John
asked
Bonnie Garmus:
I've noticed that Elizabeth Zott in Lessons in Chemistry is very similar to Eleanor Oliphant, the protagonist in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Have you read that book? If so, did you like it and did it help inspire Elizabeth?
Bonnie Garmus
Hi John! I have read Eleanor Oliphant and absolutely loved it. But by the time I read it, I'd already written most of Lessons in Chemistry so I can't say it was an influence (and to be honest, the characters seem very different to me!) Eleanor is isolated and unsure of herself. By contrast, Zott is confident in who she is and what she wants. Zott is also not prone to negativity but rather action--she believes in her own self-worth and fights back, even when things are tragically physical, demeaning, or just flat-out wrong. In short, she stays true to her nature -- she's a thinking scientist, but also a catalyst. What I think both Honeyman and do share is using humor to tackle tough topics and she does it brilliantly.
More Answered Questions
Janeymo
asked
Bonnie Garmus:
Firstly, I’m a HUGE fan of Lessons in Chemistry! The book was fabulous (I’m not so sure about the TV adaptation, honestly, I think Sixthirty lost his voice) I had a thought just now in a completely different context. I am a fan of Elizabeth Zimmermann - an icon of the knitting world (yes, that is a thing!) is there any of Zimmermann in your Zott, or is the initials and similarity in life outlook purely accidental?
Kim Martin
asked
Bonnie Garmus:
I was thinking about your use of humor and how to classify it- it seems to have some qualities of absurdism but it doesn’t feel quite like satire. How would you classify it? The novel had an almost Vonnegut- feel, like it’s the novel he’d write if he was a woman living through sexism today. I was floored to listen to your interview and learn that you share a copywriting background.
Bellamy Gayle
asked
Bonnie Garmus:
Your humor made me laugh out loud. (Thanks! I needed that.) I can relate to everything about the sixties. I had parents who encouraged me to believe I had no limits, but male bankers and men in general kept me confined even as I owned my own business. Had to have my ex-husband's name on my credit card, for example. To avoid (yet another) banker's rejection, my brother went to lenders, sitting silently beside me?
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