Great Aspies in Literature...?

[silverwhistle]

Thought this was an interesting notion for a thread: open for suggestions

Comments

[skyrabbit]

Not sure about Lermontov. In some ways, yes, but (from what I remember - haven't read it for years) he seems a bit too manipulative to be autistic - all the game playing with Princess Mary and Grushnitsky.

[silverwhistle]

Oh, I can see it. Pechorin sometimes regards other people as a kind of experiment to play with and he doesn't really understand his own emotional responses. He thinks he's in control but he isn't. The Princess Mary situation reminded me of a situation as a student with a guy who was also on the spectrum. He told me about the relationship dynamics he was trying to create with another girl in our hall of residence: it was a plan from his point of view, but it did not take into consideration how she might respond and what she would think. Getting nowhere with her, he then shifted his focus on to me, and I then had to extricate myself.

[skyrabbit]

Sorry: I meant to say "Not sure about Pechorin". Don't know about Lermontov, but if Pechorin is a self-projection then I suppose the same would apply to him.

[predatrix]

Not high-style Literature but if SF/fantasy counts, Gilbert Norrell (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) has that twitchy, graceless, obsessive (insane booklover and follower of rules) Own Worst Enemy quality and I wrote a lot of fanfic in the last few years.

Most of my fanfic involves an Aspie character being loved even though he does not deserve it...and even though the TV series made him the "villain", Eddie Marsan brought out the sweetness in the character.

[silverwhistle]

I would say so, too!
(In fact, I think Gilbert would get on very well with Claude… And I shudder to think what kind of mess Claude could get into if he could do real magic…)
For me, fanfic is also very much about "putting things right". I can't always fix things in my own life, but at least characters I love can get the care they deserve.

[predatrix]

Yes, me too!