Well, so far this book isn't anything special. I think the autism is poorly handled and Oskar seems just abnormal and socially awkward, rather than autistic. Perhaps it's less severe or he's taking medication to help him, but the life or death urgency over something small, or irrational discontent towards specific everyday items is completely absent. To be honest, I'm probably comparing the book too much to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time though, so maybe it'll seem better if I stop comparing it.
The various thought processes range from interesting, such as pocket size, to very dull, such as the garbled incomplete thoughts that open the book.
His collection of pictures that happened to him surprised me due to their difference to the ones he downloaded and printed off the internet. Perhaps the final picture (a closer picture of the man falling during 9/11) is Oskar's father in his mind, so he can have a final picture of his dad?
I don't feel I have much to say so far due to the small amount of the book that's been revealed at this point.
I think that the fact that Oskar doesn't seem autistic is a tactic the author used on purpose. It helps Oskar seem more relatable to people without autism and it brings him closer emotionally to readers. It also causes those who don't yet know he's autistic to enjoy his quirky personality.
ReplyDeleteI think you are taking the author's style and tone too literally. Sure, he may be autistic or suffering from some other disorder, but I think his train of thought can tell us a lot about what he is experiencing. And it seems pointless to weigh the worth of Oskar's thoughts, because then again, they are his thoughts. In Catcher in the Rye, I'm sure you were fed up with Holden, but that doesn't mean what he was saying did not have value.
ReplyDeleteActually, I didn't mind Holden at all. I thought it was well written and continued to be interesting and very human, but that's a different book.
DeleteYou can tell that something is wrong with Oscar that is definitely a mental disability by first how he had later lost the ability to speak, and also his natural thought process. No one thinks like Oscar does, and when he describes many peoples reactions to his questions as: "What the?" It seems clear that Oscar never comes off clear or correctly. It would definitely be better if we knew what his actual problem was
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