Born on a Blue Day Book by Daniel Tammet

[Staff]

Dedicated forum page for the book - Born on a Blue Day Book by Daniel Tammet. Here you may ask questions, discuss book summary and post reviews of the book.. If you have read this as a book or audiobook or in an ebook/pdf format, please leave your opinions. PS: This is a Staff post moved to top.

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[cubbaluege]

My son suffers from autism and that is the only reason I bought this book and wanted to read it. This book taught me that the little boy who I call my son is not a burden on me; in fact right now I feel privileged to call him my son. All thanks to the author, Daniel Tammet! And I seriously mean it because I would have never looked at autism in this angle and change my attitude towards my son if not for this book. This has been a good intervention before I did any kind of mental or emotional harm to my son.

This book reveals the brain function of a child or an adult with autism and as I flipped through the lines, I got to know that I am being allowed into a different world altogether; a world all hidden from common cynical people.

The book had a personal touch too because the author’s way of writing is exactly similar to the way my son talks and acts and that is why maybe I am head over heels in love with it. And I am so glad to know that children with autism are now accepted and they get a lot of support and guidance from the field experts.

Thank you God for making me come across this book and complete reading it too.

 

[annabel]

This book got a lot of publicity ever since it was published and one out of ever three person I knew was talking great things about it. I was not very keen on buying a copy so I borrowed one from the local library and read it intently on a long flight.

It is a very enjoyable read about a man who hails from England, suffering from Savant syndrome and Asperger’s syndrome. I was stunned reading about his brilliancy with numbers and the different types of visualizations that he has about them as in terms of various shapes and colours.

And how on earth can a person memorize more than 20,000 digits of pi and enumerate it in public that too in a matter of 4-5 hours I suppose.

I think he has achieved quite a lot than compared to many others who are normal and that is worth mentioning and cheering him up.

 

[eastoN]

I loved this book for the manner in which it is written; I think it is a perfect treat and compliment to the author. I being a normal person envy his life, his talents and his accomplishments. I think despite all odds, he has put in sheer hard work and a lot of efforts in making his life amazing the way it is now.

After seeing his passion for numbers and interest in learning languages, I am motivated to learn more math and master new languages. I am pretty sure that I would be able to do it in a week’s time like the author but I think if he can in spite of what he is going through, I definitely can do it.

 

[hushpuppy]

I thought this book would be one of the most inspiring and remarkable book that I have read but to my shock it did not turn out to be that way.

He has described his entire life in a very monotonous and boring manner and there were times when my eyelids simply shut because I couldn’t find it interesting at all.

There is nothing in it that a normal person would like to read; absolutely no quotes, no anecdotes, good humour and style of writing.

Everyone around me who read this book told me it is a sneak peek into his marvellous and extraordinary brain and how things would take an interesting turn but I read the book from start to finish in search of something that kept my interest levels high but there was absolutely nothing.

I wish he had made a little bit more use of his extraordinary brain to make things interesting for normal people like me.

 

[Oakster]

I began reading this book because I was stuck with it for sometime one day and I had nothing else to do. But I feel that it was a great thing I had nothing to do that day because I came across one of the captivating books I had ever read.

Who knew a guy who is labelled mentally handicapped because he suffers from autism but what people who think they are smart do not realize is here is a human being who is much better at doing some amazing things unlike most of us.

I love the way in which the author has written down things about his mind and what exactly he feels at certain moments in a very raw yet inspiring manner. I got totally engrossed reading this book like I felt with no other even though I have nothing to do with autism.

 

[ember]

I was reluctant to read this book because I did not want to feel pity for the guy who wrote it. But once I started reading about how he leads his life and what he has accomplished, I realized there was no room for pitying him or being sympathetic to him because he surely does not need it.

Here is a man who faces n number of challenges on a daily basis but handles it in such a manner which lets him lead a fulfilling and independent life.

Who said he has a disorder; he is a man who is in love with numbers and understands them completely. And so is the case with languages too. He has this amazing ability to learn any new language from scratch and be fluent in it in just a week’s time. I know some of you would like to argue and say that it is something we all are capable of doing but my question here is are we capable of doing it in a week’s time; I don’t think so!

It is a mesmerizing exploration of a special mind and I had complete fun reading it.

 

[stephen]

I think most of us only have a vague idea about what autism is and how exactly a person feels when he is suffering from autism. Through this book, the author has given a pen picture about autism, especially Asperger’s syndrome and what goes on inside the head of a person who has this syndrome.

But the fact that this man has fought against all odds and learnt to accept his abnormalities so that he can lead a normal life has made me have immense respect for him.

Through this book, he has taken the reader with him on his journey of life so that we understand how does things seem for them, what is that in him which makes numbers so fascinating, how he coped being a syn aesthetic where words, letters and numbers had their own colors, shapes, sizes and even sounds.

It is a great read and it is not at all necessary that one with autism only need read it.

 

[SuperMary]

There are a few parts in this book that totally swept me off my feet. I honestly did not know before I read this book that people with autism could be so talented too. I was completely awestruck when I learnt that this guy could do some amazing things with numbers. And not just that he can do math faster than a calculator and has a great memory power which helps him to memorize things accurately.

I could believe my eyes when I read that the guy memorized decimal place numerals up to 20,000 and created a record for himself in 5 hours.

The book changed my attitude towards kids who suffer from autism. I don’t think there is any reason to show unwanted sympathy towards children who are autistic or make fun if them because they are far better off than us.

 

[Gelicider]

I was interested in this book because I wanted to know more about autism and understand what exactly goes on in the inside as my only grandson was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder. I was reading as many books as possible to have a good understanding of what autism is and how my grandson could be affected and what are the ways in which I could help him out etc.

So, when this book was published, I wanted a personal copy right away because I felt there could be no better way to understand autism than to read about the same in a book written by a person who suffers from it.

The author, Daniel Tammet has a kind of autism called Asperger’s syndrome which is a higher functioning form of autism because the kids who suffer from this syndrome so not have any kind of language delays but they have major problems when it comes to socializing and connecting with people.

The author has clearly mentioned in the book that he did not feel awkward at all or feel bad when his classmates made fun of him or when they ignored him because of his condition. Also, he could not feel any pain or did not know how to react when his father fell seriously ill and that is because of the socialization issues that people with such disorders have.

I would say one should try their level best to read this book even if it is they are not trying to deal with autism as it gives you good knowledge about the same and helps you treat such people with compassion.