Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi guys,
I think this is a brilliant book which has been adapted to make a wonderfully dynamic play. We did the play for our A-level practical and, after adjusting to dealing with the issue of something very personal to me (the class and teacher were all really supportive, which made it easier) I loved every minute.
I'm just interested to know what other people think of it? I'm not a huge fan of the depicition of Asperger's Syndrome within the book, myself. I find it a bit stereotypical, but that's just my opinion, because I'm very different to Christopher and my challenges often have little in common with what he struggles with. When we were doing the play, I also learned to bear in mind that sometimes protagonists who represent particular issues within society are stereotypical in order to appeal to audiences and to serve as character devices rather than naturalistic representations. The play itself isn't very naturalistic, it's more abstract, but...anyway.
For some reason, the book has been playing on my mind and I was wondering how other people feel about it!
Hope you're all having a good week so far,
LivAgain
electra said:I read the first chapter of that book as a Kindle sample. I liked her ideas on how we are different but had no appetite for the rest of the book.There is also Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. It won an award but an AS friend didn't like the way the main AS character was depicted - too stereotyped. I tried to read it and found the prose style clumsy so managed only two pages! The way the AS man's thought processes were described didn't ring true for me either.Are there any fictional works about people on the spectrum by an author on the spectrum?
I read the first chapter of that book as a Kindle sample. I liked her ideas on how we are different but had no appetite for the rest of the book.
There is also Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer. It won an award but an AS friend didn't like the way the main AS character was depicted - too stereotyped. I tried to read it and found the prose style clumsy so managed only two pages! The way the AS man's thought processes were described didn't ring true for me either.
Are there any fictional works about people on the spectrum by an author on the spectrum?
I liked the book. When I read it, I thought I had dyspraxia but I'm now tending towards the view that I have Asperger's. I read it purely as a work of fiction, with a central character who had special needs. I could relate to a lot of things and especially liked the numbering of the chapters, although it caused me some confusion at first! I guessed much of the outcome but that doesn't take anything away from it.
Thinking about it again, I would still recognise it as worth reading. To me, I can relate to some of the personality traits of the main character but I am not as extreme. Maybe, part of the issue is that a stereotypical person with Aspeger's syndrome doesn't exist. We are all different and, whilst I was the best at maths in my school year, I could not have contemplated sitting A levels at 15.
As a writer myself, someone who would simply not go to school if they saw 4 yellow cars in a row is a more interesting character than someone who merely had a stress reaction and was cautious for the rest of the day.
As for the last question, I have written a book where the main character is based on myself but the first draft was rejected by a publisher and I need to do a lot of re-work. Unfortunately, at the moment, due to a family crisis, I have stopped all of my writing but will complete a special interest book before I tackle the novel.