Simsion, Graeme C. The Rosie Project. Melbourne: Text, 2013.
Reading The
Rosie Project was almost an accident---totally unscheduled. I saw it in a local book store recently and
was drawn to the festive red cover with a heart made of tiny yellow bike
tracks. I passed it up for another,
seemingly wiser selection.
A few days later, there
it was again, on my Christmas Kindle for 2.99. "This must be what e-readers are
for," I thought, and I devoured it happily. I liked the unique voice of the narrator, Don
Tillman, and the relationship he builds with Rosie Jarman, his spunky, unlikely
new friend. However, I do wonder if it
is authentic and I might have wished for a different ending.
The great thing about "accidental"
reads is they always surprise me. If I had known the plot and characters ahead
of time, I might not have had quite as much fun deciphering the language of
this book.
By the time I'd read far
enough for Don, the super-geeky genetics
professor with two friends and very picky dating criteria, to finish giving his
fabulous lecture on Asperger's syndrome to a bunch of kids a lot like him, I
figured out that he probably has it too. He just doesn't exactly know it.
Like most heroes in romantic comedies, he
doesn't exactly know he's in love either. Not until the very end. His growing
irrational affection for Rosie is adorable.
From the very first accidental date, when she walks in a little
late, his number one pet peeve, he's
able to adjust his rigid schedule and live on "Rosie time" (54).
I don't know how realistic any of it is, especially the DNA collection capers in search of Rosie's father, but it is good, cute fun with people who are different.
It isn't that
Asperger's is funny. It's painful sometimes, as Don shows readers. I felt for
him, and felt EXTREMELY bad to know that I might have been one of the laughing
crowds. What is funny, in this book and
in life, is awkwardness. I should know.
I can be pretty awkward myself.
Like Don, I remember being shocked and
skeptical when someone found me attractive and/or or wanted me to call. Unlike him, I can't say that I've ever
answered the phone in the middle of my own genetics lecture and said, "I like you, too." I'm not quite as "accustomed to creating
an amusement inadvertently," (74) but I can relate.
What Don and Rosie
learn over the course of the story is that they are not actually as opposite as
they seem. Of course Don is capable feeling love; it's obvious, it's just not
usual. Love doesn't have to conform to any trivial standards. So what if Don doesn't feel for fictional
characters and eats lobster salad every single Tuesday? Some days I wish I were
like that.
He also makes some pretty good observations about human behavior and some awesome cocktails. You wouldn't want to threaten him with all that martial arts training.
Someone who knows about living with Asperger's may or may not have more complaints about accuracy.
The one problem I know
enough to have is that the story basically ends in a marriage/life partner
proposal before the couple even establishes a relationship. If Don Tillman isn't wired for social
conventions, his story shouldn't have to follow the very old conventions of one
genre. This isn't Shakespeare or Austen, romantic comedies can end differently
now.
I mean, relationships
are hard enough without significant social impairments. I just wish Rosie could have stopped the
movie music and said something really cheesy, like "WHOA. Hold on, babe,
let's see how it goes." I think Don
would've been just fine.
As he discovers, some
of the best things in life are unscheduled.
PS. I would recommend
the book Mocking Bird, by Kathryn
Erskine, to anyone looking for a story that’s slightly less...cute involving
Asperger's. This is ironic, because it's about a ten year old. I found it by
“accident" in the children's department once.
