August 13, 2005

And at the other end of the spectrum

in more ways than one, Elizabeth Moon's The Speed of Dark.

speedofdark.jpg

Read this book. READ THIS BOOK. This is the most involving novel I have read for some time. Barely sf, as Moon admits herself, it is set in the near-future. The protagonist is an autist, Lou Arrendale, who works with computer pattern recognition for a pharmaceutical company. His life is disrupted when he and his colleagues are threatened with job loss if they do not participate in an experimental project to "cure" their autism. Lou is faced with the choice of becoming "normal," but perhaps at the cost of himself.

Moon sets up some obvious questions here about the relative value of different ways of being and perceiving, and her resolution of these issues — or rather, Lou's resolution — whichever way it had gone, could not fail to disappoint at least some of the people. Moon is to be commended for entering the lion's den, and while the resolution she offers is not entirely happy, how could it be? Each choice involves loss, and it is Moon's triumph that she makes so very clear to us what it is that Lou is being asked to give up. His character is completely engrossing, his oblique worldview refreshing, and his way of being with his autistic colleagues so sane and economical (when they visit his apartment he does not offer refreshments. Instead, they let him know if they are hungry or thirsty. He finds this so much clearer than plying guests with snacks and drinks, as happens to him when he visits his "normal" friends, and before too long, so does the reader).

Some time ago I mentioned Mark Haddon's Curious Incident, which is one obvious comparison. But Moon's novel is so much more satisfying. Like that novel, this one is the subject of various reader's guides and book club recommendations, but don't be deterred by that. It will inhabit you while you are reading it; it is fluidly written, moving without pathos, sentiment or romanticizing, and very, very smart.

Scribbled at August 13, 2005 3:21 AM AST | Permanent link to this post | More? sf
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Hmmm?

I read this book earlier this year and loved it. I also read Haddon's, even earlier this year and loved it, too. They're very different books. Haddon's deals with now and the dignity of that boy while Moon explores the possibilities of a not-too-distant future. Haddon's is a small, wondrous story with a character who grows a bit despite all the limitations on him. Moon's is more about choice and the issues of what is "normal" as you mention and the dilemma of choosing to live outside "nomral" or within.

I think the books are complementary and I'm glad I read them in close proximity to each other. I've been reading a lot of books this year, it seems, on dysfunction and illness. Sickened, Julie Gregory's memoir about Munchausen's By Proxy and Jonathem Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, a novel with a protag who has Tourette's. It's been an interesting reading year. :)

Scribbled by Shelly at August 14, 2005 11:55 AM | Permalink

An interesting year indeed. Was it by design that your reading was so focused, or did it just seem to happen?

I know I sounded cranky about Haddon's book in both my posts, but in fact I quite enjoyed it. But Moon's book, yes, while complementary, just knocked the top of my head off.

Scribbled by mj at August 14, 2005 9:11 PM | Permalink

Semi-planned. I read the Haddon, then Sickened, and realized I had the others and since I'd just read 2 books of a type, why not read the others, too. I have a couple of others like that that I want to read this year, including Steve Kuusisto's Planet of the Blind, a memoir of his experiences with blindness. The year of disability reading, I guess.

Scribbled by Shelly at August 14, 2005 11:37 PM | Permalink

I think I heard a story/review on this, but could be mistaken. I though I remembered that Moon said she had an autistic child?

I could be totally wrong. I know Nick Hornby has spoken about it, but I don't think even I could manage to conflate the two ...

Scribbled by Another Damned Medievalist at August 15, 2005 8:39 PM | Permalink

Yes, Moon talks a little bit about her son in the interview appended to the edition I link to here. She clearly distinguishes him from Lou, her protagonist, so it should not be read as a portrait, but of course her experience raising him must have been central to the novel.

Scribbled by mj at August 15, 2005 8:58 PM | Permalink