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A review by katephobic
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
3.0
I think that a book is the wrong medium for these kinds of diary entries, and that a blog would have been the much better choice. McAnulty is a boy on the spectrum with a nature hyper fixation. Ok, cool, I was excited to read this and see how he sees the world. However, he is a 14 year old, and it is evident in his thoughts. This book radiates with teenage angst. He acts like absolutely nobody understands him, not even his fellow nature lovers- he says that we need to be three dimensional human beings, yet refuses to talk to any of his classmates about anything but the outside. There is a quote I wrote down that left such a bad taste in my mouth, “There are three men fishing on the rocks. What an idiot thing to do.” What are you talking about?? I do understand that he has felt excluded by his peers his entire life and is entitled to his own opinions. However, he acts so high and mighty above everyone else because he knows how to stop and live a slower life.
The descriptions for the world around him are interesting and well written. Just the beginning of Winter… I mean wow. He talks a lot about how much nature helps him and how he feels that we should live outside more often, exploring and feeling joy. I do agree with this and admit that this is not a common thought amongst our generation. I listened to this on an audiobook while walking, and thought to myself “wow, there’s so much out here that I don’t even stop to look at” and just stopped by a pond and watched the waves ripple, listening to McAnulty’s voice. This was a very pleasant experience. I also liked the interweaving of Irish mythology, something I don’t know anything about. I struggled to rate this because I don’t want to judge a 14 year old too harshly, but I think I will stick with 3 stars.
The descriptions for the world around him are interesting and well written. Just the beginning of Winter… I mean wow. He talks a lot about how much nature helps him and how he feels that we should live outside more often, exploring and feeling joy. I do agree with this and admit that this is not a common thought amongst our generation. I listened to this on an audiobook while walking, and thought to myself “wow, there’s so much out here that I don’t even stop to look at” and just stopped by a pond and watched the waves ripple, listening to McAnulty’s voice. This was a very pleasant experience. I also liked the interweaving of Irish mythology, something I don’t know anything about. I struggled to rate this because I don’t want to judge a 14 year old too harshly, but I think I will stick with 3 stars.