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Rating:  -
I read this book after hearing Allan Mayer read some extracts from it at a conference - and I'm so glad that I did. Anyone who was around during the 'big resttlement' of the 1980s will cringe as they recognise many of the absurdities and contradictions of the time. These are beautifully captured by Mayer in the debates about language and 'real choice', the early experiments at social integration ending in tragi-comic farcical outcomes in pubs and shops and his hilarious minutes of residential home staff meetings. He also gives a riveting portrayal of the utterly, bizarre, other-planetary world of the long-stay hospital: that asylum where people were anything but safe, the hospital were people weren't ill and didn't get treated, the NHS facility where most of the staff were more institutionalised than the patients. If you weren't around at that time then this book will give you a searingly honest portrayal of what it was like, including the mistakes and the new absurdities perpetrated by some of the well-meaning but at times over-zealous 'liberators' who supported people out of the hospitals.
However the book is much more than this. At different times it had me shaking with laughter, welling up with tears and consumed by rage - sometimes within the space of one or two pages. He is a gifted comic writer, but never at the expense of the people of he is writing about and has created a world of believable, rounded people, including the people with severe learning disabilities who are the stars of the novel. Although very, very funny at times this is not a comic novel - it has very serious themes and an underlying poignancy. To have created a thriller in which the stars are two people with severe learning disabilities, one of whom can't talk and the other seems to chant nonsense, is some achievement and gives an identity to people which no amount of worthy 'values' training could ever achieve.
Allan Mayer captures something very important about the post-hospital experience of people with learning disabilities and the people who work with them. However progressive and 'person centred' the thinking, we seem to find ever more ingenious ways of not listening to what people with learning disabilities are trying to tell us, even the most progressive amongst us. Some would say especially the most progressive amongst us.
I share other reviewers experience of the at times bizarre layout of this novel, with strange gaps and rogue paragraphs floating up or down to where they shouldn't be. I believe it arises from this being printed to order rather than in bulk. However for me it somehow reflected the world it was written about - it's the sort of book layout you'd expect to come out of the strange world of the mental handicap hospital.
Rating:  -
If you work for people with learning disabilities I recommend this book. Everything in it is so familiar. It is well thought out. Just read it. Also check out 'Spitting Distance' by Jon Wright.
Rating: -
I loved the start of this book. I loved the way it captures so well what we can only imagine to be the frustrations of a person with communication methods which are different from ours. It was this theme I was hoping the author would develop. The secondary strand to the story is the feelings and development of a member of staff new to the world of 'learning disability' and this I feel has been portrayed excellently. I felt, however, that the story line lacked tempo and faded away towards an unsatisfactory ending. I was also put off by the many grammatical errors that appear throughout the book, added to the poor printing quality.
Rating: -
This is an engaging and interesting read - it has good characterisation and alot of suspense. Other reviews have covered the essential plot elements, but let me echo their sentiments and state that Mayers portrayel of British asylums and mental institutions is both vivid and a little haunting.
The story tugs at the heartstrings and there is a good deal of well organised suspense and intrigue. I challenge anyone with a heart not to be moved, amused and appalled in equal measure. The story is let down by the books presentation - my copy had some distinctly odd typesetting and even the odd page with nothing printed on it. I'm not one to let that clowd my judgement of a good story. The front cover is also not as convincing as it could be.
Mayer may need to consider reviewing the tense and POV shifts that happen through the book, these are a little more off putting and can make some scenes confused. The story looses pace in the middle and perhaps would benefit from a little pruning and editing. For many these defects may put them off reading the book, but they shouldn't let it, to do so would be to miss out on a first time authors otherwise commendable and interesting debut novel.
Rating: -
Allan Mayer's "Tasting the Wind" brought back memories of my visits to a long-term-care facility where my mother had spent some time. Allan's characters are so well developed and real-life that I could put faces on them from my meetings with similar caregivers and patients. The descriptions of patients' treatment by the various staff are so authentic, and the anecdotes so real that one cannot help wonder if the author is writing from first-hand experiences?
While the setting of a story in a group-home may not be appealing to some readers, Allan's use of a novel device, the weaving of a murder mystery and humour into the plot, makes the book come alive and a page-turner.
I found the start of the story where an unusual death occurs in a hospital, and its revelation as a murder some years later, captivating. It made me wanting to read on and learn if there might be more similar deaths and the murderer brought to justice. At the same time we learn of the complexities, the difficulties and the intense human interactions needed to run a health care facility. The real life needs and desires of mentally challenged and disabled people are portrayed in a non-intrusive manner that makes us empathise with them. Although Allan brings out his characters on the pages in quick succession, as if in a play, I used the standard technique employed in the theatre, and prepared a list of the cast (in their order of appearance) along with their roles. Perhaps Allan may consider this in his next novel, which might be a sequel? I for one would be interested in learning more about the patients' lives, we had come to esteem, and get to know how they got along in later years.
Reviewed by: Waheed Rabbani, author of, "Doctor Margaret's Sea Chest."
home.cogeco.ca/~wrabbani
 
Tasting the Wind
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