Determination: the example of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”

I put aside my quest about the similarities Geeks, Nerds and Aspies have, to share a wonderful piece of Art that I read a few years ago, but could re-read again and again.

In fact, what Aspergers and Artists have in common is this thing we call – well of course, there is more than only one thing they have in common – but for today I’ll just focus on this great quality that we call: DETERMINATION.

Some people would rather use the word PASSION. But I always feel passion is a little bit over used. Some others would call it plain OBSESSION depending on how you feel about being so carryed away by a subject you can eat, sleep and talk about it for weeks without feeling bored or even imagining someone else could.

Depending on the angle you take, you can judge a person that have an obsession, like a Aspies could be judge by his peers (that’s all he talks about!) or you could be jumping right in with the person if it’s a subject that you also share. ( I guess you could say this about Geeks and Nerds too…. Not only Artists and Aspies, so we’ll come back about this…)

When an Asperger leaves behind his syndrome and becomes obsess with writing a book or making an invention, there isn’t any tag we feel like using anymore since it becomes a work of art. In fact, determination is what can drive anyone to finally get to do any project. Or get back up after falling. Or having the guts to ask for help to achieve a goal you wouldn’t be able to do alone. From knowing a few aspies myself, I am amaze to see that for many of them, it’s a gift they have. They have that along with their drive for a specific subject they get obsess with. The obsession can so well bloom with magnificence ( I am thinking about Albert Einstein here and Glenn Gould) And if a person – anyone surrounded well with support – have Determination , it’ll be a key role for the road they decide to take. They feel they HAVE to take.

One of my favorite example for determination is the first character of this wonderful british novel:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The story is written in the first-person perspective of Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as ‘a mathematician with some behavioural difficulties’.

REVIEW from AMAZONE:http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Incident-Dog-Night-Time-Novel/dp/0385509456

“Mark Haddon’s bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts–one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child’s quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.”

The book is beautifully written and the plot definetly keeps you on your toes. The principal character is very touching. bursting out “truthfull hunger”. Since the day I read this book,  I see the word “Determination” differently. Like a weird  mix of courageous, naiveness, passion, hunger for justice and a curse for never surrounding until ones feeling it’s right. Knowing deep down inside, there is no any other path than continuing on this mission you feel drives you to know more, to search deeper or to keep rehearsing  your piano partition.

Since this blog is about the future of the weird and real, I shure hope you get determination into your life, however weird your project or your dream might seem. Even when the task seems out of our range. Like Christopher Boone, the autistic 15-year-old narrator in the novel.

So now stop reading this blog and Go on! Read this book! 😉

Published in 2003 and in french in 2004, You can probably barrow it in a library in both languages. Here is a review in french:” Le Bizarre Incident du chien pendant la nuit” : http://www.voir.ca/publishing/article.aspx?zone=1&section=10&article=31348

Enjoy!