The Autistic Book Club discussion
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Lessons in Chemistry
Thoughts on 'Lessons in Chemistry'
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Jan 07, 2024 01:58PM
I think this book has neurodivergent characters? I know it's very popular, I'm interested to see what it's like, please share if you've read or are reading this book and what you thought of it?!
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I myself have not read it, but I’ve heard that it has some really rude and prejudiced portrayals of religious beliefs. I’m curious to see what those who have read it can say on that topic.
I didn’t know this, I wasn’t aware that it mentioned religion at all, but I’m interested to read what this is about…!
I saw a reel on Instagram about this. I can't comment on the book yet I'm still waiting for my copy from the library.
I’m loving this book so far; I only have like an hour left of it. I can see where someone may be offended by the religious references but as an autistic person I see her comments as facts, not meant to be offensive. She, her bf, and her daughter all give full neurodivergent vibes and she’s honestly the best to me. It definitely gets you in your feels a few times too!
If you finish the book, they have the series on Apple TV.. but for me I can’t tell if I like it or not yet because they made whole characters different and just the idea is the same but they changes so much it’s almost like two entirely different things.. idk as an autistic person I like the book and show to be the exact same so it’s hard to compare them
I'm not going to watch the series until I've finished the book! I am intrigued to read about how the author has written about Christianity and am looking forward to discussing it. However, from how she describes her father, he's not actually a religious person, he's just using Christianity to con vulnerable ppl and to control / abuse his family. As she says, he wanted to be an actor but had no talent, so 'took his fake smile to revival tents' to sell the end of the world...
...at least that's what it sounds like from where I've read up to!
Ok, so I'm on p95 and I'm feeling emotional Was not expecting that.
Finished the book and here to engage in the discussion!I loved this book, the two main characters were obviously Autistic as was the daughter and I found all of them highly relatable.
It made me cry, it was deeply emotional and I loved the exploration of grief and the unacceptability of 'those who grieve' within western society.
The extensive examination of the childhood horror of having to create a 'family tree' for your teacher was extremely validating. (If you're reading this and you teach, please consider not doing the 'family tree' with your students; it is traumatising to those of us without a conventional family!)
The author is not a fan of Christianity. Bonnie's Christian characters are a distressingly awful bunch, only one seemed reasonable. As other reviews have mentioned, Bonnie does seem to have a strong anti-faith stance, and depicts those who believe as fools or worse, which is a shame. As an Autistic Christian who was raised by Atheists and came to Christianity later in life, we're not all monsters!
Does anyone have any views they'd like to share?
Well I’ve only just joined the group and by an amazing coincidence had just read this book a couple of weeks ago.When I started reading, I thought it was going to be a bit ‘twee’ for my tastes but it did grow on me a lot, so I’m glad I persisted with it.
The main theme I took away from it was feminism and just how far we have come since the 1950s/60s, though there are still many issues of course. The discrimination and patronising behaviour towards women is really striking and uncomfortable to read.
I didn’t really pick up on the main characters being neurodivergent, I just thought they were quirky, maybe because the main character in particular is very confident and deals with people efficiently. It’s certainly true that she is a very unusual and interesting character, however you interpret it. I think my favourite character was the dog.
The book was semi-realistic as in the settings were portrayed as real but some of the events strayed into the realm of fantasy. I wonder if people like this mixture?
I enjoyed the book and found it quite original and also funny. The ending was perhaps a bit disappointing as it seemed rather conventional compared to the rest of the story. Hope you enjoy reading it.
Helen wrote: "Well I’ve only just joined the group and by an amazing coincidence had just read this book a couple of weeks ago.When I started reading, I thought it was going to be a bit ‘twee’ for my tastes bu..."
I thought it would be 'twee' too, but was pleasantly surprised, I'm glad you liked it!
The character definitely reminded me of myself a bit. We both lack social cues but in a way that’s a blessing for her in the realm of sciences. Facts are stubborn things, and sometimes we don’t say what needs to be said for the sake of conversation.
When I read the book a few months ago, I related so much to the main character and thought that she definitely has a lot of autistic traits. I did not like how the book portrayed religion (I am a psychology student who is religious; science and religion can very much coexist), but did enjoy the characterization.
