
The Rosie Project is a humorous romantic comedy that follows the story of Don Tillman, a professor with Asperger's who embarks on a quest to find a wife through his scientifically designed Wife Project. However, his plans get derailed when he meets Rosie, a free-spirited doctoral student seeking her biological father. As Don assists Rosie in her search, misunderstandings and comedic situations ensue, reminiscent of romantic comedy movies. The book provides an unconventional love story that delves into themes of social skills, judgment, and understanding relationships.
Graeme Simsion's writing style in The Rosie Project is described as witty, clever, and insightful, making it an entertaining and light read. The character of Don Tillman, akin to Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory," is portrayed as socially inept yet endearing, navigating life with his unique perspective and logical approach. The book offers a blend of humor, romance, and introspection, creating a charming narrative that explores themes of love, acceptance, and personal growth.
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Has Romance?
The Rosie Project contains a high level of romance as the main narrative revolves around the protagonist's relationship development with Rosie.
From The Publisher:
The international bestselling romantic comedy "bursting with warmth, emotional depth, and…humor," (Entertainment Weekly) featuring the oddly charming, socially challenged genetics professor, Don, as he seeks true love.
The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who's decided it's time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.
Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is "quite intelligent for a barmaid"). But Don is intrigued by Rosie's own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie-and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don't find love, it finds you.
Arrestingly endearing and entirely unconventional, Graeme Simsion's distinctive debut "navigates the choppy waters of adult relationships, both romantic and platonic, with a fresh take" (USA TODAY). "Filled with humor and plenty of heart, The Rosie Project is a delightful reminder that all of us, no matter how we're wired, just want to fit in" (Chicago Tribune).
Ratings (100)
Incredible (11) | |
Loved It (39) | |
Liked It (31) | |
It Was OK (13) | |
Did Not Like (5) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (181):
Read It (105) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (46) | |
Not Interested (29) |
4 comment(s)
“The Rosie Project” is a charming book about how chaos can help bring order into a person’s life.
Don Tillman is a thirty-nine year old genetics professor working at a university in Melbourne Australia. Although Don is brilliant, he is also extremely socially challenged and lives a life ruled by orderly schedules and an evidence-based approach. Having said this, Don decides it is time to find a wife and creates a survey to help him discover the perfect female partner.
After a series of mishaps due to Don’s stringent survey, Don’s co-worker/friend Gene sets him up with Rosie Jarman, an almost thirty year old woman. Although Don immediately realizes that him and Rosie aren’t romantically compatible, he does take interest in her due to her expressing a desire to find out the identity of her biological father.
The remainder of the book focuses on Don and Rosie’s various attempts to get DNA from possible fathers. During this “Father Project,” Don realizes that he is beginning to have feelings for Rosie although she doesn’t fit any of his survey criteria. For her part, Rosie also begins to fall for Don but is distant due to his inability to show love. By the end of the book, Don and Rosie have both changed for the better and the identity of Rosie’s father is revealed.
I liked this book in that Don is very methodical in his thinking and that although he is initially rigid in his schedules and rules, by conversing with those in his support system, he’s able to learn to be more flexible. I’m addition, I liked that Rosie’s character is written as a strong, independent woman who is equally able to show her vulnerable side when needed. By Rosie showing her vulnerability to Don, this allows him to also tap into this undiscovered part of himself and learn to accept himself as he is, quirks and all.
The quirky characters and heartwarming storyline.
If this book had just been a quirky dumb romcom about a socially anxious introverted genius, I would have had no problems with it, and probably rated it 4 or 5 stars. Instead the author kept throwing in references to Autism Spectrum Disorder in a way that I found stereotypical, insulting and not a realistic or empathetic view of ASD at all. It is insulting to say that somebody with a neurodevelopmental disorder like ASD can just decide to "grow up" (the character's quote) and stop having difficulties with social communication in order to be in a romantic relationship. [Chapter 30 - "I had, to some extent, become comfortable with being socially odd. At school, I had been the unintentional class clown and eventually the intentional one. It was time to grow up."] This implies, very insultingly, that individuals with ASD are not behaving as the result of changes in their neurodevelopment outside of their control, but simply acting immature, and that they can just snap out of it whenever they are properly motivated. This attitude is often why children with ASD are mistreated and even abused by parents, teachers, authority figures, etc.
I felt like I was watching a bad sitcom or romantic comedy. Plus the idea that the character is just some robot with no emotional response at all is also unrealistic and insulting. Many individuals with ASD have deep social motivation and are very pained by the fact that they do not fit in. The author glosses over the main character's clinical depression and other serious results of his being ostracized, laughed at, and shunned for most of his life, yet does nothing to make us feel like he would be pained by any of this. He is just a funny "Sheldon" character for us to all laugh at without feeling any of his pain or like he is a real human being. I do not think this author has ever met or known well an individual with autism. And the romcom trope of "they all lived happily ever after" was also simplistic, sexist, and dumb (but I find this to be true of 99% of romcoms).
If you want to read a realistic book about ASD, I suggest [b:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time|1618|The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time|Mark Haddon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327882682s/1618.jpg|4259809]. If you want to watch a tv show with a realistic character with ASD (Max), I recommend "Parenthood."
Overall, a shame, because I feel that if the author had decided NOT to swim into a topic he knew nothing about, we would have had a quick, fun, better-than-average, interesting romcom on our hands. Or, if he had done more research and met individuals with ASD, we might have had a very good, heartwarming, and advocating look at how individuals with ASD can live successfully in our society with support & empathetic understanding. This author clearly has skill. Instead, we got neither.
P.S. The representation of clinical psychologists was also extremely insulting, but that's a rant for another day.
- Clinical Child Psychologist with specialization in ASD & Developmental Disorders, Sibling of an Adult with ASD
I had a hard time getting past the BMI obsession- and the fact that the BMIs were all just very low
About the Author:
Graeme Simsion is the internationally bestselling author of The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect, and The Rosie Result, featuring Professor Don Tillman, as well as The Best of Adam Sharp and, with Anne Buist, Two Steps Forward. Graeme lives in Australia.
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