The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
He's hyper-rational and he's fascinated by how the world works.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
He knows that other people have rituals and understandings which he doesn't quite get.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
And lots of people think that he's weird.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
In The Rosie Project, he sets about learning these rituals so that he doesn't screw up his opportunity to win the affections of the gorgeous and funny Rosie.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
That book was followed by The Rosie Effect, in which the comedy of misunderstanding continued as Don faced the challenges of impending fatherhood – because he did end up with Rosie –
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
He was still funny and rational, and Rosie was as loving and patient as ever.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
And they muddled through.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
Well, now we have book three, The Rosie Result.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
And on the surface, this is more of the same entertaining stuff.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
Don is still his old engaging self, but he faces a new and I think more serious challenge.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
He is now, as he says, father to a talented, happy 10-year-old child, Hudson, who is showing signs of becoming an innovative problem solver himself.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
In translation, that means the kid is just like Don and is in danger of being thought weird by the rest of the world.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
So Don sets out to teach Hudson the lessons that he himself has learned about how to survive.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
And they're facing a key question in this house because Hudson is just about to go off to high school.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
So should he go to a regular high school?
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
Or would he be better served in a school for kids with special needs?
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
Now, to make that move, he would need to be diagnosed as autistic.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
And is that really what they want to happen?
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
Along the way, Don wonders how much we are free to determine the course of our own lives and how much we're acting out our genetic program.
The Bookshelf
On Caoilinn Hughes' Orchid & the Wasp, Steven Carroll's The Year of the Beast, John Lanchester's The Wall and Graeme Simsion's The Rosie Result
In lots of ways, this boy Hudson is a little Don.