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For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind by Rosemary Mahoney
cseibs's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book for free as a First Reads book.
There is a fine line between providing useful information about how the blind live and turning them into sideshow freaks to be gawked at. Mahoney seems to narrate her own evolution from seeing the blind as frightening marvels to accepting them as people who happen to experience the world differently. I appreciated her final chapters where she shows more comfort around the blind, but it still felt a little awkward in that she felt the need to comment on how normal they were, as though that in itself is remarkable. I think the nature of this type of book makes it difficult not to paint with broad strokes and, thus, there is an inherent patronizing tone. I never completely got away from the sense that Mahoney was acting the role of the magnanimous white lady helping these poor blind folk.
That said, I appreciate the chapters on the history of the blind and the biomechanics of blindness. I found her discussion of those who had their vision restored to be fascinating. In all, though, I think I would rather have read a book about blindness written by a blind person, and I think I will be picking up some of the memoirs Mahoney references in the future.
There is a fine line between providing useful information about how the blind live and turning them into sideshow freaks to be gawked at. Mahoney seems to narrate her own evolution from seeing the blind as frightening marvels to accepting them as people who happen to experience the world differently. I appreciated her final chapters where she shows more comfort around the blind, but it still felt a little awkward in that she felt the need to comment on how normal they were, as though that in itself is remarkable. I think the nature of this type of book makes it difficult not to paint with broad strokes and, thus, there is an inherent patronizing tone. I never completely got away from the sense that Mahoney was acting the role of the magnanimous white lady helping these poor blind folk.
That said, I appreciate the chapters on the history of the blind and the biomechanics of blindness. I found her discussion of those who had their vision restored to be fascinating. In all, though, I think I would rather have read a book about blindness written by a blind person, and I think I will be picking up some of the memoirs Mahoney references in the future.
juleemhuy's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent book, it is as it states for the benefit of those who see. Challenges the typical right and bias toward sight and displays the beauty and ability in blindness.
matchaghost's review against another edition
3.0
I was very curious to read this book and rosemary didn't disapoint. I very much enjoyed her stories in Tibet and those who are already blind; their journey was courageous and inspiring. I found myself with new found knowlege of blindness as many people take their eyes for granted.
liralen's review against another edition
3.0
Both thought-provoking and perhaps a little disappointing. Others have covered the book (good and bad) better than I can, so I'll keep this short.
Mahoney, spurred on by a fear of blindness, seeks to better understand the lives of the blind and how they perceived the world around them. It is in many ways a slow process for her; teaching English in a school where most of the students are blind (run by [a:Sabriye Tenberken|167186|Sabriye Tenberken|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png] -- not a school for basic academics and functioning but for aspiring entrepreneurs), although she fairly quickly adjusts to the ways in which the students have learned to navigate the world around them, it is much longer before she can detach from...I'm not sure what term I want here. Automatic pity?
The subtitle is dispatches from the world of the blind, but make no mistake: This is a book by the sighted, for the sighted. Although Mahoney profiles both students she taught and people of historical interest, the focus ends up being more about her own journey. That's not necessarily a bad thing, or out of line, but I did want more perspectives from the people she's interacting with rather than her perspectives of their lives. (She spends a lot of time talking about Tenberken, which also doesn't seem unreasonable -- except that Tenberken's already told her own story.) I'm also curious about how her experience would have been different had her interactions been with people in more developed countries. Some of her students were from highly developed countries -- Germany, Japan, etc. -- but they get a lot less screen time, for whatever reason. Probably outside the scope of this book, but (leaving aside the question of academics vs. entrepreneurship) I'd be interested to know how experiences differ at, say, any of the dozens of schools for the blind in the U.S.
One of the most interesting things Mahoney discusses, though, is the question of those who gain sight after a life lived without it. It's here that some of her students' comments really click -- how can you miss a sense that you've never had? When she talks about the struggles particular individuals have had in adjusting to sight, it's clearer than ever that the problem is not sightlessness but a society built solely for the sighted. How do you prepare someone for a sense (an incredibly stimulating sense, at that) they've never experienced?
Mahoney, spurred on by a fear of blindness, seeks to better understand the lives of the blind and how they perceived the world around them. It is in many ways a slow process for her; teaching English in a school where most of the students are blind (run by [a:Sabriye Tenberken|167186|Sabriye Tenberken|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-ccc56e79bcc2db9e6cdcd450a4940d46.png] -- not a school for basic academics and functioning but for aspiring entrepreneurs), although she fairly quickly adjusts to the ways in which the students have learned to navigate the world around them, it is much longer before she can detach from...I'm not sure what term I want here. Automatic pity?
The subtitle is dispatches from the world of the blind, but make no mistake: This is a book by the sighted, for the sighted. Although Mahoney profiles both students she taught and people of historical interest, the focus ends up being more about her own journey. That's not necessarily a bad thing, or out of line, but I did want more perspectives from the people she's interacting with rather than her perspectives of their lives. (She spends a lot of time talking about Tenberken, which also doesn't seem unreasonable -- except that Tenberken's already told her own story.) I'm also curious about how her experience would have been different had her interactions been with people in more developed countries. Some of her students were from highly developed countries -- Germany, Japan, etc. -- but they get a lot less screen time, for whatever reason. Probably outside the scope of this book, but (leaving aside the question of academics vs. entrepreneurship) I'd be interested to know how experiences differ at, say, any of the dozens of schools for the blind in the U.S.
One of the most interesting things Mahoney discusses, though, is the question of those who gain sight after a life lived without it. It's here that some of her students' comments really click -- how can you miss a sense that you've never had? When she talks about the struggles particular individuals have had in adjusting to sight, it's clearer than ever that the problem is not sightlessness but a society built solely for the sighted. How do you prepare someone for a sense (an incredibly stimulating sense, at that) they've never experienced?
aprilshelene's review
3.0
I read an excerpt of this book for class. From what I read, I loved the Author's writing style and I liked the people involved with this moment. There were some moments that I found to be a bit dull and to me, there was nothing groundbreaking so I only rated a 3 out of 5. Maybe in the future I'll read the full book to see how I actually feel about it, but for now it was a "meh" read.
ncrabb's review against another edition
2.0
Essentially, the book details the sighted author’s experiences working with blind students in India and Tibet. It is a chronicle of her own assumptions and fears, and she makes a gallant attempt here at demonstrating to her sighted readership how false many of her assumptions were.
This was probably a good book for me to read because it enhanced my empathy toward those who lose their sight. My initial inclination is to encourage such individuals to “just suck it up and move forward,” a perfectly horrible thing to quietly believe, let alone say out loud to anyone. After all, how well did I just suck it up and move forward when I spent three months in a wheelchair in early 2016? I was an abysmal failure at Suck It Up and Move Forward school during that time, I can tell you. So I’ll be the first to say I needed the empathy.
That said, I didn’t feel like I could relate to the other students in ways I should have—probably speaks to a personal deficiency of mine, not the author’s talent or efforts at bridging that gap. I also think the book accurately describes the fear and hatred and revulsion that greets blind and visually impaired people even here in the U.S. on a regular basis. There’s always a choice—either dwell on that revulsion or push through it and educate whomever you can one at a time. The book serves as a stark reminder of how relatively well off those of us in the U.S. really are. I get that many of us live in horrific circumstances, but a heck of a lot of us think nothing of whipping out the iPhone X or the iPad Pro without agonizing over whether we can afford to do that. Granted, there’s some reference in this book to Internet connections and screen readers, but there’s a lot in here about stinging red ants infesting a bed and snakes that rear up in preparation for who knows what kind of horror.
There are horror stories here about parents who deliberately abandon blind children or even seek to kill them. While sighted Americans aren't engaging in the wholesale destruction of the nation's blind and visually impaired population, the author points out that blindness is the one life condition feared most by Americans who aren't blind. It apparently ranks above terminal illnesses in the most feared category. That doesn't surprise me based on interactions I've had with others.
This was probably a good book for me to read because it enhanced my empathy toward those who lose their sight. My initial inclination is to encourage such individuals to “just suck it up and move forward,” a perfectly horrible thing to quietly believe, let alone say out loud to anyone. After all, how well did I just suck it up and move forward when I spent three months in a wheelchair in early 2016? I was an abysmal failure at Suck It Up and Move Forward school during that time, I can tell you. So I’ll be the first to say I needed the empathy.
That said, I didn’t feel like I could relate to the other students in ways I should have—probably speaks to a personal deficiency of mine, not the author’s talent or efforts at bridging that gap. I also think the book accurately describes the fear and hatred and revulsion that greets blind and visually impaired people even here in the U.S. on a regular basis. There’s always a choice—either dwell on that revulsion or push through it and educate whomever you can one at a time. The book serves as a stark reminder of how relatively well off those of us in the U.S. really are. I get that many of us live in horrific circumstances, but a heck of a lot of us think nothing of whipping out the iPhone X or the iPad Pro without agonizing over whether we can afford to do that. Granted, there’s some reference in this book to Internet connections and screen readers, but there’s a lot in here about stinging red ants infesting a bed and snakes that rear up in preparation for who knows what kind of horror.
There are horror stories here about parents who deliberately abandon blind children or even seek to kill them. While sighted Americans aren't engaging in the wholesale destruction of the nation's blind and visually impaired population, the author points out that blindness is the one life condition feared most by Americans who aren't blind. It apparently ranks above terminal illnesses in the most feared category. That doesn't surprise me based on interactions I've had with others.
cheriekg's review against another edition
3.0
I almost gave up on this about 2/3rds of the way in just because the author's constant, condescending amazement ("Blind people knew I was in the room! By my smell! Like the can adapt to blindness!") grew wearisome. However, the last bit of the book, when she is teaching English in a school for blind adults focused on social change, redeemed it a bit. Once she stops filtering everything through her condescension, the amazing stories of these blind people, mostly from developing countries with severe prejudice against the blind, really come through.
jdscott50's review against another edition
3.0
An author's inner journey through her own perceptions of what it means to be blind drives this memoir/history of society treatment of the blind. Assigned to a magazine profile on Tibet's first school for the blind, Braille Without Borders, she realized that she needed to face her own fears of being blind. An incident in high school almost left her blind in one eye. She further recounts a scene in the film All Quiet on the Western Front where she thinks someone dies of blindness. She finds her own issue mirrors those of society as a whole over centuries. In her exploration of the school and the history of the treatment of those who are blind she becomes an advocate for them.
The story itself is interspersed with her own personal history, stories at the school, and a history of the treatment of the blind going back centuries. Stopping at well known figures such as Helen Keller, she is able to make us face our own treatment of those with handicaps. Her initial feelings towards the blind are quite primitive (she would rather be dead than blind when she was a teenager). I'm often reminded of the book Day of the Triffids where an alien plant blinds humanity, making them vulnerable to invasion. Some of the comments in that book are quite shocking and demonstrates that even in the 1950s; thinking towards the blind was still quite primitive.
While Mahoney does an excellent job telling the stories of the children at the school as well as a good history, It would have been nice to see more information on what is happening today. What are the resources now? If people are inclined to help after reading the book, what should they do? Generally, her attempt is to change our perceptions as she quotes Flannery O'Conner in the beginning of the book, "To get back to the crutches, the truth about them is that they worry the onlooker more than the user." She achieves her goal in helping to change perspectives, but I thought she could have gone further with the story and discuss the issues of today.
The story itself is interspersed with her own personal history, stories at the school, and a history of the treatment of the blind going back centuries. Stopping at well known figures such as Helen Keller, she is able to make us face our own treatment of those with handicaps. Her initial feelings towards the blind are quite primitive (she would rather be dead than blind when she was a teenager). I'm often reminded of the book Day of the Triffids where an alien plant blinds humanity, making them vulnerable to invasion. Some of the comments in that book are quite shocking and demonstrates that even in the 1950s; thinking towards the blind was still quite primitive.
While Mahoney does an excellent job telling the stories of the children at the school as well as a good history, It would have been nice to see more information on what is happening today. What are the resources now? If people are inclined to help after reading the book, what should they do? Generally, her attempt is to change our perceptions as she quotes Flannery O'Conner in the beginning of the book, "To get back to the crutches, the truth about them is that they worry the onlooker more than the user." She achieves her goal in helping to change perspectives, but I thought she could have gone further with the story and discuss the issues of today.