Amanda Van Loon
EDUC 2530 (3)-005
March 10, 2014
Mike Link
Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey through Autism
Book Review
The novel titled
Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey through Autism is an autobiographical
memoir written by anthropologist Dr. Dawn Prince-Hughes, Ph.D. The author takes
readers through her personal journey of her life while living with undiagnosed
autism. The purpose of this novel is to shed light on how people with autism
function, and the struggles they face within themselves and within society.
Prince-Hughes writes, “What I want to accomplish with this story is to tell
some of what other people with autism have experienced, and much of what I have
experienced as a person with autism” (7). Although the autobiography has its
interesting moments and teaches the readers a lot about the disorder, I found
it to be quite dry and hard to finish because the author is disorganized in her
writing, she does not fully explain details, and she includes facts about
gorillas that have nothing to do with the message she is trying to get across.
Prince-Hughes’ story
begins with her as a young girl living with undiagnosed autism. She talks a lot about being in darkness and how
her teachers and peers do not understand her, so she is labeled as an outcast. The
author discusses how math is difficult because “number threw curves at me, and
stonewalled me with their lines, baring me from understanding them, where they
came from, and where they went” (Prince Hughes 46). Prince Hughes also talks
about struggling with her social life because of her anxieties around people,
so she begins drinking to cope with her anxieties. The next section of Prince-Hughes’
novel takes the reader through a darker period of her life when she is homeless,
drinking, using drugs, and erotic dancing at a strip club. During this period
of her life, she lives on many different couches and sleeps on many streets. The
next section of her novel takes the reader to a better place where
Prince-Hughes turns her life around and uses her autistic abilities to her
advantage. Prince-Hughes visits a zoo and becomes infatuated by the gorilla
exhibit. Day after day she visits the gorillas and simply observes their behaviors.
What Prince-Hughes finds so intriguing about these creatures is that she is
able to relate to them, and observe their behaviors without any judgment being
passed on her. The gorillas teach her social skills like how to relate with
human beings and develop functional relationships. Eventually, Prince-Hughes is
offered a job with the zoo and goes on to complete her Ph.D. in anthropology.
Throughout the end of the novel, Hughes throws in many facts about her
observations of the gorillas and how they are similar to people with autism. The
last few pages summarize important moments in her life such as finding a
partner, having a son, and her work.
Prince-Hughes’ writing
style is disorganized which makes the novel hard to follow. She begins the
novel discussing random moments she has had with gorillas then jumps into her
early years at school. As she discusses events at school she does not specify
her age or grade and it feels like she is just throwing in random stories from
her school life that does not follow any sequential order. Again, as she writes
about her darker years, she is not clear as to how long she was homeless, or
how old she was when she began her erotic dancing. Another example is when
Prince-Hughes writes about her time at the zoo: She is talking to a researcher
who was interested in her skills then suddenly writes, “As I look back on
opening doors and new joinings, I am reminded of the first time I was ever
allowed to go close to the gorillas without glass between us” (Prince-Hughes 107).
In this part of the novel, the author does not give any specific timeline to
the reader to understand when this event happened, or how it is related to the
event before it. At the end of her story she summarizes important moments in
her life but throws in random life events that do not really support her main
thesis of autism awareness such as going into great details about the meaning behind
her son’s name. I think it is important when writing an autobiography to follow
your story from start to finish making it easier for the reader to follow and
understand rather than throwing in pieces here and there and expecting the
reader to understand what is going on.
The author does not
fully explain details which makes her hard to trust. For example Prince-Hughes
writes, “The inspirations of those revelations led me to work to bring books on
these subjects into public consciousness. In my desire to help the world
improve, I am not unique as a person with Asperger’s” (Prince-Hughes 177). In
this passage, she is writing about how she improves the world but does not actually
give details on anything she did or the aftermath. What books did she bring
into public consciousness? When? How did it improve the world? Her writing
styles it is frustrating and leaves the reader with more questions than
answers. Another example is when she is talking about obtaining her Ph.D. in
anthropology she is so vague and leaves out so many details: “For the next
several years I worked with him, and other helpful people, and was able to
apply these studies and my continued zoo involvement toward a degree” (106).
Again, so many questions the reader wants to ask. How did you get a degree?
What kind of work did you do? How did zoo involvement get you a degree? I think
that if the author wants to bring up an event in her life, then it is important
that she completes her ideas and fully explains that event. While reading this
novel, it does not feel like the author thoroughly thought about how a stranger
would interpret her stories. Sure, it makes sense to Prince-Hughes but it does
not make sense to someone who knows nothing about her.
Lastly, the most
frustrating part of this novel was her inclusion of random gorilla facts. I
think her intentions were to explain the behaviors of gorillas and link them to
the behaviors of autistic people, but while reading this novel it felt more
like reading dry boring observations about gorillas. She is clearly proud of
her work, and I think she wants others to read about what she does for a living.
I also found that she repeated herself many times throughout the novel by
saying something along the lines of how gorillas are like autistic people because
they live in a cage. This novel would have been a lot more effective and
educational had she included observations about autistic people instead of
gorillas, or perhaps provided more solid arguments as to why gorillas and
autistic people are relatable. This section of the novel left me confused and
bored.
This novel is intended
to be read by readers who are interested in learning about autism disorder. I
found it rather dry and hard to follow because the author jumps all over the
place and does not fully explain many events that happen. Ultimately, although
I learned what it is like to live with autism, I feel as though this author is
unreliable because many of the events she discusses always feel like she is
keeping other important information from the reader. I don’t think I would
recommend this novel because I do not think that Prince-Hughes was able to do
what she intended to do, and that is give a full detailed experience on what it
is like for a person with autism.
Works Cited
Prince-Hughes, Dawn. Songs of the
Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism. New York: Harmony Books, 2004. Print.
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