The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time

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	• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon Vintage, 2004 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 1461 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Curiously Good

True, this novel was different from anything else I've ever read. Possibly that is the reason for its popularity. I'd think that most people would want to know more about autism, what with it on the rise, though I did have to admit that I wasn't totally sympathetic for Christopher. My dog, however, did get my sympathy.

The form of the book is unique and the story short. Not the best book I've read, but certainly something you should try.

Book Review

This book was written by Mark Haddon. Haddon was born in 1962 in Northampton, England and attended Oxford where he studied English. Haddon wrote this book about an autistic child. His knowledge of autism comes from working with autistic people as a young man. Haddon won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize Overall Best First Book for his work on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
The novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an excellent portrayal of a child with autism. In this novel autistic Christopher Boone in on a quest to discover who killed his neighbor's dog, Wellington. His autism is apparent as he finds out who the killer is, and goes through his daily life.
The entire novel brilliantly captures how an autistic person lives his life through routine and how he is very intelligent as well. Christopher says, "In the bus on the way to school the next day we passed 4 red cars in a row, which meant it was a Good Day, so I decided not to be sad about Wellington" (24). He also says, "My name is Christopher John Francis Boone. I know all the countries in the world and their capital cities and every prime number up to 7,057" (2). These two quotes show how people with autism need consistency and routine as well, and they also show Christopher's intelligence. Christopher hates the color yellow but loves the color red, which is why he has Good Days and Black Days. When there are many red things in a row, he deems it a Good Day, and when there are many yellow things in a row he deems it a Black Day. During Black Days Christopher talks to no one and eats nothing. He sits in a corner all day and mopes. He also has a photographic memory; he can memorize perfectly the scenery of any place he visits.
Despite the fine portrayal of an autistic person, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is somewhat boring at parts. For example, I lost interest when Christopher is trying to find the train station and when he is trying to get to his train. The reader will most likely skim through these portions and not catch some of Haddon's main points. If he attempted to liven up the story a bit he would engage the reader, get the reader more interested and in doing so would be able to convey his ideas more effectively.
Besides this, Haddon still excellently shows how an autistic person lives his life. With great detail, he describes as Christopher's senses go into overdrive. When this happens Christopher starts to groan somewhat like stimming. He also shows how other people, such as Christopher's parents and aide, interact with him.
This novel is much like the movie Rain Man displaying how autistic people have poor communication skills. In Rain Man, Raymond repeats himself and other people over and over again. He also can't comprehend their questions very well. In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Christopher doesn't understand complex human emotions. He only understands simple emotions like happy and sad. Christopher also has to ask people what they mean when they say something or make facial expressions.
This wonderful portrayal of autism provides a lot of good information. It demonstrates how an autistic person lives and how other people interact with them. Haddon had an excellent understanding of autism when writing this novel.

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The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time

Mark Haddon is a novelist known best for his book, The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time, in which he won the WhitBread Book of the Year Award. His book is about a boy named Christopher who has Asperger's Syndrome, a mental disorder, in which people have difficulties in social interactions. He fears strangers and new places, and screams when people touch him. Yet, he has an amazing memory and is mathematically gifted. His perspectives give the reader a different way of viewing events taking place. He sees things logically and takes words literally. As a young man, Mark Haddon worked with autistic people and was motivated to write about one. He is also an atheist, and he uses the character to get some of his views/points about God across to the readers.
In his novel, one night Christopher discovers his neighbor's dog along with the garden fork used to kill him. He is seen holding Wellington, the dog, in his arms and is arrested. He is determined to find out the dog's true murderer and learns more than he intended. The secrets he discovers are too much for him to handle, and he runs away to live with a family member. While on his journey, he must face situations in which he can no longer close himself off from the world around him. While his investigation and journey is taking place, he is influenced by one of his school teachers to write about the mystery and his adventure. Hence, the story is written from Christopher's point of view and tends to be simple in its style. Also, the reader figures out some clues before he does. As for myself, I truly enjoyed reading this novel and recommend for all to read it, for it was entertaining, informative and some times funny.

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I couldn't put it down

I don't read a lot of fiction, but this book really captured my attention. The book is written from the perspective of a fifteen-year-old boy with autism -- the book is a book he's writing for a project at school. This is unique and original, however, the character himself is a bit reminiscent of Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man. Not every autistic person is a master at "maths," and a there are a few other peculiarities Christopher (the protagonist) shares with Rain Man's type of autism. But this is a point of minor criticism.

The book starts out as a murder mystery (with a dog as its victim), but turns into so much more. This is a short book -- 215 pages, I think -- and it could be easily adapted into a good film. I hope it is.

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reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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