The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon

Published in 2004. 240 pages.

Amazon link

Genre: Fiction

My Overall Score: 4.5/5

What its about (taken from amazon.com): Christopher Boone, the autistic 15-year-old narrator relaxes by groaning and doing math problems in his head, eats red-but not yellow or brown-foods and screams when he is touched. Strange as he may seem, other people are far more of a conundrum to him, for he lacks the intuitive "theory of mind" by which most of us sense what's going on in other people's heads. When his neighbor's poodle is killed and Christopher is falsely accused of the crime, he decides that he will take a page from Sherlock Holmes (one of his favorite characters) and track down the killer. As the mystery leads him to the secrets of his parents' broken marriage and then into an odyssey to find his place in the world, he must fall back on deductive logic to navigate the emotional complexities of a social world that remains a closed book to him. Christopher can only make sense of the chaos of stimuli by imposing arbitrary patterns. His literal-minded observations make for a kind of poetic sensibility and a poignant evocation of character. Though Christopher insists, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them," the novel brims with touching, ironic humor. The result is an eye-opening work in a unique and compelling literary voice.

What I thought: I really liked this book! It was written from the perspective of a teenage boy with Aspergers (on the Autism spectrum) and was such an eye-opening reality check of what life can be like for these people. The chapters were numbered by prime numbers because thats what Christopher feels comfortable with. Although it is a work of fiction, it really feels like a true story - very real and true-to-life characters. I highly recommend this book - whether you go into it with zero knowledge about Aspergers or if you live/work with someone with the syndrome - either way, there is much to learn about this charming boy named Christopher!

Why I read it & where I got it: I got this book from the library. Although I never heard of it before, when I read the back, I was instantly drawn because I am fascinated by this topic. And due to my line of work, I was eager to enter the mind of a boy with a similar disorder to what many of those kids live with every day.

Date finished: May 15, 2009

Currently reading: The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan