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From the Eye of my Mind
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 5, 2013
I have an autistic cousin whose brother is getting married in a few months. So, when I got to know about this book ,I didn't think twice before wanting to read it. I hadn't read any reviews about the book then.Now that I have finished reading the book, I am happy that I picked it up. From the Eye of my mind is a charming , sensitive book. The story line is fairly simple and told from the POV of an 18-year old autistic child. She loves humming beetles songs , downloads and reads anything she can lay her hands on and is a mini encyclopedia of sorts. Her world is shattered when her big brother decides to get married . Mallika doesn't know how to deal with the new 'stranger' in her life. The rest of the story is about Mallika's journey towards acceptance.
I don't know much about autistic children , except that certain faculties are extremely well-developed , while certain others(particularly social interactions) are lacking . TGC Prasad wonderfully captures Mallika's thought process well and has let his simple story-telling style shine. One can't by start loving Mallika and her motley family. I quite liked Mallika's dad's charecter - a hen-pecked mild-mannered LIC officer who sells LIC policies to all and sundry.Other characters are also extremely believable. I also loved the way Mallika spouts trivia at the most inopportune moments.. The book is totally adorable, I have to say.
The story is not just about Mallika's acceptance of the her sister-in-law , but also about the family coming to terms with a new addition to their family. Mallika's mother's attitude grated on my nerves , but I am willing to concede that a lot of Indian women with sons of marriageable age think that way, and that it is very representative of the thinking of the Indian middle class. I would have given a 5 , but decided against it because I didn't like the way the ending was handled.It was a little rushed and dramatic for my comfort. Maybe I am too much of a feminist to accept the brother wanting his new bride to quit work to help his mother cook and take care of his sister. Which is why the book gets a 4 from me.
Overall , a lovely book that is breezy and poignant at the
same time. One would be reminded of Mark Haddon's The curious incident of a dog in night's time. But this book is very Indian in the context and brims with extremely believable characters not to mention being narrated from the POV of an extremely adorable and intelligent child.
February 17, 2013
This is awesome! From the Eye of My Mind is one book that you don't want to stop reading once you begin. It has that funny sense of getting a reader hooked, where you don't find anything heavy in the book, but it's just so 'pure' and sweet that you just can't stop. I have no other way of explaining it. The book is essentially written in first person, from the point of view of Mallika, the eighteen year old protagonist who's an autistic, a special child. That's the first thing that's remarkable about this book. It easily makes you forget the world you live in and you get to 'experience' life as an autistic kid.
I really grew fond of Mallika. Maybe it was the first person thing, like we're reading something she wrote, like a cute story, or maybe because I loved the fact that her family was so caring. I mean, I absolutely adore the way her parents and her brother and even their housekeeper Subbu and Mallika's friend Swati are so comfortable for her. It could also be because of the pure innocence and curiosity that she has. It's just so heartwarming and beautiful.
I really liked the simplicity of it all. It's like reading Mallika's diary, which makes it deeply intriguing, because that's how Mallika is. That's why I personally am so fond of such books. They're emotional, and they give you a sense of someone else's life in such an amazing manner so that you automatically turn introspective and learn to think in a broader light. Initially you may find it exasperating, because you're not aware of a special child's way of thinking, but once you get acquainted, it's impossible to not like it.
Recommended for all! :)
I really grew fond of Mallika. Maybe it was the first person thing, like we're reading something she wrote, like a cute story, or maybe because I loved the fact that her family was so caring. I mean, I absolutely adore the way her parents and her brother and even their housekeeper Subbu and Mallika's friend Swati are so comfortable for her. It could also be because of the pure innocence and curiosity that she has. It's just so heartwarming and beautiful.
I really liked the simplicity of it all. It's like reading Mallika's diary, which makes it deeply intriguing, because that's how Mallika is. That's why I personally am so fond of such books. They're emotional, and they give you a sense of someone else's life in such an amazing manner so that you automatically turn introspective and learn to think in a broader light. Initially you may find it exasperating, because you're not aware of a special child's way of thinking, but once you get acquainted, it's impossible to not like it.
Recommended for all! :)
June 16, 2015
Mallika, an eighteen year old, is a very intelligent but autistic girl, who remembers everything a person tells or she reads in books or the Internet including the trivia. She stores all the collected information in folders and sub-folders in her computer. She organizes the information with proper cross-reference and dates. She can memorize things in menu cards and remember details in the telephone directories. Mallika also likes solving puzzles. She attends class in a special-school where her friend Swati, another special girl gives her company.
Mallika lives in a strangely whimsical yet ordered world of her own. When her mother breaks the news to her that her beloved elder brother Ananth is going to get married, her fragile world collapses. How will she deal with a stranger in her home and life? The author displays great research in getting into the mind of Mallika – narrating her insecurities, her instincts, her fears and her genuine confusion at the helm of things. There are few really touching scenes – like the one in which she boards a bus in order to get away from the mess of being in the company of a stranger (Ananth’s fiancée) and finds herself saved by a nun. Or the one in which she finally accepts the new member in her family.
The book makes a pertinent point about how autistic people need social acceptance and a right to lead a life of dignity; if handled with care, love and patience. Where it falters slightly is the final act – where it goes well in establishing the world of Mallika but the climax is just too simplistic and it appears that the author did not wanted to take the difficult path to end this interesting story. The whole point of accepting a child with special ability by sacrificing your own financial and emotional security is plain rubbish and could have been dealt with more maturity.
Length has always been a problem with Prasad’s books and this one is no exception. There are just too many self-referencing and quizzical portions which are fine to start with in an order to explain the world from Mallika’s point of view but when it keeps on going on an infinite loop, it is distracting and adds very little to the flow of the story in totality.
Told in an inimitable style, it is a tale of acceptance, love and indeed, a beautiful mind. I am going with 3/5 for TGC Prasad's second fiction novel. Read it because it has been well researched and told. You just wish it was a lot shorter and had a more bolder and meaningful ending.
Mallika lives in a strangely whimsical yet ordered world of her own. When her mother breaks the news to her that her beloved elder brother Ananth is going to get married, her fragile world collapses. How will she deal with a stranger in her home and life? The author displays great research in getting into the mind of Mallika – narrating her insecurities, her instincts, her fears and her genuine confusion at the helm of things. There are few really touching scenes – like the one in which she boards a bus in order to get away from the mess of being in the company of a stranger (Ananth’s fiancée) and finds herself saved by a nun. Or the one in which she finally accepts the new member in her family.
The book makes a pertinent point about how autistic people need social acceptance and a right to lead a life of dignity; if handled with care, love and patience. Where it falters slightly is the final act – where it goes well in establishing the world of Mallika but the climax is just too simplistic and it appears that the author did not wanted to take the difficult path to end this interesting story. The whole point of accepting a child with special ability by sacrificing your own financial and emotional security is plain rubbish and could have been dealt with more maturity.
Length has always been a problem with Prasad’s books and this one is no exception. There are just too many self-referencing and quizzical portions which are fine to start with in an order to explain the world from Mallika’s point of view but when it keeps on going on an infinite loop, it is distracting and adds very little to the flow of the story in totality.
Told in an inimitable style, it is a tale of acceptance, love and indeed, a beautiful mind. I am going with 3/5 for TGC Prasad's second fiction novel. Read it because it has been well researched and told. You just wish it was a lot shorter and had a more bolder and meaningful ending.
February 27, 2015
From my blog: http://thegloballycurious.blogspot.in...
Mallika, an autistic 18-year old girl, likes to have everything stay exactly how she wants it. If there is no soap in her bathroom, she can't use it. She does not speak to strangers, which includes everyone outside of her family, her teacher, and her only friend.
She remembers everything that she sees and reads, and loves to recite information to the people in her circle. She is not stupid, as some people call her; she just thinks differently than other people do.
When her parents want her elder brother Ananth to get married, she refuses. No strangers in the house! No matter what they do, she does not want things to change.
Meanwhile her brother is arguing with their parents about the arranged marriage. It turns out he loves someone else. But her background might be a bit of a problem...
Autism
This book is told from the point of view of the autistic young woman. Although Mallika notices everything that people do and say, she doesn't understand what their words or actions mean. Since the reader is privy to all of her thoughts, we get to see how she gets confused. She often wonders why someone is, for example, crying and smiling at the same time. She thought that you cry when you're sad and you smile when you're happy, but this new action frustrates her because it doesn't follow the rules.
Although I admit that very little experience with autistic individuals (I met some who were working in a store once...), the way Mallika sees the world meshes with my understanding of how their brain functions. More importantly, the book asserts the importance of viewing everyone as an individual whose brain works in a unique way. My brain, as someone who is very empathic and deals with anxiety and depression, also works differently from others' in ways that are relatively predictable. I am just now learning about these differences and how to work with them.
From Mallika, we can learn that people whose brains work differently are not better or worse - they're just different. If they are treated as individual adults, rather than examples of a disorder, everyone's life will be better.
Mallika, an autistic 18-year old girl, likes to have everything stay exactly how she wants it. If there is no soap in her bathroom, she can't use it. She does not speak to strangers, which includes everyone outside of her family, her teacher, and her only friend.
She remembers everything that she sees and reads, and loves to recite information to the people in her circle. She is not stupid, as some people call her; she just thinks differently than other people do.
When her parents want her elder brother Ananth to get married, she refuses. No strangers in the house! No matter what they do, she does not want things to change.
Meanwhile her brother is arguing with their parents about the arranged marriage. It turns out he loves someone else. But her background might be a bit of a problem...
Autism
This book is told from the point of view of the autistic young woman. Although Mallika notices everything that people do and say, she doesn't understand what their words or actions mean. Since the reader is privy to all of her thoughts, we get to see how she gets confused. She often wonders why someone is, for example, crying and smiling at the same time. She thought that you cry when you're sad and you smile when you're happy, but this new action frustrates her because it doesn't follow the rules.
Although I admit that very little experience with autistic individuals (I met some who were working in a store once...), the way Mallika sees the world meshes with my understanding of how their brain functions. More importantly, the book asserts the importance of viewing everyone as an individual whose brain works in a unique way. My brain, as someone who is very empathic and deals with anxiety and depression, also works differently from others' in ways that are relatively predictable. I am just now learning about these differences and how to work with them.
From Mallika, we can learn that people whose brains work differently are not better or worse - they're just different. If they are treated as individual adults, rather than examples of a disorder, everyone's life will be better.
November 12, 2016
I loved this book, which I picked up after Mockingbird, and is written with similar sensitivity, from the point of view of a 18 year old girl on the spectrum ... until I came to the last chapter. Typical of a family from India, the plot goes in completely non-feminist directions that left me annoyed. A family that is enlightened enough to be so sensitive to the needs of a daughter who is special, goes completely the traditional way when it comes to a wife/daughter in law. A book that I might have given 5 stars, gets only 4. This is a YA book, and do we want to give this message to our 16-21 year old? That if you get married, it gives your husband the right to push you around and disregard your feelings? Not just that, but that this is a completely valid thing to happen, and you suddenly become the 'good' daughter in law if you give in to their tantrums and 'sacrifice' your career in the name of the greater good?
Disappointing. At least, not in YA fiction, please.
Disappointing. At least, not in YA fiction, please.
March 6, 2013
Simplistic yet beautiful is how I'd describe the book. The idea is brilliant, to see the world through the eyes of an autistic child- her life as she sees it and the lives of her family and friends. The author has been successful in bringing out the challenges that a special-needs child faces in day-to-day life without being overly emotional. The narrative sometimes gets boring with too many 'fun' facts but I should give Mr. Prasad full marks for maintaining the sensitiveness of such an important issue.
August 2, 2013
A very sweet, feel good book, written in simple language of an eighteen year old autistic girl, Mallika. Interspersed with trivia that she throws at everyone around, the story is told in first person from the point of view of Mallika and it take us through her life, the members of her life, her school and friends. At the heart of it all is her coming to terms with a stranger, in this case, her brother's wife.
A pleasant and easy read
A pleasant and easy read
March 13, 2013
"Gorillas can also catch cold. We can give them vicks." I havent laughed so hard in a very long time.
This book reminds me why story telling doesn't always need plots, and build-ups and fancy words from a thesaurus.
A story can be written in a simple yet brilliant way and leave you with a smile in the end.
Smart, witty, shy, simple, just like the main protagonist.
This book reminds me why story telling doesn't always need plots, and build-ups and fancy words from a thesaurus.
A story can be written in a simple yet brilliant way and leave you with a smile in the end.
Smart, witty, shy, simple, just like the main protagonist.
June 23, 2015
The book is story of protagonist Mallika, an eighteen year old, autistic child, but special child. I picked this book by it's unusual title and fell in love with the innocence and intelligence of Mallika. There is some kind of innocent, honest and unusual mystery in this book, that I read some portions again and again. This book deserves your time !
December 31, 2014
This is the simplest book I have read so far. Its simplicity is its strong point. Loved it. There are a few typos, which could be taken care in next edition just to fine tune the book.
Thank you Privy for recommending this book.
Thank you Privy for recommending this book.
January 31, 2015
A doorway to a new world. World where logic takes you from point A to B and there is no place for extra embellishments human beings involve into. Lucid writing and witty. Book will put a smile on your face when you are done. So its worthy.
February 5, 2013
Lovely book!!
A must read. Sweet and simple. A story of an autistic child.
A must read. Sweet and simple. A story of an autistic child.
March 11, 2014
AMAZING! .. that's the word I would use to describe this book . its simplistic approach somehow manages pave way to your heart!
April 13, 2013
Indeed touched my heart.. Overwhelming very poignant!!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews