Almond: A Novel

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He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. If you liked the Notes or Demian for focusing on the importance of friendship as a developing youth, you will likely enjoy this book too. It seems that it is precisely because Yunjae can't recognize emotions and has had to study them that he has such a profound understanding of the rather subjective nature of the language humans use to describe feelings. It’s all there and you get exactly what you read which was a very refreshing approach and even though the conversations between the characters are pretty unexcited, they still have some sort of beauty to them.

Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung | Goodreads

Meet Yunjae, a boy whose almonds (amygdalae) don’t work very well: he doesn’t experience emotions because his almonds don’t send the right signals to his brain. He stabbed himself in the chest hard and, like most of the other victims, died before the ambulance came. She wouldn't have, like, I don't know, said 'Hey, before you agree, I need to tell you that this kid has special needs that you'll need to know about and understand'? He is a distant narrator, but the way he questions himself and ponders what he should do makes him just as full of life as anyone else.

Creo que el primer acierto es que esté narrada por Yunjae, con ese toque frío y robótico que transmite perfectamente esa falta de sentimientos. Dealing with the aftermath of this, he tries to cope without anyone to help him make through life faking what he's "supposed" to feel.

Books | David Almond Books | David Almond

Love, according to Mom’s actions, was nothing more than nagging about every little thing, with teary eyes, about how one should act such and such in this and that situation. No busca eso para nada, sino que busca la simpleza de alguien con alexitima, de alguien que es incapaz sentir. However, do we actually mean what we say about advocating for change, beyond the black squares posted on social media? A big turn-off for me is that it reads like a young adult novel and I rarely like young adult writing. It was interesting to explore his point of view, as it made me reflect on the way we treat those around us.As things stand sections one through three are still great, but the ending lowered it to a generous 2. The way Won-Pyung Sohn described the process of Yunjae opening the package and tasting the almonds’ texture, made me think about how things that are simple to some — may be difficult for others (and vice versa). Almond, her debut novel, was released in 2017 and translated into English for publication in Australia in 2020.