Dana’s Comments (group member since Mar 07, 2011)

Dana’s comments from the Eleven Reader's Club group.

Deafening Analysis
By: Dana Mohammad

“Sound knocks us over, blocks all thoughts, seeps into the body like a deadly gas, seeps into everything around until there is no rift or fissure left unfilled.” (Deafening Pg. 260)
This quote is the essence of the book Deafening by Frances Itani. Not only Canadians should read this book, but everyone around the world must pick up this amazing read. Deafening is an erratic, dramatic, emotional rollercoaster. It takes you to a whole new world. You experience things you never thought to experience from a book. Deafening is not only an astonishing book, but an extraordinary adventure.
While reading this book, you not only feel as if you have become to know the characters in the novel, but you feel as if you are a part of them. Sharing their happiness, their distress and their love. Telling the story of Grania, who becomes deaf at the age of 5 due to a severe scarlet fever, Deafening shows you what it is really like to be on the outside looking in. It allows you to feel connected to her because the things she experiences applies to people all around the world. Not understanding figurative phrases or words not used in their literal context is an obstacle that many people go through.
“The language of the hearing was never simple. Language is our battleground. The one over which we fight, but with no desire to be part of the conflict.” (Pg. 365)
That is just one of the many lines Grania says to express the world from her point of view. A world where sound is silence. Deafening takes you through various moments where you begin to realize what truly is important in life. It distinguishes between hate and forgiveness, love and loss, and fear and excitement.
As well as taking you through the commotion that is Granias life, Deafening introduces a whole new aspect to the novel. War. The horrors seen, the friends made and the agony they were put through is truly a riveting experience. Reading about World War I from Deafening is like being in a front row seat watching it all happen before your eyes. The vivid images, the descriptive language all come together like a perfect puzzle. Frances Itani uses powerful language and imagery to capture your attention and leave you speechless.
An immense plus side to this book is that while you learn all about the wonders of being deaf you learn all about Canada. Places such as Montreal, Toronto, Belleville and Deseronto, Ontario - where the book took place - were referred to throughout the novel. It gives you a sense of how diverse Canada is while teaching you things you never knew.
“A deaf child will learn 300 to 500 words in a year if at all intelligent. First, the child is taught the sounds and then how to combine them.” (Pg. 3)
Facts just like this are put before every chapter of Deafening to further make you feel connected to the people in this book, especially Grania. It opens your mind and fills it with remarkable knowledge. Knowledge that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.
Deafening is a book that sends out a strong and powerful message. Flipping through these pages is opening up a new chapter in your own life. It is a movie that you never want to come to an end. It is cake that you never want to finish. It is a long awaited vacation to paradise. This novel must be read by all Canadians, but reading it is simply not enough. It needs to be the blood that runs through your viens.

The book I chose is Deafening by Frances Itani. The first thing that interested me about this book was its title. Deafening says a lot with just one word and I was curious to know what the book would be about. The book is told from the perspective of Grania who at the age of 5 had a scarlet fever leaving her deaf. Grania lives in a small town in Ontario and I thought it would be interesting to learn more about areas in Ontario other than Scarborough. The thing that attracted me the most about this book is that it is written in perspective of a deaf woman. Not many of us know what it feels like to lose a sense and take it for granted so I am hoping that this book allows me to understand how it feels to cope with it.
In the story, Grania falls in love with a hearing man and uncovering how they both communicate through silence is something that intrigued me. Jim-the man she falls in love with- later on leaves to be in the First World War as a stretcher bearer. Although, I know the basic facts about WWI I think it would be more interesting to get to read an inside perspective on what is happening through the letters that Jim sends to Grania. I have never read any books that Frances Itani has written, but this book won the 2006 Canada Reads selection award and from the reviews it has gotten I’m sure it will be a great read. From the perspective it is written in to the facts it will reveal, Deafening is a book that definitely piqued my interest.