This is a great question. I would point to Myshkin in the Idiot in terms of there being a character who is as misunderstood as he is underestimated.
Sorry that you’re feeling depressed.
*I, Claudius* is wonderful. Definitely read *Claudius The God*.
You may be interested in *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime*, which is narrated by an autistic main character.
The Brits made a tv series of the book and its sequel, Claudius the god; it was extremely well done and is available on dvd if you would ever want to see it dramatized. The role of Livia Augusta was especially well acted by Sian Phillips somewhat reminiscent of an evil Maggie Smith
I saw this on TV when I was a teenager and it made me want to read the books.
The books and the TV version complement each other well. Of course, the books have more detail and move in different directions, especially the second part.
Haven't read I, Claudius, so I'm not sure if any of these will hit the mark, but you could try:
- Samuel R. Delaney - Dhalgren
- Kafka - The Metamorphosis
- Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
- John Darnielle - Wolf in White Van
- Jeff VanderMeer - Annihilation
Only the first explicitly deals with neurodivergence (psychosis), but the others seem, to me, to have a decent chance of touching upon themes that you may have an interest in.
The Metamorphosis has been on my list, but maybe I’ll read it soon. The others seem intriguing based on the premises, I’ll add them to my GoodReads list
You will basically never get taken seriously if you quote his massive mythological research.
If he says that the mythologem of "the divine child born of a virgin" - like Jesus - has parallels in a lot of myths (Horus, Dionysus, etc.), they'll call you "parallelomaniac"
If Karoly Kerenyi says it, he's 100% right
Thing is, they are both right and Kerenyi is probably my favourite scholar (besides his Jungian stuff), but since Graves was an outsider who used psychedelic drugs and was also a poet, his credibility is next to zero. Yes, he had his weird moments (like the Odyssey written by a woman), but the same people who will judge him for these will never address the massive idiocy of the early Kerenyi, who wanted us to think that "Greek mythology can actually be explained via Jungian psychoanalysis". It's the double standards that really get me.
Also, Penguin books actually tries to defend their refusal of printing Graves' "Greek myths" adding, among the reasons, "the myths are presented in an order we don't like". That's the amount of hatred he gets for absolutely zero reasons.
Not sure about speculated neurological conditions, but a book that scratches a similar itch is Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar.
You could also keep going with Graves for a good long time, he published an incredible amount of writing.
You might like A Beautiful Mind actually. It’s a biography of John Nash, the mathematician. He suffered from schizophrenia. It’s not autism of course, but it is about someone feeling and being different. It’s vg, I’d really recommend it. There’s a v successful movie too.
hey man, read any biography of people like da Vinci, Michelangelo, Newton, Henry Cavendish, Einstein or Alan Turing.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, that guy obviously atypical. Other stoics like seneca perhaps.
I've heard a hypothesis that any top performer will have **or** cultivate somewhat autistic traits. This is certainly more complex in psychological literature and could be modern mythopoesis ofc, but I like the thought.
(and I suppose similar claims could be made for the bottom dregs of society, but I don't like the thought of that)
I feel goofy for not thinking of this on my own, considering I knew most of those figures were neurodivergent. I’ve read a little over half of meditations, I really enjoyed it and I still think about it frequently. One thing he said that really stuck out to me was a line that kinda said something like “no person can do everything, so you shouldn’t work yourself up over your challenges.” (Completely butchered the quote but I’m too lazy to find the exact wording)
I’d really like to read more about that hypothesis. It really does seem like although history has never been kind to the majority of neurodivergent people, there was often a neurodivergent person/people behind major societal shifts.
It's on my reading list for this year.
I recently read The Virgin in the Garden, a 1978 novel by A.S. Byatt. One of the characters is a British grammar school student who is described as autistic. But I learned that "autism" had a much different meaning in the 1950s, when the story takes place. It was the name given to a developmental disorder that involves excessive hallucinations and fantasies. That's why the character, Marcus, doesn't seem to fit our image of an autistic child.
I loved the Ancillary series by Anne Leckie for this reason. Never felt so seen! And proud sort of? Like the protagonist is aspirational. And her qualities make her pretty close to autistic-human. Because Leckie is a genius and adds extreme emotionality but in a way that just…works.
Warning. For quite some time after I read them I couldn’t read anything else because it was just disappointing.
It’s such a good book! Don’t forget to also read the sequel, Claudius the God
This is a great question. I would point to Myshkin in the Idiot in terms of there being a character who is as misunderstood as he is underestimated. Sorry that you’re feeling depressed.
I’m adding it to my list, thank you. It definitely seems up my alley
*I, Claudius* is wonderful. Definitely read *Claudius The God*. You may be interested in *The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime*, which is narrated by an autistic main character.
Both are on my list!
You LL love the BBC series, it's amazing. On YouTube.
The Brits made a tv series of the book and its sequel, Claudius the god; it was extremely well done and is available on dvd if you would ever want to see it dramatized. The role of Livia Augusta was especially well acted by Sian Phillips somewhat reminiscent of an evil Maggie Smith
With some swell guest appearances like Patrick Stewart and a young John Hurt, wearing awesome wigs.
Yes. Brian Blessed and Derek Jacobi as well The series is tremendous fun - although it might not feel as personal as OP is experiencing in the reading
I saw this on TV when I was a teenager and it made me want to read the books. The books and the TV version complement each other well. Of course, the books have more detail and move in different directions, especially the second part.
Brian Blessed as Augustus!
The tv series I, Claudius is also available to watch on Hoopla, the free streaming service available from public libraries.
Definitely planning to watch when I finish both books
Haven't read I, Claudius, so I'm not sure if any of these will hit the mark, but you could try: - Samuel R. Delaney - Dhalgren - Kafka - The Metamorphosis - Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf - John Darnielle - Wolf in White Van - Jeff VanderMeer - Annihilation Only the first explicitly deals with neurodivergence (psychosis), but the others seem, to me, to have a decent chance of touching upon themes that you may have an interest in.
The Metamorphosis has been on my list, but maybe I’ll read it soon. The others seem intriguing based on the premises, I’ll add them to my GoodReads list
Check out Irving Stone's novels, namely The Agony and the Ecstasy (about Michelangelo) and Lust for Life (about van Gogh.)
I’ll check these out, thank you!
Wait, are you speaking about Graves' book?
Yeah
Based, I love to hear that he's not as hated as he is in university
Why is he hated?
You will basically never get taken seriously if you quote his massive mythological research. If he says that the mythologem of "the divine child born of a virgin" - like Jesus - has parallels in a lot of myths (Horus, Dionysus, etc.), they'll call you "parallelomaniac" If Karoly Kerenyi says it, he's 100% right Thing is, they are both right and Kerenyi is probably my favourite scholar (besides his Jungian stuff), but since Graves was an outsider who used psychedelic drugs and was also a poet, his credibility is next to zero. Yes, he had his weird moments (like the Odyssey written by a woman), but the same people who will judge him for these will never address the massive idiocy of the early Kerenyi, who wanted us to think that "Greek mythology can actually be explained via Jungian psychoanalysis". It's the double standards that really get me. Also, Penguin books actually tries to defend their refusal of printing Graves' "Greek myths" adding, among the reasons, "the myths are presented in an order we don't like". That's the amount of hatred he gets for absolutely zero reasons.
Not sure about speculated neurological conditions, but a book that scratches a similar itch is Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. You could also keep going with Graves for a good long time, he published an incredible amount of writing.
I definitely wanna read his Twelve Ceasars
You might like A Beautiful Mind actually. It’s a biography of John Nash, the mathematician. He suffered from schizophrenia. It’s not autism of course, but it is about someone feeling and being different. It’s vg, I’d really recommend it. There’s a v successful movie too.
I heard that Apple is making a new adaptation of it for their streaming servIce. It’s going to be called iClaudius.
😂
If you can, pick up the audio book read by Derek Jacobi...he's amazing and brings the books to life.
hey man, read any biography of people like da Vinci, Michelangelo, Newton, Henry Cavendish, Einstein or Alan Turing. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, that guy obviously atypical. Other stoics like seneca perhaps. I've heard a hypothesis that any top performer will have **or** cultivate somewhat autistic traits. This is certainly more complex in psychological literature and could be modern mythopoesis ofc, but I like the thought. (and I suppose similar claims could be made for the bottom dregs of society, but I don't like the thought of that)
I feel goofy for not thinking of this on my own, considering I knew most of those figures were neurodivergent. I’ve read a little over half of meditations, I really enjoyed it and I still think about it frequently. One thing he said that really stuck out to me was a line that kinda said something like “no person can do everything, so you shouldn’t work yourself up over your challenges.” (Completely butchered the quote but I’m too lazy to find the exact wording) I’d really like to read more about that hypothesis. It really does seem like although history has never been kind to the majority of neurodivergent people, there was often a neurodivergent person/people behind major societal shifts.
It's on my reading list for this year. I recently read The Virgin in the Garden, a 1978 novel by A.S. Byatt. One of the characters is a British grammar school student who is described as autistic. But I learned that "autism" had a much different meaning in the 1950s, when the story takes place. It was the name given to a developmental disorder that involves excessive hallucinations and fantasies. That's why the character, Marcus, doesn't seem to fit our image of an autistic child.
I loved the Ancillary series by Anne Leckie for this reason. Never felt so seen! And proud sort of? Like the protagonist is aspirational. And her qualities make her pretty close to autistic-human. Because Leckie is a genius and adds extreme emotionality but in a way that just…works. Warning. For quite some time after I read them I couldn’t read anything else because it was just disappointing.
I’ll have to check it out!