Books too Culture With Laura

Of Books together with Men

by Laura Scanlon

It’s what’s on the within that counts.

Don’t guess a mass past times its cover.

Appearances are deceiving.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion provides a delightful instance of the truth behind these clichés. The book’s protagonist is Don Tillman, a vivid but extremely awkward professor. Don, the mass implies, has Asperger Syndrome but doesn’t know it.

If you lot or I were to encounter Don, nosotros likely wouldn’t similar him much. He makes rude, inappropriate comments. He doesn’t express joy at other people’s jokes. He comes off every bit an argumentative know-it-all. He dresses funny.

Because he narrates the novel, however, nosotros consider Don for who he actually is. We consider his steady nature, his dedication, his capacity for honey together with self-sacrifice. We sympathise the logic behind his bizarre behavior. We sympathise why together with then many social mores elude him, together with nosotros ache at the hurting he feels but doesn’t show.

A adult woman named Rosie enters Don’s world. She is intelligent together with beautiful but non at all what Don imagined his ideal married adult woman to be. She shakes upwardly his the world together with he falls inwards love. (You’ve seen the basic plot delineate of piece of occupation already inwards 1 or 2 or a dozen romantic comedies, but don’t allow that deter you.)

We promise that Rose volition hold back past times the awkwardness together with realize what a corking guy Don is. We promise she learns to honey him for who he is. (Hint: she does.)

The Rosie Project brought to request heed a mass I read a spell ago, Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough, past times Lori Gottlieb. (Checking it out from the library every bit a married adult woman was rather embarrassing for me. I suppose it would move embarrassing for a unmarried adult woman every bit well. . . . It would move fifty-fifty to a greater extent than embarrassing for a man. It’s only an all-around embarrassingly-titled book, together with the writer got about flak for it. But I digress.)

In Marry Him, the writer recounts wasting her younger years inwards dating sexy, exciting, yet unsuitable men. She bypassed potential spouses who were steady, kind, together with responsible because she focused on external qualities that, also late, she realized were non together with then of import later on all.

The “settling” that Ms. Gottlieb proposes does non entail resigning oneself to an unhappy marriage. Rather, it’s nearly looking past times the outside qualities that don’t concluding together with focusing on the interior qualities that do. It is nearly Rosie learning to honey Don, together with vice versa.

While thinking nearly these books, I hold back over at the guy who is sitting adjacent to me inwards bed playing Starcraft on his laptop. And I desire to boot myself. So oftentimes I am blinded past times the muddied socks on the flooring together with the [list of my husband’s annoying yet harmless proclivities that I shall non publicize]. In the hateful solar daytime to hateful solar daytime of matrimony together with parenting I hold back over (or worse, guide maintain for granted) my husband’s patience, his love, his move ethic, together with the scores of other reasons he was a proficient catch.

Thank you, Mr. Simsion together with Ms.Gottlieb, for 2 therapeutic kicks inwards the pants. And for making them together with then fun to read.

Laura is a Catholic Christian, a mother, a part-time lawyer, together with a recovering overthinker. She writes monthly hither at on books together with culture, together with blogs regularly at This Felicitous Life.