Review by cechappell -- That Place of Knowledge

[cechappell]

[Following is a volunteer review of "That Place of Knowledge" by Philip Alan Shalka.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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In Philip Alan Shalka’s That Place of Knowledge he focuses on what it is like to have autism while you are still very intelligent. Autism is a spectrum, and many do not realize that. The book does not delve much into what others think about Philip. Instead it focuses on Philip’s dog, Sabre, who is a bystander to all of Philip’s thoughts and interactions. The dog can communicate with those around him, which in turn leads to him being able to talk to Philip about his concerns. They travel to ancient Greece to meet and discover new things. Philip himself identifies with the thinkers, and this fictional book takes you on a journey of self-expression, enjoying oneself, and learning about who you truly are.

In the book Philip is described as an unpredictable adventurous kid who followed routines. This changes one day when they jump into a pool. This can be described as Philip’s journey to finding himself, but it is set in the past. The entire book itself is about the journey of one person finding who they truly are and where they fit in. Philip’s dog follows him on this journey.

The book is very interesting. The ideas and story line for the book is fantastic. It is interesting in a way that surprised me. At first, I was a little put off because the story line did not seem to go together, but I think that if the ideas were fleshed out more and some details were fixed a little then it will be an amazing read. One interesting thing to me was that they went into the past to speak to a philosopher. While this is a good idea, I do not think that the story had them going into the past in a way that made sense. They entered through a trap door at the bottom of the pool. This could be executed in a better way instead of him just jumping into the pool.

One thing to mention is that there was a lot of dialogue in the book, with little breaks between reading them. If the scenery were more descriptive, the dog’s thoughts fleshed out more, or less dialogue then it would have been great. There was not much to dislike besides the dialogue issue, which gets repetitive after a while because you are just reading it like a conversation and not a story.

The book’s theme of finding oneself and self-expression is done relatively well despite it being done in mostly dialogue. It would have been great if we could have seen how it went back in his real world instead of just in ancient Greece. I think that it would have gotten the message across about staying true to yourself even better than it just being in ancient Greece. It makes it seem like he can only be who he really is when he is around those like him, but if we could see that he can be true to himself around anyone then we would see the actual effects of it in society and to the individual.

The book made me realize that I am not always true to myself, just as I believe everyone has a hard time doing. It positively affected me because I realized that I should work on being happier, so that I am able to accept myself for who I am to show others that. People with autism are not any different from other people. No one person is better than another. You should achieve happiness over time by getting to know who you truly are instead of focusing on creating happiness right away, right at that exact moment. I would give That Place of Knowledge 2 out of 4 stars.

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That Place of Knowledge
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[Izesicle]

I also wished that the dog's thoughts be fleshed out more.Please feel free to check out my review of this book. I rated it 3 out of 4 stars.

[kdstrack]

I agree with your remark that often we find it difficult to accept people who are quiet on the outside but have amazing gifts on the inside. Thanks for your review.