The title The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (or the curious incident of the dog in the night-time as it appears within the book) is an appropriate one for Mark Haddon's ingenious novel both because of its reference to that most obsessive and fact-obsessed of detectives, Sherlock Holmes, and because its lower-case letters indicate something important about its narrator.
Christopher is an intelligent youth who lives in the functional hinterland of autism--every day is an investigation for him because of all the aspects of human life that he does not quite get. When the dog next door is killed with a garden fork, Christopher becomes quietly persistent in his desire to find out what has happened and tugs away at the world around him until a lot of secrets unravel messily.
Haddon makes an intelligent stab at how it feels to, for example, not know how to read the faces of the people around you, to be perpetually spooked by certain colours and certain levels of noise, to hate being touched to the point of violent reaction. Life is difficult for the difficult and prickly Christopher in ways that he only partly understands; this avoids most of the obvious pitfalls of novels about disability because it demands that we respect--perhaps admire--him rather than pity him. --Roz Kaveney
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: review 1 Comment: This book is a simple yet intellectual novel, written by a child whose life is accompanied by autism. Mark Haddon creates the story through the distorted mind of Christopher Boone, and how an autistic child deals with situations differently to that of a normal human being. The novel opens with his neighbour's dog being killed by a garden fork. Boone anxiously adopts a `Sherlock Holmes' persona and secretly tries to unravel the murder mystery, which in turn, concludes to be a lot closer to home than he originally thought. Although this specific incident leads to an investigation, it is clear that Haddon depicts the frustration and desire of Boone as in his everyday life he investigates into human aspects of life to try and make sense of them from a normal human being's perspective.
This heartfelt novel warms the audience to understanding the lifestyle of an autistic child and gives the audience an insight into the complex morals and issues associated with Christopher Boone. The bravery and courage of such a young boy drives the audience to empathise with the character, most importantly when he sets off on his journey to find his `dead' mother in London.
Furthermore, the language is so simplistic that the audience are vicariously living through Boone's experiences and knowledge. The language helps to emphasise the simplicity of his life.
Overall, although the literal reading of the novel was easy going, the morals and ways in which the novel was written gave the book credibility in order for the audience to progress their knowledge in understanding a different way of life. At the same time, the actual plot created empathy towards Christopher, making the relationship between the reader and the narrator more personal.
Customer Rating: Summary: Must Read Comment: This book has changed my perception of those with a challenging mental condition - and has given me a dramatic insight into how we are perceived by them.
Mark Haddon's writing was very convincing as the storyteller, Christopher, who has Asperger's syndrome, which I had to continually remind myself of that he was not a sufferer himself. Haddon took on the characteristics, thinking and behaviour of the narrator exceptionally, bringing revelation, pathos and humour to every page.
The structure of the life Asperger's suffers need is extremely well illustrated within the plot; Christopher craves order and reliability in his life but the story line serves up a number of sub plots that challenge both Christopher and the reader. Life is taken very literally by suffers of Asperger's; this is what results in the unfolding the special world Christopher inhabits. There is a clear and fascinating distinction between meanings taken on by sufferers and the majority of the population, one of which might never have been considered.
This book is a great read, telling the story about family life with its highs and lows and the impact it has on a boy growing up with a mental handicap but yet an amazing mathematic gift. It provides a new perspective into everyday forms and functions of mundane elements such as meals, schools, neighbours and transportation, giving the reader real identification with the characters and events. It also has an element of mystery within the story, a "who done it in suburbia" with some great and exciting surprises along the way.
It is a very easy read with the added dimension of insight and sympathy into a condition I could never have known. This book changed my view of the world.
Customer Rating: Summary: A must read Comment: Mark Haddon captures the inevitable moment in life where a child becomes exposed to and begins to question the faults of parents. All Christopher has been taught becomes open to question following a `curious incident in the night' which leads him to uncover a spiral of lies and deceit.
The narrative voice of Christopher Boone, an Asperger's child whom seeks comfort in rules, truth and boundaries perhaps presents an oversimplified view of autism; an area which is largely understudied, with the persona holding a reasonable degree of control and understanding over his own actions. This logical thought pattern is juxtaposed by Haddon's disorganised structure, which although presented in alternate chapters, often leads us wrapped up in tangents of Christopher's conflicting interests; his loyalty to his father and his determination to solve the `curious incident'.
It is this that makes him such a lovable character with the simple language intended to help the reader make sense of Christopher's "chains of reasoning" before he has done so himself. The use of coherent language along with Haddon's intensely researched perspective of autism allows him to successfully depict Christopher's character as a sufferer of Asperger's Syndrome.
The unique writing style and layout adopted throughout this novel justifies Haddon's deserved triumph in winning the Whitbread Book of the Year 2003. A truly superbly written novel which invites empathy, anguish and hope to those having felt anxious for Christopher when he stepped outside his comfort zone and headed for London.
Mark Haddon captures the emotions of the reader by communicating a convincing account of what life is like in the world of Christopher Boone. Unique in its content I would recommend this novel to all who are searching for an easy read which is both humorous, yet at times sinister.
Customer Rating: Summary: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night-time Comment: Mark Haddon truly deserves to be the winner of the Whitbread Book of the year in 2003, with his educational and entertaining novel "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time". Even though the novel follows some of the typical conventions of the mystery genre, I can honestly say that this book has other elements of suspense, humour and takes the reader on an emotional journey with the main character Christopher Boone.
Our protagonist, lets the reader be a part of his life by sharing his emotional experiences, likes and dislikes and his family background. When being introduced to the main character, it is very clear for the reader to see that Mark Haddon has put great attention to detail to ensure that the reader is gaining a thorough insight of Christopher Boone's lifestyle. As the author has worked with autistic people as a young man, the story clearly creates an insight as to what life is like for a teenager living with Asperger's syndrome in today's society.
When Christopher finds Mrs Shears dog dead, he uses his hero Sherlock Holmes as an inspiration for his detective notebook. In this notebook, we as the reader can identify that Christopher has a unique syndrome by the layout of his sentence structures echoing his thought processes. I felt that Christopher took me on an emotional journey to find out who killed his neighbours dog, as well as more challenging activities that he could never imagine taking on by himself.
I would recommend this book to anyone of all ages as it overcomes many struggles that Christopher has to face. I felt educated and entertained by the insight of his lifestyle, which made me see that others, like myself, take life for granted. Customer Rating: Summary: Fascinating and Poignant Comment: At first glance, with the storyline based on a 15 year old boy trying to find the killer of his neighbour's dog it seems a perfect book for a 10 year old, however never has the cliché `don't judge a book by its cover' been so true.
The 15 year old boy Christopher Boone, who is a maths lover but hates the colours yellow and brown, has Asperger's syndrome. The book gives a superb insight into the condition, and is filled with humorous stories of the challenges Christopher faces in his day to day life, and can be likened to the work of Sue Townsend with Adrian Mole.
Christopher's endearing innocence and lack of understanding of humans is brilliantly used to demonstrate the weird ways in which adults behave and operate. Early on in the book, Christopher states his confusion over how people do a lot of talking without using any words, as he says "if you raise one eyebrow it can mean lots of different things. It can mean `I want to do sex with you' and it can also mean `I think that what you just did was very stupid' ".
When Christopher begins his `detecting' work for the death of the dog Wellington, his family past is unravelled and he discovers more than he was expecting, which puts his stable and ritualistic world under threat. Due to his autism Christopher finds it hard to cope with the journey he finds himself on, and Haddon illustrates the challenges Christopher and his family face due to his condition, which leads to some sad moments.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has a brilliant blend of humour and sadness, with the added interest of the occasional maths question.
