What fiction defines you?

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Comments

  • I grew up longing to be Joey Bettany from the Chalet School books. Her adult life is still exactly what I would like as my adult life - a writer of historical fiction, with long hair, lots of children, a lovely house, and efficient domestic help. Alas, my life is not like that.

  • Sarasa, I think your character is Lady Harriet? Wives and Daughters is one of my favourite novels. I’m not sure how many times I’ve read it.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    [Possibly to serious for Heaven tangent follows:]

    I thought of this thread (and my comment that I didn't relate to any fictional characters) this morning when I was reading this interview with an author friend of mine: https://autisticuk.org/interview-with-chris-bonnello-author-of-the-underdogs-series-and-owner-of-autistic-not-weird/

    I was particularly struck by the following:

    When you’re neurodivergent you very often can’t find characters that you relate to, especially when you’re a teenager growing up, figuring out that you are different to a lot of the people around you. I remember when I was a teen I would escape into books because the real world wasn’t the nicest place for me, so books were safer, and I could also predict what was happening in books a lot better than I could predict what was happening in the real world, but it was very rare that I fully related to a character.

    I received my entirely unsurprising official diagnosis of Autism last Tuesday.

    I can recommend the books as well, btw.



  • KarlLB wrote: »
    I can recommend the books as well, btw.

    Pretty sure they sound like something Child #1 would enjoy. I might give them a go, too.

    I can't say I've ever particularly identified with a character in a book. Sympathized with, yes. Cried over - yes, although it's particular paragraphs that get me going, rather than the overall fate of a character. Seen myself in? Not so much. I suspect a novel written about me would be quite annoying, even if I ended up in wizard school, or some dystopian future, or whatever the setting du jour is.
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