stargazer

Six Degrees Of Separation – Nonconformity and the Brain

2022 is already in full swing and I am back with my favourite meme.

Six Degrees of Separation is hosted by Kate, who each month decides on a starting book, from which everyone builds a chain of six books. Feel free to join in and post your link here.

Starting point: No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

This month, we start with No One Is Talking About This. The title is somewhat ironic, since everybody is talking about this novel, which was short-listed for both the Women’s and the Booker Prize in 2021.

1. Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Bewilderment was also short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2021. It’s a wonderful and heart-breaking story about the relation between astrobiologist Theo and his son Robin, who is “on the spectrum” and goes through an experimental neurofeedback treatment to help him cope.

2. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

Theo in Bewilderment is passionate about nature and wildlife and wants to protect these at any costs. The same goes for Janina in Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead. She and Theo have very different ways of dealing with this passion, though!

3. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Janina from Drive Your Plow is one of the most unique characters, I’ve come across in a while. But Keiko from Convenience Store Woman may give her a run for her money. Keiko is super quirky and like Theo from Bewilderment, she is “on the spectrum”.

4. Chocky by John Wyndham

A main theme in Convenience Store Woman is the need to behave according to norms. The same theme appears in Chocky. 12-year old Matthew has a voice in his head and even if it doesn’t seem to be doing any harm (quite the opposite) it’s abnormal and therefore it has to be “cured”.

5. The Brain by David Eagleman

Matthew in Chocky is being dragged to specialists to identify his problem and make him “normal”. Robin in Bewilderment is going through a highly experimental neurofeedback treatment to do the same for him. The Brain (i.e. neuroscience) is such a fascinating area, but it seems we are still far from truly understanding how it works.

6. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

One aspect of neuroscience is how the brain copes with trauma. An example of this can be found in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Like Keiko from Convenient Store Woman, Eleanor is a quirky character. And yes, she is also “on the spectrum”.

So there you have it. This month’s chain included a variety of books, many of which were interlinked via themes such as the mysteries of the brain and not conforming to the norms. Where did your chain take you?

43 comments

  1. What an interesting chain. As ever. I loved Convenience Store Woman, and the Olga Tokarchuk is on my list. I’ve even bought it. Elinor Oliphant was not one of my favourite reads of 2021 however, Of the rest, I guess the Powers is the one I might add to my list.

    • Thanks Margaret! πŸ˜€ It seems most commenters have loved Convenience Store Woman, which is understandable. I remember you didn’t like Eleanor. My guess would be, you’ll get on better with Drive Your Plow… than I did, whereas I’m more sceptical regarding Bewilderment. Of course, I might be completely wrong.

    • I haven’t read anything by Philip Roth, which probably needs to be corrected. Hope you are enjoying the autobiography.

  3. Fascinating… makes you wonder what “normal” really is, and if we should even try to cure people of their “abnormalities” if they don’t harm anyone or themselves with it.

    • Yes, that is exactly the point! One of the memorable quotes from Convenience Store Woman is: β€œShe’s far happier thinking her sister is normal, even if she has a lot of problems, than she is having an abnormal sister for whom everything is fine.”

  4. Eleanor Oliphant landed on my chain as well, but it is completely different from yours!! Bewilderment seems like something I will be interested in.

    Have a good February!

    Elza Reads

    • Ooh, I will be over to check it out shortly. Bewilderment was interesting. My favourite part was the relationship between father and son, but there were also a lot of reflections on mental health, normality and our role in the big eco system, which is the universe. Thanks, I wish you a good February as well!

  5. Great chain, Stargazer; I love how you’ve established an over-arching theme here. Elinor Oliphant and Drive Your Plough have been on my wishlist for some while. I’ll get to them one day!

    • Thank Sandra, I think the over-arching theme was a bit of a coincidence. But I seem to have read quite a few books with quirky characters, who may or may not have Aspergers Syndrome or similar. Lisbeth Salander (aka the girl with the dragon tattoo) is another example – she is also a favourite character of mine.

  6. A fascinating chain! I nearly used Bewilderment for my first link too. I like your themes books about the mysteries of the brain always appeal to me.

    • Thanks Margaret! Interesting, how the same books often appear in several chains given how many books exist out there. I find the brain fascinating as well and I hope we make more progress within neuroscience in my lifetime.

  7. Great work!! I like the theme you’ve chosen for your chain. I loved Keiko and Eleanor. In fact, Convenience Store Woman was likely my favorite book I read that year. Thanks for reading my 6 Degrees.

    • Thanks! I think the theme happened by coincidence. It seems these chains have a life of their own. Convenience Store Woman really was unique. I do have a soft spot for Japanese literature in general and Keiko may be one of my favourite characters ever. You are welcome, I enjoyed your chain. 😊

    • If you enjoy Japanese literature, I would recommend Convenience Store Woman. It’s a short book, but it still manages to say a lot about the expectations women (in Japan, more also more generally) have to live up to. And Keiko is such a fun character.

    • Thanks so much! πŸ˜€ I can’t say Drive your Plow was a favourite of mine, but Janina was a fascinating character! Hope you will enjoy it!

    • I’m glad you think so. They were all interesting, although I did struggle a bit with Drive Your Plow…

  13. Great chain. Loved how you had some multiple links for some of them. I’ve only read Convenience store woman of your books, and really loved it.

    • Thanks! Convenience Store Woman was such an interesting story. I hope to get back to reading more Japanese literature this year.

    • Thanks Helen. I am a big John Wyndham fan and even if Chocky isn’t my favourite, it’s still a very solid and thought-provoking read!

  17. The mysteries of the brain is a perennially fascinating subject for me too! And I couldn’t agree more with you about Janina and Keiko – amazing characters!

    • Many people believe that we per definition won’t be able to understand the human brain, since that would require a much bigger brain than we possess. Too bad!

  18. I agree Eleanor and Keiko seem to have many similarities. I wonder if they would get along? Probably not. I still need to read Bewilderment … Have you read the Lockwood book? Just wondering if it’s easy to read or good?

    • Haha, now you’ve made me wonder, which fictional characters would get along at a dinner party. Maybe an idea for a future random post? No, I’m not a social media person and I know the Lockwood book includes lots of twitter references. Also, it didn’t really sound like my thing. But many people love it.

  19. This is such a cool idea… I may have to try this one week. I’ve had Convenience Store Woman on my tbr since it came out… really need to get around to that one!

    • Yes, please join in! It’s so much fun, both to do and to read contributions from other bloggers. I can highly recommend Convenience Store Woman!

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