Loved this book. A good story but also informative. Laura and Lachlan enjoyed it too. ( )

2007

This book is truly a work of art. Narrated by an autistic teenager, this book gives insight of the autistic mind that is unmatched. The one thing that was kind of annoying was the repetetiveness. I understand that autistic people do think a certain way, but the point that they think randomly and differently was bit hackneyed. Overall, however, this book is a must read for anybody who knows or is related to an autistic person.

The Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time is all about a boy with autism and the way he looks at the world. This book was extremely intresting as it offered a vivid picture of how autistic kids view the world so logically and how socially inept they are. For example, I often found myself amazed at how easily the main character, Chris, was able to do complex math problems that I didn't have a clue as to how to even begin. At the same time, I almost laughed at how shy and awkward he was, fearing for his life everytime he saw a stranger and refusing to say anything more than absolutely neccesary. The problem is, most people only see the social side of those with autism, obviously leading them to believe that there is no hope for this person and that they are no more worthy of being called a person then thier own pet. However, by getting this rare glipse into how an autistic kid's mind really works and the complex logic they're able to do, many people would gain a lot of respect for them as people, and begin to care about them more. It is because this point was made so obvious in the book that it is truly a great book about human feeling and really taught me alot about autism.

Good insight in the mindset of an Aspergers boy (as expressed by someone who isn't, I suppose.) ( )

I thought this book was absolutely fantastic. It is true that I really only read it for a school summer reading assignment for my Psychology class, but just after starting it immediately became one of my favorite books. I am a bit of a math fanatic. I just find it interesting and enjoyable. I actually had quite a lot of fun reading through some of the specific math problems the Haddon puts in the book. That could be the reason behind my great interest in this piece. Another aspect that definitely drew me to it was the authors main goal: the portrayal of a life in the eyes of a teenage math wizard with autism. This idea is just so interesting. It reminded me profoundly of Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, but the idea of a teenager in this situation clearly made this book more relatable. Now, the whole storyline of this book is very bizarre (just read the title...), but the underlying statements about real life hardships and problems make it extremely entertaining at, at times, even moving. I typically don't get too ridiculously drawn in by books, but this one was a clear exception. I did read it in two days after all... ( )

I must admit, I had a bit of a mixed reaction to this one. On the one hand, I absolutely loved the voice of Christopher Boone, and the way Mark Haddon really got into the mind of a boy with Asperger's. It is an innocent and naive voice, yet in other ways an utterly brilliant one, throwing the world into a whole new light. I found it absolutely charming to read, and found some of Christopher's extensive knowledge on his favourite subjects quite fascinating.

The story started off well for me. Christopher finds his neighbour's dog, Wellington the poodle, dead in her garden, run through with a garden fork. He sets about 'doing investigating' to find out who could commit such a terrible murder, and with the help of his aide Siobhan, writing a book about his experiences. This is that book, filled with observations and trivia, thoughts about life and the rituals and logic that make him feel safe.

To my surprise, the mystery was solved sooner than expected and the story veered off on an entirely new tangent that I didn't enjoy as much. By the end the strangeness of Christopher's family situation had lost me a little; where I should have felt for him and his courageous struggle to set everything straight, I felt only a vague kind of sympathy. I wasn't as moved or stirred as I thought Haddon probably intended me to be.

Not a keeper for me, but nevertheless I really enjoyed it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to any of the, hmmm, ten people in the world who haven't read it yet! ( )

Publishers Weekly starred 04/07/03
Booklist 04/01/03

Kirkus Review starred 04/15/03

http://www.flr.follett.com/search?SID...

Awesome awesome book. A must read. ( )

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. In brief, it's about 15-year-old Christopher Boone's attempts to discover who killed his neighbor's dog, and he learns some surprising things about his mother along the way. Though it's never mentioned explicitly, one assumes he has a form of autism. And while I've heard this book is supposed to be a real eye-opener and help people be more understanding of autistic people, I honestly developed far more sympathy for Christopher's parents. I don't know if I could handle taking care of someone like that. My hat's off to all the parents, teachers, and other caretakers who work with special needs kids every day. You are truly amazing people. ( )

A definite page-turner - I flew across the Atlantic and was so drawn into this book that I had to finish it before I went to bed, despite being jetlagged. It is the narrator's point of view that makes it so very compelling - the author handles writing the voice of an autistic boy with a great deal of grace and sensitivity. ( )

Translated into Persian, rank 19/1001

Completely different than anything I've ever read, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is told in the perspective of an autistic boy. I didn't know it was a young adult book until a participant in my book club last night mentioned it, and honestly I'm not sure how much a teen would get out of this book.

I, however, was impressed by the way the author was able to completely portray the life of an autistic--although, highly functional autistic--boy. The main character, Christopher, is fifteen and two of his main interests are dogs and "maths", so when he finds his neighbor's dog murdered, he decides he has to solve the mystery and find the killer. The story is then a first person narrative of his experience with this great mystery, as well as a story of his overall day-to-day life.

Christopher is very logical and matter-of-fact and has a difficult time understanding emotions. He doesn't like to be touched, therefore his mother and father can't even hug him without a screaming episode. This makes a reader wonder whether Christopher can really experience love at all. He seems to connect most with his teacher, Siobhan, and is always remembering advice she has given him.

There is much more to the story then the mystery of the dog's killer and I won't ruin that here. Although I haven't been exposed to anyone that has autism, I feel like I have been now. I was intrgued with the clever pieces of the plot Haddon was able to work in to make this book believable.

And did I mention the book has pictures? And it ends with a math problem. Talk about unique. ( )

Few authors have written so impressive a work in first person narrative. Though I don't know anyone personally with autism, the voice of the deeply touching protagonist of this book made me feel as though I did, and that by the end of the book, I understood that person so much better than any scientific article could have made me feel. I read this a couple of years ago, and it is definitely on my to re-read list. ( )

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a story about Christopher Boone, an autistic child, with a gift for geography, science and "maths". He also seems to have a gift of curiosity. The book begins with the killing of a neighbors dog. Christopher decides to solve the killing by finding the killer. He also discovers letters from his mother whom he had been led to believe was dead. And he finds his way to his mother's flat in spite of his many short commings.

The book is written in the first person--Christopher being the story teller. I am certain this presented many difficulties and challenges for the author. Additionally it is filled with math problems and solutions which result from Christopher's need to create for himself a safe world. These and other insights into the mind of the child, Christopher, lend themselves to an interesting reading adventure.

All-in-all an entertaining afternoon read. ( )

The predominant emotion I felt throughout the story was frustration. It earns points for sheer realism though.

http://stuff-ive-read.blogspot.com/20... ( )

A really interesting take on autism, from the perspective of an autistic young man who wants to solve a mystery. Might really work in the list.

One of the best books ever, it really touched me.

He has a pet rat too, that is always a plus. ( )

I really liked this book. I liked the way it was written and how I viewed the world after reading it. ( )

I adored this book. Having had some experience with people affected by autism and Asperger's Syndrome, I found this book compelling from a narrative perspective, but also, and most especially, from the matter-of-factness with which the characteristics of autism are explained. This gave me a good deal of insight into the reactions of autistic and Asperger's-affected persons to certain kinds of stimuli and the ways in which they approach information. If this had been the only worthwhile aspect of the book, I'd have been okay with that, but the story itself was really engaging. ( )

No, I didn't like this. I'll admit to a little prejudice just because of its unaccountable popularity. Are people reading it and liking it because the sentences are easy to read? They are easy to read because the narrator is autistic but how authentic is the author being in delivering this? I have had some first hand experience of autism and I don't particularly recognise the voice but then again autism is a broad spectrum. It doesn't feel to me that Mark Haddon has pulled off any kind of remarkable feat here. Is the apparent lack of depth a real lack of depth? It looks like blancmange and tastes like blancmange. Even the twee title annoys me. ( )

When 15year old Christopher finds his neighbour's dog dead on the lawn, he decides to track down the killer and write a murder mystery. But what other mysteries will he uncover? ( )

At first, I thought the main character in this book must be a very young boy, maybe seven-or eight-years-old. Then I though he has some learning difficulties. Finally I realized the boy is living with autism. For that, kudos to the author for a well-crafted book. It's smart and inquisitive and provides insight into autism without being condescending or coy. The boy has his eccentricities-- he doesn't like the colors brown or yellow, being touched, or going off of a schedule-- but he also enjoys and excels at math, "detecting," and has a close relationship with his father (although he's 15 and one worries how things will change down the road when his father gets older and can no longer care for him at the level he now does). An enjoyable read. ( )

I loved the unusual way that this story was told, and the background of a mystery. A very fun book with some good parts to make one think ( )

I loved this story because of its uniqueness. It's told from the point of view of Christopher, a boy with autism, as he tries to solve the murder-mystery of his neighbor's dog. What do we learn along the way?
* why 5 red cars means a Quite Good Day and yellow in any form always means a bad day
* how to find the dinosaur constellation
* how to show someone you love them without giving them a hug

Christopher also loves prime numbers, which is why each chapter is given a prime number starting with 2 and ending at 233. I think we all feel we are a little autistic at times, so this detail made me laugh at myself throughout the story. (For whatever reason) when I am in charge of the volume, I never turn it to a prime number. If I was Christopher's mom I'd have to change my divisible number loving ways.

Mark Haddon tells a touching story about family, while opening eyes to the beauty of every mind. And it's illustrated. ( )