My absolute favorite part of this project is connecting with people over books. I love talking about reading, as I’m able to uncover so many new topics to read about. There is really nothing I love more these days than someone asking what they’ll find on carlyreads this week.
That’s how I found The Rosie Project. Jenny’s roommate Steph is a book lover as well and the person who totally knocked it out of the park with the Brain on Fire recommendation. At the early stage of reading when she recommended it, Steph likened Rosie to Where’d You Go, Bernadette, which I read a couple of summers ago at Jenny’s recommendation. (Full circle.)
While I was drawn to Rosie because I absolutely LOVED Bernadette and do see some parallels, I would actually compare it more directly to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I know that connection is sort of obvious, as both narrators likely fall somewhere along the autism spectrum (the main Rosie character keeps being gently encouraged to explore the possibility that he has Asperger’s). That said, it’s really interesting to be able to fully immerse yourself into an entirely new process of thinking.
In terms of plot, there is no lack of activity. The story itself is fascinating and suspenseful, which makes the narrator’s thought process even more interesting, as it’s hard to imagine how you personally would react to the situations he finds himself in. It’s even harder to imagine reacting in the ways he does as well.
Rosie was a relatively quick read with some sympathetic (and unsympathetic) characters. It’s nice to watch a real evolution and each of the characters in this book goes through some kind of change- some for the better. It’s easy to root for the narrator, which I haven’t experienced in quite some time.
You’ll like this if: you like to get into the complex mind of the narrator- a mind that probably works a bit differently than yours does.
Happy reading!
carlyreads 