The Reason I Jump
 Cover of the book | |
| Author | Naoki Higashida |
|---|---|
| Translator | KA Yoshida, David Mitchell |
| Language | Japanese, English |
| Publisher | Random House |
Publication date | 2007 |
Published in English | 2013 |
| Pages | 135 |
| ISBN | 978-0-812-99486-5 |
| Website |
thereasonijump |
The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Voice from the Silence of Autism (自閉症の僕が跳びはねる理由～会話のできない中学生がつづる内なる心～ Jiheishō no Boku ga Tobihaneru Riyū ~Kaiwa no Dekinai Chūgakusei ga Tsuzuru Uchinaru Kokoro~) is a book written by Naoki Higashida in 2005, when he was 13, and originally published in Japan in 2007. The English translation by KA Yoshida and her husband, author David Mitchell, was published in 2013 and became a New York Times Bestseller[1] and a Number 1 Sunday Times bestseller in the UK. Since then it has been translated into over 30 other languages. Higashida was diagnosed as autistic when he was five and he requires the use of a Japanese character grid and a communications facilitator or a computer keyboard to write.
The book includes an introduction by Mitchell, due to his close connection to the text both as translator and father of a child with autism, which has been excerpted on NPR.[2] The majority of the memoir is told through 58 questions Higashida and many other people dealing with autism are commonly asked, as well as interspersed sections of short prose. These sections are either memories Higashida shares or parabolic stories that relate to the themes discussed throughout the memoir. The collections ends with Higashida's short story, "I'm Right Here," which the author prefaces by saying:
I wrote this story in the hope that it will help you to understand how painful it is when you can't express yourself to the people you love. If this story connects with your heart in some way, then I believe you'll be able to connect back to the hearts of people with autism too.[3]
Reception
While the book quickly became successful in Japan, it wasn't until after the English translation that it reached mainstream audiences across the world. On its publication in July 2013 in the UK, it was serialised on BBC Radio 4 as ‘Book of the Week’ and went straight to Number 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list. After its publication in the US (August 2013) it was featured on The Daily Show in an interview between Jon Stewart and David Mitchell[4] and the following day it became #1 on Amazon's bestseller list. In the interview Stewart describes the memoir as "one of the most remarkable books I've read." Other celebrities also offer their support, such as Whoopi Goldberg in her gift guide section in People's Holiday 2013 issue.
In additional to traditional media outlets, the book received attention from Autism organizations and websites from across the globe, many conducting interviews[5] with Mitchell.
Additional Praise
"I have been reading books about autism for 20 years … Most are of some value, but a book that makes me want to say “This is truly important, and anyone interested in autism should read it” is a rare find. The Reason I Jump achieves this status… It is an almost intolerably poignant meditation on love and loss…There are many more questions I’d like to ask Naoki, but the first words I’d say to him are “thank you”."
The Sunday Times (UK)
“This is a guide to what it feels like to be autistic. . . . In Mitchell and Yoshida’s translation, [Higashida] comes across as a thoughtful writer with a lucid simplicity that is both childlike and lyrical. . . . Does this book tell us something new? I believe it does. . . . Higashida is living proof of something we should all remember: in every autistic child, however cut off and distant they may outwardly seem, there resides a warm, beating heart.”
Financial Times (UK)[6]
“Higashida’s child’s-eye view of autism is as much a winsome work of the imagination as it is a user's manual for parents, carers and teachers. . . . This book gives us autism from the inside, as we have never seen it. . . . Its explanation, advice and, most poignantly, its guilt (“The hardest ordeal for us is the idea that we are causing grief for other people”), offers readers eloquent access into an almost entirely unknown world.”
The Independent (UK)[7]
"Naoki's writing is simple and honest, sometimes containing bursts of poetry and more often, poignant bursts of despair. More than anything, the frequent expressions of profound sadness convinced me that this book is not the projection of the hopes of a well-meaning parent or teacher."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette[8]
"The Reason I Jump is a powerful, enigmatic reflection that encourages empathetic understanding for individuals with autism."
Spectrum Culture[9]
Criticism
While The Reason I Jump has connected with many readers, Higashida's experiences cannot speak for all autistic children because of the variety between autistic individuals. Some critics, such as Michael Fitzpatrick, are also skeptical that the facilitated communication was performed without bias, and says the book matches the hopes of an autistic child's parents.[10] He says the book is full of "moralising" and "platitudes". Fitzpatrick rejects that the alleged narrative of the author applies to his own autistic son and explains: "I have come around to agreeing with the pioneering Austrian paediatrician Hans Asperger that ‘the autist is only himself’ – there is nobody trapped inside, no time traveller offering redemption to humanity... I believe that my son enjoys swimming pools because he likes water, not because, in the fanciful speculations of Higashida, he is yearning for a ‘distant, distant watery past’."[10]
Sallie Tisdale says the book raises questions about autism, but also about translation. Tisdale wonders how much the work was influenced by the three adults and their experiences as parents of autistic children. She concludes "We have to be careful about turning what we find into what we want."[11]
References
- ↑ "Best Sellers - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ "The Reason I Jump". NPR.org. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ Higashida, Naoki (2013). The Reason I Jump. New York: Random House. p. 113. ISBN 9780812994865.
- ↑ "October 1, 2013 - David Mitchell". Comedy Central. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ "5 Questions with "The Reason I Jump" Translator David Mitchell". Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ Mitchison, Review by Amanda (2013-07-05). "A voice breaks the silence". Financial Times. ISSN 0307-1766. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ "The Reason I Jump, By Naoki Higashida. Sceptre, £10.99". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ "Naoki Higashida's 'The Reason I Jump': a mirror on autism". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- ↑ "The Reason I Jump: by Naoki Higashida | Spectrum Culture". Retrieved 2016-01-26.
- 1 2 Fitzpatrick, Michael (23 August 2013). "No, autistic children are not the spiritual saviours of mankind". Spiked online. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
- ↑ Tisdale, Sally (23 August 2013). "‘The Reason I Jump,’ by Naoki Higashida". The New York Times (New York, NY: NYTC). ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 29, 2013.