the rest of us, something to interpret, translate, decode.  A mystery of faith-Can you accept never knowing? Can you love without condition?– made manifest.”