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danlo
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 12, 2005
Posts: 1069
Location: Western Australia
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 Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:11 am Post subject: |
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If attention to detail is a mark of possible Aspiehood, then David Zindell is quite possibly Aspieish. His series Requiem for Homo Sapiens(Who but an Aspie would think up a title like that anyway) is right up there with Tolkien's writing of a world utterly complete. Only, his books aren't based on the cliched races such as Orcs, Elves, Trolls and Wizards. His is a sci-fi series about the far future where man is greatly advanced in science and mathematics, and fractured into many sub-species and alien races, and even gods.
The following is an excerpt from one of his books:
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It was a long, dark, terrible sound, perhaps the very sound and fury of chaos itself. And then, in the centre of the chaos, there was a blackness as bright as the pupil of his eye. There were secret colours, bands of brilliant orange encircling the blackness, and then white, a pure snowy whiteness. All the colours of chaos were inside him, and out, and so again he faced his ship's computer and turned his inner eye toward the manifold.
Before him, beneath the stars of the Solid State Entity, within the dark twisting tunnels of a phase space, there was an attractor. It was a strange attractor, he decided: stable, non-periodic, low-dimensional. Its loops and spirals would weave infinitely deep, infinitely many fractal pathways inside a finite space. No path would ever cross or touch any other. Strange attractors, it was hypothesised, were the black holes of the manifold. Nothing that approached one too closely could escape its infinities. For a pilot to enter a strange attractor would mean spiralling down endless pathways into blackness and neverness.
Any sane pilot would have fled such an attractor. Strangely, he felt the attractor pulling him, almost calling him, in the way that the future called all life into its glorious destiny. His blood surged quickly inside him, thousands upon thousands of unseen turbulent streams, flowing, bifurcating, surging, but always returning to the chambers of his heart. If chaos was anywhere, he thought, it was inside himself. And order was there, too. Chaos/order; order/chaos - for the first time in his life, he began to see the deep connection between these seemingly opposite forces.
Chaos, he thought, was not the enemy of order, but rather the cataclysm that gave it birth. A supernova was a most violent, chaotic event, but out of this explosion into light were born carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and all the other elements of life. There was always a place where order might emerge from chaos. To find the hidden order inside, he must first become himself pure chaos. He must will himself to see where pattern is born of formlessness, that pattern that connects.
All his life he had been trained to see such patterns. There was always a choice, to see or not see. Now, inside the attractor that pulled him into its writhing coils, there were patterns. There were ripples and billowings and depthless fractal boundaries like the wall clouds around the eye of a hurricane. The attractor itself swirled with the colours of orange madder and a pale, icy blue. For the first time, he marvelled at the attractor's strange and terrible beauty. There was something haunting in the self-referential aspect of the chaos functions, the way that the functions lay embedded inside one another, watching and waiting and making patterns down to infinity.
There were always an infinite number of patterns to choose from, always the infinite possibilities. There was always a possible future; it was only a matter of finding the right pattern, of sorting, inverting, mapping, and making the correspondences, and then comparing the patterns to a million other patterns that he had seen. Now, as the patterns before him fractured into lovely crimson traceries and then coalesced a moment later into a clear blue-black pool that pulled him ever inward, he must choose one pattern and only one.
In less than a second of time, in a fraction of a fraction of a moment that would always be the eternal Now, he would have to make his choice. There could be no putting it off once it came. His choice: he could be pulled screaming into his fate, or he could say yes to the chaos inside himself and choose his future. This, he remembered, is what the scryers do. This is what his mother must have done in finding the terrible courage to give birth to him. And so at last, when his moment came and time was now and always forever, he chose a simple pattern. He made a mapping into this strange attractor, and then he fell alone into the eye of chaos where all was stillness, silence, and beautiful blessed light.
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Standalone novel prior to the "Requiem" series: Neverness
Requiem for Homo Sapiens series: The Broken God, The Wild, War in Heaven. |
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Tom
bass martian
Joined: Oct 20, 2004
Posts: 1237
Location: Where you least expect it
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| Civet wrote: |
| Quote: | | The neurologist Oliver Sacks writes a lot about Autism and Aspergers, as well as a lot of other interesting cases. |
Yes, his writings are quite interesting. I've read most of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," I've yet to get my hands on a copy of his book about autistics. |
It is called "An anthropologist on Mars". I'm convinvced he has AS too, although he hasn't really confirmrd it I don't think? |
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Sean
Banned
Joined: Apr 04, 2005
Posts: 3503
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| Maybe Tom Clancy? He pays extreme detail to the technical specifications of the military vehicles, aircraft, weapons, tactics, and any other statistics and trivia he can squeeze into te story as well. His stories are also complex. Chapters are usually used to define a small segment of time ranging from a few minutes to a day or two. There are multiple plots going on in each chapter that are divided into several short stories that all take place at the same point in time, usually taking place on different parts of the planet. Then all the parallel story lines converge at the climax. It gives the landscape and the story alot of background. I've never found his character's thought processes confusing either, which I think is a good sign that he has some Theory of Mind issues as well. |
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vetivert
gagged, but never silent
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| Civet wrote: | I used to write a lot when I was younger, now I want to write and illustrate children's books. I have one that I've done in rough format (dummy book) that I am going to make copies of to send to editors... and hope for the best  .
Good luck with yours, too, Vetivert. |
and you, Civet. i have a wealth of info re: how to get published, how to approach agents, covering letters, all that sort of gumph - if you don't already know, PM me and i'll send it to you. (if you DO already know, then apologies for sounding patronising). |
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ghotistix
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Joined: Feb 03, 2005
Posts: 1186
Location: Massachusetts
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| tom wrote: | | The neurologist Oliver Sacks writes a lot about Autism and Aspergers, as well as a lot of other interesting cases. Apparently he has AS himself, although I don't know if this is true. |
Anyone else read his autobiography "Uncle Tungsten"? It didn't occur to me at the time, but from his experiences there he is definitely on the spectrum. His obsession with chemistry and his complete disinterest in people is so extreme it's funny at times. I found the book rather grueling though, since he is a lot more interested in chemistry than I am. |
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Tom
bass martian
Joined: Oct 20, 2004
Posts: 1237
Location: Where you least expect it
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| Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2005 6:58 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I've got that book. I am convinced he has at least mild AS. |
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animallover
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 23, 2004
Posts: 757
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| Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:13 am Post subject: |
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| you might look at the thread in 'General Discussion' titled 'Books on Asperger's' - people are leaving a lot of great info there - and I thought I'd read most of the autobiographies! Amazon.com is going to make a bunch of money off of me! |
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spacemonkey
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Joined: Aug 29, 2004
Posts: 622
Location: Atlanta, Ga
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| Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:52 am Post subject: |
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I highly reccomend Thomas Wolfe. His novels are largely autobiographical. I just finished "Look Homeward Angel" and was struck by the very AS like main character, which was of course based on himself. He is a true poet, and perhaps hyperlexic. The writing is just saturated with detailed descriptions of mundane everyday events.
This made it hard for me to read, so it took quite a while. Well worth it though, and I plan to read more of his work.
http://library.uncwil.edu/wolfe/wolfe.html |
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Aaron_Mason
Phoenix
Joined: Jul 04, 2005
Age: 23
Posts: 618
Location: Bathurst, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the responses, guys. I found David Zindell's "The Lightstone" and it's a bloody good read... couldn't find the Requiem series in the library, though... I also have Tom Clancy's "Op-Center" and Oliver Sack's "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat".
Also, I'm not looking for books about asperger's, but books by people with asperger's. I wasn't terribly explicit about that.
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We are one, we are strong... the more you hold us down, the more we press on - Creed, "What If"
AS is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
I'm the same as I was when I was six years old - Modest Mouse |
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NoMore
Phoenix
Joined: Jun 29, 2004
Posts: 919
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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Perhaps Jules Verne? Incredible attention to descriptive and scientific detail.
...just finished reading Verne's The Mysterious Island... |
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vetivert
gagged, but never silent
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:29 am Post subject: |
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i've just started reading "the last samurai", by helena de witt, and i'm struck by how much the main character and her son seems extremely aspie-ish. i then read the tiny biography at the front of the book, and de witt herself sounds highly "suspicious"  i don't know if the film of the same name is based on the book (haven't seen it, anyway, so it wouldn't matter to me).
anyone else read the book? am off to google dear de witt, and see if i can drum up any information about her...
/me rushes off |
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vetivert
gagged, but never silent
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:40 am Post subject: |
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sod all on helen (not helena) de witt - sorry. if anyone else can find out anything about her, please post it - i'm itching to know a bit more about her!
and the book is nothing to do with the film, by the way.
oh, and mockingbird - have a synopsis of my book, if you'd like to read it...? |
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Namiko
snape-o-doodle
Joined: Jun 14, 2005
Posts: 2439
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:28 am Post subject: |
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| Mockingbird wrote: | I have always thought of Tolkien as the ultimate obsession...he may have been aspie. His world is so complete, down to the smallest details, and it would take forever to learn everything he has left behind.
Some people say Jane Austen was aspie. She is one of my obsessions and I, for one, think she was. |
Yeah *thinks for a moment*, that would make sense. When Tolkien wrote LotR, the Sil (and others, but mostly the Silmarillion), he wrote it as if Middle-earth and all the other lands had been real, almost like he was writing a detailed history of England or the United States. A bit obsessed, if you ask me.
Hey, vetivert, maybe you could post it on the forums so that whoever wants to read it can. Are any of your characters aspies?
I'm writing some stuff, too, and the main character (and narrarator for many of the stories) has AS. It's been interesting to work with him, as he has become almost real to me.
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All that glitters is not gold but at least it contains free electrons. |
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vetivert
gagged, but never silent
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 5768
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Namiko wrote: | | Hey, vetivert, maybe you could post it on the forums so that whoever wants to read it can. Are any of your characters aspie? |
not sure about the first bit, as i'm trying to get it published, and they can be a bit funny about pre-published stuff. i'll PM the synopsis to anyone who wants to read it, though. besides, if it IS published (don't hold your breath), then you can all rush out and buy it, and make me some money
Last edited by vetivert on Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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PaulB
Sea Gull
Joined: Jun 29, 2005
Posts: 217
Location: Chicago, IL, US
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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In this discussion on possible AS in authors, I'm surprised that nobody has brought up one of my favorite authors: Nicholson Baker. (I will admit, even though I am a fan I hated The Fermata.) Talk about attention to detail, here is a man who can write an entire novella about riding down an escalator after buying shoelaces. I was a fan of his before the whole Clinton/Lewinsky thing gave him his 15 minutes of fame (he wrote the book Vox).
Another one of my favorites is Umberto Eco, but I think that he is just a brilliant man, no AS about him. It's possible, but I doubt it.
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