Book Review: The Rosie Result
The Rosie Result
Graeme Simsion
Review
I’m a huge fan of the Don Tillman series, having read and loved the previous books (The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect). Unsurprisingly, this book lived up to my high expectations. The story continues around eleven years later, with Don and Rosie’s child, Hudson, no longer a newborn.
The Rosie Result brings a fresh angle to the series, with Don Tillman now being a father facing career trouble due to public outrage. Don is seen through a lens of autism due to the particular way he does things and he’s pressured by others to identify himself as autistic. Moreover, his son is facing issues at school, with the threat of being rejecting from high school due to the frequent meltdowns.
What’s great about this book is that it provides an authentic, autistic perspective. In this case, the narrator (i.e. Don, the father) can identify with the son and understand the issues that he encounters at school. They both experience the pressure from the neurotypical majority to fit in and change their behaviour. This shifts the focus from the neurotypical perspective that autistic people are abnormal to the genuine experience of how autistic minds work, and how the neurotypical majority create a hostile environment, requiring others to fit in.
In the book, Don says something that struck me:
"Neurotypicals criticised autistic people for lacking empathy — towards them — but seldom made any effort to improve their empathy towards autistic people."
This book celebrates neurodiversity and is a great learning tool for parents, educators, psychologists and the likes. It brings awareness that what neurotypicals is best might be counterproductive. As an autistic person, it gave me a lot to think about, to process about how frequently I feel like I don’t belong, and that after all, I am not the problem — society’s lack of flexibility is.
Apart from the autistic aspect, the story is extremely engaging, and has Don’s charm written all over it. I enjoyed it even more than the previous two books — which I had rated as five-stars each. The writing is well-researched and there are multitudes of personalities and characters that grow and change so well across time. They are quite representational and include am impeccable variety of characters, such as Gary the homeopath who refuses to immunise his children. There’s a warm sensation in how Don looks at the world and how he assumes honesty from others and adds to the narrational charm he possesses.
There are several reasons why I’d recommend this book. It’s a great fictional and literary work. The representation is genuine. Characters are well-developed. And, I believe, one doesn’t need to have read the previous two books to follow this story, although I would obviously suggest reading at least The Rosie Project as it helps us fall deeper in love with Don’s charisma.
I have received an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published in the UK on 4th April 2019, and can be preordered here: The Rosie Result
Sources and Links:
Book: The Rosie Result
Book Cover: Goodreads
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I like fairness in life and I always feel sorry when I see how such people are disadvantaged in the society. Instead of trying to understand them we push them away. They are strange, scary and freaky. But why? Why does our society dictates what is normal? Why does everyone need to fall in a particular group? Being different is very often punished and this is what makes me sad.
I have never heard of The Rosie Project but after your review I will purchase all 3 books. I want to understand this special relationship of father and his son having the same struggle. And I'm curious to see how the story will develop and eventually finish :)
Thank you for such a good honest review! On congratulations on having a chance to read the book before it is released :)
Wow, your post is an education for me, @poetrybyjeremy. I wasn’t previously familiar with the terms “neurotypical” and “neurodiversity,” though I do have people in my life on the spectrum. Great write-up! I will add this to my recommend reading list.
These terms are only getting used more frequently nowadays, and I'm really happy that the book didn't just create autistic characters for the sake of it, but is well-researched and includes these terms. It reflects the recent rise in autism activism, which is not what psychologists tell us about autism, but what autistic people want.
E.g. last year I had a whole unit on childhood psychopathology in which the lecturer focused on person-first language, such as "person with autism", where most autistic people prefer otherwise, because I'm a gay man not a "man with homosexual tendencies" or whatever. It's part of my identity & not something separate, like a cold.
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Hi @poetrybyjeremy
your review is really interesting and makes you want to read not only this book but also the previous ones! The theme dealt with is certainly not simple, but making it the protagonist of a novel is certainly a way to raise awareness of this issue. Congratulations and Thanks for sharing with us!
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This is an interesting read. My wife and I have been talking a lot about these issues. She is an elementary school teacher and despite her lack of training with children with special needs, she has to deal with a lot of situation (they don't have psychologist or social worker in her school).
Last night we watched Campeones (Champions) a beautiful Spanish movie that gives us a whole cast of special people that can make anyone laugh and cry about how little we understand neuro-atypicals.