The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

I chose The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time because the title is a direct quote from Sherlock Holmes in the first story of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The "curious incident" in this case is witnessed by fifteen-year-old Christopher, who finds his neighbour's dog murdered one night. This is the most unusual murder mystery I have ever read, as not only is the murder victim a dog, but the detective is a boy who appears to have Asperger's syndrome (although this is never explicitly stated).

Christopher loves routines, maths and lists. He takes everything at face value and doesn't really understand the concept of joking, sarcasm or lying. He also struggles to understand the complexity of other people's emotions - to him show more things are good (prime numbers, programmes about space and Sherlock Holmes mysteries) or bad (yellow or brown things and being touched). In essence, the book is less a detective story than a character study of a complex boy who sees the world very differently from his readers.

The real genius of this book is that it is written from the perspective of a child on the autistic spectrum. As far as I know, this has never been done before, but Mark Haddon manages to draw an incredibly plausible picture of what goes on in Christopher's mind. According to several interviews with him he has never worked with autistic children, and in fact did not particularly intend the label of Asperger's to be attached to Christopher. Speaking as someone who has worked with many children with similar conditions I find this extraordinary. Christopher's behaviours ring absolutely true to me. His descriptions of how he feels when his routines are broken, when someone gets too close to him or when he doesn't understand the world around him are incredibly intense and make me feel I understand these children far more than I did before I read the book.

There have been plenty of novels written about children with autistic spectrum disorders, usually from the perspective of the parents or of an impartial narrator. Had this book been written from one of these perspectives I feel it would have lost a huge part of what makes it so special. I felt almost privileged to be allowed to inhabit Christopher's mind for a little while. He reminded me how important it is to be able to take pleasure in the simple things in life. He likes the quiet. He loves things that form a pattern and make sense. He likes to lie on his back on the grass, look up at the stars, and pretend that he is the only person in the world.

In many ways Curious is an uplifting and beautiful book. It's also so, so sad. Christopher is looked after by his father, and through Christopher's words it becomes obvious that, although he loves him and is fiercely protective of him, his father is also intensely frustrated by his son. For me the saddest part of the book is when Christopher becomes terrified that his Dad is going to hurt him. He can't understand the concept of love, and so he doesn't understand how much his Dad loves him.

I really, really can't begin to describe how wonderful this book is. I love all the tiny details that add to its richness (Christopher names all his chapters after prime numbers and adds an appendix which shows his working of a complicated maths problem - just because). But mostly I love the way Haddon was able to help me inhabit the mind of such a fascinating and complex character. This book is an incredible achievement. Please read it. show less

A Mark Haddon novice, I really enjoyed this novel and ended up reading it in one sitting.
Christopher is a 15-year-old boy who is socially awkward but highly intelligent, and the story is told entirely from his perspective. When Wellington, the neighbour’s poodle, is found murdered, Christopher decides to play detective—only to uncover far more than he ever expected.
This is a delightful, moving, and inventive read, offering thoughtful insight into the mind of a young person on the autism spectrum. Both funny, heartbreaking and it's leaving the reader with a deeper awareness of how many different ways there are to experience reality.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a mystery seen through the eyes of an autistic teenage boy. Because of the unique, detail-oriented, and incredibly perceptive way Christopher thinks, the sentences in this book are a bit choppy. They read a bit like field notes, in that they are written to convey information and not to be aesthetically pleasing. Christopher begins many of his sentences with “and” or “because”, which greatly illuminate his thought processes. While this may deter readers used to artfully crafted sentences, it fleshes out the narrator and brings a more complete understanding of autism to the reader. In terms of plot, the book unfolds like one of Christopher’s beloved detective novels – the show more pace is perfect as Christopher unravels the mystery of his own life. I was torn, therefore, about what to rate this book in terms of quality, and ended up settling on a 4Q. In terms of popularity, this novel is typically shelved with the adult novels in most libraries I have seen, despite the fact that it has a teen protagonist. Therefore, many teens may be unaware of its existence unless they go looking, and so its appeal may be limited to teens with a particular interest in the subject.

There is something particularly heartbreaking about a character who has difficulty processing and understanding emotions attempting to understand such an emotionally devastating and charged series of events as those that occur in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Not only does the novel provide a window into the world of autism, but it displays common emotions that many of us have experienced from a completely different point-of-view. This is one of the novel’s greatest strengths and is absolutely the reason I would recommend it to other adult readers and older teens. show less

This book was recommended to me multiple times before I finally broke down and accepted a copy, and eventually (in the interest of time management) picked up an audio book from the library. This review concerns that version.

What charmed me so completely about Haddon's novel was not that the protagonist is very clearly on the autism spectrum (and interest that might pull me in because my brother and a good friend are as well) but the narrative choices Haddon makes -- lists, mathematics and graphics (yes, I checked the physical book when I got home) all integrated seamlessly into the narrative.

Sometimes, I go into a book not having read any reviews or even the front flap. This was the case with The Curious Incident. Because of this, I show more think, I was confused at first when the novel didn't wrap up after the two big reveals (since the only thing I knew, really, was from Christopher's own introduction: that this was a mystery). By the end, I understood the narrative arc Haddon wanted to take, and was very glad he had made that decision instead of mine.

While Christopher doesn't align perfectly with my own secondary experiences with the autism spectrum, much of what he expressed seemed right on the mark. That said, I'm very curious to know if others with autism spectrum disorders felt the same. Of course, the book isn't only Christopher's story.

SPOILERS BELOW

I found both his mother and father's experiences true to life and almost refreshing. They are both failures, at some point, but both make an incredible effort. I also found the reactions of the various characters Christopher encounters to be realistic and empathetic. I remember the reactions from strangers when my brother would groan in public, or have a fit. show less

I got through this book in a single three hour sitting - something that I haven't done with a book in quite some time.

It's told from the perspective of a fifteen-year-old autistic boy called Christopher, who attempts to solve the eponymous mystery of who killed his neighbour's dog, and inadvertently revealing many more 'mysteries' in his life along the way. The mystery isn't particularly difficult to solve, not that this is important at all. It's much more a question of examining how Christopher can and cannot interact with those around him, how his thought processes work, and why a person with autism act the way that they do.

Curious Incident can be highly entertaining at times, especially as Christopher acts as the ultimate 'straight show more man', the unwitting foil who can't comprehend why people would find certain situations amusing - or even that they find them amusing at all.

The narrative style is very inventive. It's mostly stripped of description and emotion, as you would expect from a first person POV story written by an autistic boy. The text is frequently interspersed with the maths problems, flow charts and diagrams that Christopher uses to interpret the world around him and make sense of it. I don't think I've ever quite seen a book written like it before, and it was a very engaging way of approaching the book. I do think I came away with a greater understanding of the way someone with, say, Asperger's, thinks the way that they do, and the difficulties and trauma that this can cause for their families.

That said, I think it is obvious at times both that the book's author doesn't suffer from autism, and that it was written for younger teenagers. Christopher at times feels like a cipher, a blank with no real personality of his own who is merely used as a type-character to represent the Autistic Person, if that makes sense. The rest of the time, though, I think he comes across as being as engaging as a person who intensely dislikes human contact and touch can be.

Highly recommended. show less

Miranda
Mr. Bronson

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

“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.” From the beginning of Mark Haddon’s fabulous novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, the reader can tell that Christopher is not a normal boy. When he finds his neighbor’s beloved dog, Wellington, lying dead on the ground with a pitchfork thrust through him, he has a murder mystery to deal with on top of serious autism. As Christopher interrogates his neighbors about the night he found Wellington, we come to realize that the dog’s murder is not the only sinister and untruthful thing surrounding show more Christopher. When he discovers who his dad really is and what he has done, Christopher must conquer every aspect of his autism and make a terrifyingly independent journey to safety.
This book was quite touching because Mark Haddon does a superb job writing the first person narrative of an autistic boy. The clues are subtle, but it is crystal clear that the mind of the narrator is not quite right. Christopher does not pour out his emotions into his journal like a normal boy would; he reports just the facts. Every sentence of dialogue is prefaced, “He said,” “She said,” or “I said,” and every statement includes a “for example…” He doesn’t relate well to other people, either. Although he says it quite calmly, his way of responding to an offer of help when he is obviously overwhelmed is very strange:
“I was sitting on the ground [rocking and groaning] and the woman… said, “Is there anything I can do to help you?” And if she was a teacher at school I could have said, ”Where is 451c Chapter Road, Willesden, London?” but she was a stranger so I said, “Stand further away,” because I didn’t like her being so close. And I said, “I’ve got a Swiss Army knife and it has a saw blade and it could cut someone’s fingers off.” And she said, “OK, buddy, I’m going to take that as a no”… And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks said, “Mad as a fucking hatter. Jesus.’”
The reader can see the other characters’ emotions, not by what Christopher says about it, just but through the dialogue that Christopher records. That Mark Haddon can show all the feeling without ever actually writing about it is truly special. The boy spells everything out immaculately, without an ounce of emotion; readers understand the pain and sorrow that Christopher himself does not recognize.
Aside from the fact that the narration is very unusual, I really liked the unexpected twist in the plot. It certainly caught me off-guard! The book starts off with a small-town little mystery of a murdered dog, but then quite suddenly veers into a deeper, more complicated story of the scandal and lies of the adults in Christopher’s life. The reader is not expecting it at all, though he senses there is something more suspicious than a dog’s murder afoot, and that makes it a much more captivating book.
I recommend this novel to anyone looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary. The struggles of autism are displayed in a way that is at once humorous and sad by a masterful author, and fit smoothly into a captivating, exciting story. show less

5Q, 3P (My VOYA ratings)
I absolutely loved The Curious Incident, and I had no qualms rating it a 5Q—I believe it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year in terms of writing and characterization. While Christopher’s tangents were sometimes long-winded and about subjects that might be off-putting to some readers, this was one of the things I loved most about the book. There are some readers I know who love story and who would have been frustrated by the seemingly unrelated tangents that flesh out his character without necessarily advancing the plot. Honestly, I'll admit that I had to skim a lot of the mathematics-related tangents because numbers make me go cross-eyed! However, while reading The Curious Incident, I felt like I show more knew Christopher and that I was right inside his head—that feeling was what drove me to rate the book a 5Q.
I absolutely adored the tangents he went on regarding Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and I know I would have loved that as a teen, too. I first began reading Sherlock Holmes stories when I was in middle school, and nobody else I knew enjoyed them, so I would have been overjoyed to find a book that mentions a kid reading them. I don't know if I would have enjoyed those tangents quite so much if I didn't love Sherlock Holmes and mysteries, though. While reading, I wondered if I enjoyed The Curious Incident more because of Christopher's familiar interests, and if teens who didn’t enjoy the subjects of his tangents would get quite as much out of the book. Because of that, I rated the book a 3P rather than giving it a higher rating. show less