The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
You know it’s an unusual book when your mother forces you to read it by threatening you with guilt at her deathbed if you don’t try it. (Ahem. Not that I’ve left any of my mother’s book suggestions lingering too long on my “to read” list. No. Of course, I’d never do that.)
Guilt and mothers being what they are, plus the “after the ‘goodbye'” reminder from her as I was hanging up the phone … I looked around.
Heck, do people love this book or what? 21 copies at the library. All checked out. With 60 holds waiting for it to come in. Ok, Kindle make me love you. And I do love you, Kindle, I do! $1.99 and one click to download.
Where I literally laughed out loud by the beginning of the second chapter.
I guess Mom really does know best.
And it’s a good thing because the description, while accurate, would never make me particularly want to pick it up. Hey, that’s Don’s problem. So accurate and we can’t see what’s really inside. Here’s the blurb.
Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner.
Don tells us the story himself and that is a great part of the charm.
It is funny, it gives us insight into a completely different way of thinking, and it charms us while it does so.
I guess the test of a book one really enjoyed is that you don’t want to start another book. You want to let the one you just read rattle around in your head and heart for a while. This, surprisingly, is such a book for me, thus forcing me to turn to nonfiction exclusively for a little while. Most unexpected.
NOTE: For quick explanation of what this book is, use my daughter Hannah’s fast summing up to a pal: “It’s an Abed situation.” (Something for Community fans out there.)
Got the book and read it.
The encounter with Julie established the protagonist as a first rate person. I loved the way Don described Asperger’s as a “variant;” not a disease or defect, but a condition that advanced human society through the optimization of the Aspie’s unique gifts.
Face it, we are all “variants.” Nobody wants to be normal, nor God help us, “average.”
Don’s coping skills were marvelous. We can all learn from him.
Graeme Simsion must have slaved over his research to get the details right. He even had Rosie and Don take to F-train to 53rd and Lexington. That’s the exact stop that I used for four years of high school.
I’m wondering that if this is the American version, did he change the destination from Manhattan to London or Tokyo for the other versions.
I’m going to review this book too.
Thanks Julie!
Don, so glad you liked it! Yes, that “variant” moment is fairly perfect at how this author lets us see the world through Don’s eyes. I loved the way he’d describe things such as rebooting his brain in order to enjoy his days with Rosie in charge in New York. We knew just what he meant but it allowed us to see how differently he defined things. (I’ve used that term myself a few times since reading the book.)
Love the fact that he got the stop just right … it shows the care he took with all the details.
Looking forward to your review!
Love your book reviews! I’ll put it on the list.