DownSyn Forum

Tom · Posted: October 28 2007, 7:47 PM Post subject: Curious: Does it feel real?

Right from the start, the author makes the narrator sound unusual. The first paragraph ends with:

Quote:

I decided that the dog was probably killed with the fork because I could not see any other wounds in the dog and I do not think you would stick a garden fork into a dog after it had died for some other reason, like cancer for example, or a road accident. But I could not be certain about this.

Do you think the narrator's voice sounds real? Do you think this is how an autistic person would sound if they were writing a story? Or did you find the narrator's voice unrealistic?

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LeeJo · Posted: October 29 2007, 11:21 AM Post subject:

He does sound SO unusual. It's a great grabber. I want to figure Christopher out from the get go. You just know he's thinking on an entirely different plane.

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ecki · Posted: October 31 2007, 7:05 AM Post subject:

It's definitely different, but then again so is the mind of a person with autism. I find it fascinating how Christopher thinks, so literally. It's a bit unnerving, actually.

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jennifergg · Posted: November 01 2007, 1:01 PM Post subject:

I found the writing style (the narrator's voice and the diversions mentioned in the other discussion point, too, come to think of it) very off-putting, at first. I picked up this book several times, and always lost my way with it. I think part of it is because the book is loose and unfocused (in a very focused way, if that makes sense) and partly it's because I am very used to reading books that are all written in a certain way.

So this book was a challenge to me, but because it came so highly recommended by so many people, I stuck with it. I must say I'm very glad that I did. In the end, it proves that you're never too old to learn a new thing or two!

As for the realism of the voice, I don't know! I don't know, personally, anyone with autism. What I do know is that the character felt very real to me, with or without autism, which proves something that I already thought was true...that with any diagnosis, our common humanity ties us together more strongly than our differences.

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