Monday, December 15, 2008

A Mango Shaped Space

by Wendy Mass
Read December 2008


I was going through the fiction collection at the library, evaluating the books for weeding or replacement. A Mango Shaped Space had a huge stain inside the back cover (interestingly, it was mango colored). In looking at it to see if it was worth replacing, I noticed that the book was about synesthesia. Here's the definition of that word:

Synesthesia is a condition in which one sense is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses.

I first read about synesthesia in a book called The Man Who Tasted Shapes, about a man who would actually feel shapes with his hands whenever he tasted somethings. Other syesthetes can "hear colors" or "see sounds." In A Mango Shaped Space, the main character, Mia, sees colors in different sounds. The sound her cat makes causes Mia to see a mango color, hence the name of the book.


The book was pretty good. It was an interesting description of someone realizing she isn't like everyone else. Not everyone sees sounds, Mia finds out one day in math class. She is embarrased by her condition and tries to rid herself of it. But if she gets rid of it, then who is she? That's the dilemma in this book.



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