PanProspect (UK)If it weren’t for the fact that le Carré was one of the greatest novelists of the last 60 years, not to mention one of the most bankable, chances are this book would have stayed locked in the desk drawer ... Le Carré’s greatest books are made from this stuff, and when he’s at his best he turns out his stories with subtlety and precision. But in this book that sense of precision has gone awry and the result is a kind of vagueness, a loss of tension. In the end, the thing just falls flat.
Simon Baron-Cohen
PositiveThe Spectator... he unpicks the instincts and processes that have driven human progress. His conclusion? The great engine of our advancement as a species has been autistic behaviour ... It’s a bold, rather startling claim. In this intriguing volume, the author explains that it is the habitual pattern-seekers who are responsible for human invention ... Not all autistic people are lucky enough to find an outlet for their abilities. Many are unemployed and isolated, and the toll on their mental and physical wellbeing can be heavy. Baron-Cohen rightly calls for more help to assist those people whom he classifies as ‘neurodiverse’. His central argument, however, is that autistic people have been ‘drivers of the evolution of science, technology, art’ and that if we are to progress as a species, we must do more to encourage and benefit from their unique way of thinking. By the end of this carefully constructed, profound book, it’s hard to disagree.
