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
I read the book when it came out and found it fascinating, but there was nothing in my daughter's behaviour at that time which rang alarm bells. She's now 14 and we went with her school three weeks ago to see the play, which led her to talk to me about it afterwards. We're now waiting for a hospital appointment to discuss a formal diagnosis of what I am sure is AS.
I'm so pleased we saw the play as she took it as her opportunity to open up and let me see behind her incredibly good masking behaviours, in an attempt to get some help. Otherwise we could have gone on for months or years before she got up the courage to do something about it. Thank you Mark Haddon :)