1. Pop culture question here: did anybody get a serious Sheldon Cooper vibe out of Don? Well, after I looked up who Sheldon Cooper was, I can say, quite definitively, no. I've only watched a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory and didn't think it was particularly funny or good. But when the author was at my bookstore last fall, he said that he gets questioned about that all the time. To me, Sheldon Cooper came off less a quirky genius and more of an asshole, and Don Tillman, awkward though he may be, is no asshole.
2. Don's social interactions are awkward at best, but his logic and adherence to routine give him some interesting habits. What's your favorite Don-ism? Oh, so many of them. I laughed so many times at his rigorous adherence to punctuality, timing everything in his life down to 30-second increments. His anti-vegetarian stance. His learning to dance by watching videos and practicing with a skeleton. His learning to have sex by reading the Kama Sutra and practicing with a skeleton. I could go on and on, but I won't.
3. Don's "Wife Project" involves an elaborate questionnaire designed to weed out unsuitable matches. Have you ever made a list of qualities that are important to you for a potential partner? Do you think it's realistic to expect one person to live up to all of them? When I was a teenager I probably did compile actual lists with my friends for things I wanted in my boyfriends. Looking back on my various romantic affairs, I can see that I don't have a physical type, but I do most certainly have a type: smart, can make me laugh, and with a creative bent (musicians, writers, and artists). Now that I'm older and have a better idea of what works in a mature and lasting relationship, I can add some more must-have qualities to my mental list: emotionally available, supportive, and generous-spirited. Luckily my husband qualifies on all of those counts. While I don't think it's realistic to expect one's romantic partner to fulfill every need one has, I do think it's realistic (and healthy) to expect emotional availability, support, and a generous spirit from one's romantic partner.
4. What is is about Rosie that manages to break down Don's defenses? Do you think that love requires a certain abandonment of logic? Funny, but I didn't see that Rosie broke down anything about Don. She was perceptive enough to understand that he was different and smart enough to value his differences as much as she valued his more obvious gifts. For his part, Don had to unlearn what he thought was required for love: identical doesn't always mean compatible.
5. What was your favorite scene in The Rosie Project? I have a few favorite scenes: the ice cream debacle on his first date in the beginning of the book, echoed near the end playing out a similar ice cream scene with Rosie; his argument with the maitre d' about the superiority of his outerwear jacket over a dinner jacket; the bartending scene with Rosie, where his quirks turn out to be his strongest selling points; giving a lecture to the Aspie kids and describing himself without realizing it. Really, there are so many.
What about you, gentle reader? Have you read The Rosie Project? Did you love it like I did?
Yaaay more Rosie. And totally agree with your answer to question 4. I liked Rosie and Don because Rosie didn't really do anything other than accept Don. Maybe by doing that and being someone Don wanted to be with made Don realize that he needed to (somewhat) abandon logic. Or at least the logic that he was previously using for his Wife Project.
ReplyDeleteThe Jacket Incident and the bartending scene were prob my two favorite scenes. I heart this book so much
And it's such a good book to heart for VD, too!
DeleteYes! Thanks again for the reco. I really had fun with this one.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it a lot, too!
DeleteLove this post! I'd nearly forgotten the skeleton. Oh the SKELETON. And now I'm giggling again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting the group survey for Rosie!
DeleteI shouldn't attempt to comment on Rosie as I am still reading it, but I would like to weigh in briefly on Sheldon Cooper, an interesting character. Sheldon is self-centered to the point of arrogance and, obviously, not very likable for that reason. The brilliance of the scripting, I think, lies in the ensemble of protagonists who reflect each other's qualities. For example, Sheldon's humane and humble roommate Leonard tends to be likable and allows viewers to appreciate Sheldon's brilliance and skewed emotions through his reactions to them. Perhaps in The Rosie Project there is a similar symbiosis among characters?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I didn't watch enough episodes of Big Bang Theory to appreciate the ensemble cast. I tend to loathe watching anything with a laugh track anyway, so there was a good chance I was never going to like that show, despite the premise, which I like.
DeleteI'm not sure that I see Don Tillman that way, since the book is in first person, but I'm sure the film version will show that symbiosis that you mention.
I loved the bartending scene too. I also liked the ballpark scene where he ends up chatting with the guy beside him and going out to talk baseball stats. I loved how accepting Rosie was all through both these incidents. She could see that Don was different but instead of being annoyed or put off by him, she saw the beauty in his uniqueness.
ReplyDeleteOh, I loved that baseball scene, too. Who knew that Don could be perceived of as "normal" (whatever that means) in a sporting situation?!
DeleteI started reading this before I got an inkling that maaaaybe I should read the book before actually reading this, BUT I just had to comment to say ZOMG The Big Bang Theory is very annoying and yes, Sheldon does come across as an asshole and GOD I HATE THAT PROGRAMME.
ReplyDelete*sigh* I love this book so much. And I looooooved his speech to the Aspie kids :) It so clearly articulated so many of my feelings about the medical community and "mental" conditions and I just want to hug this book every time I see it.
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